Treat Human Life as Meaningful

People matter. Their lives have value. That means your stories shouldn’t involve wanton mass murder or death. Never kill a bunch of people just to show the situation is dangerous. It should be momentous when an anti-hero finds it expedient to take human lives—it shouldn’t be the norm.

It also means every time a building or a piece of the city is threatened, you should immediately ﬂag the people endangered, so a hero can save them. Regular, mundane lives are important, too. You don’t have to be a demi-god to get consideration in the story. Parents, teachers, siblings, police, librarians, lawyers—they’re all people, not just caricatures. You should portray them as people, with their own lives and goals and drives and desires.

They can lend a hand to the PCs, and they can stand in the PCs’ way. And that way, when a situation puts them in danger, it’s a person who is endangered.