Heroes: "The Hard Part"

( thoughts behind the cut )

[RPG Theory] "He forgot that killing is supposed to be hard"

I was struck by this line from Hiro in last night's Heroes episode and the character's (completely understandable) reluctance to kill someone, even someone like Syler, in cold blood. I was also immediately struck by how completely un-dramatic such a scene would have been in an average RPG:

Ando's player: "You have to kill Syler now!"

Hiro's player: "Okay." (Dice clatter on the table) "Critical hit! Kickass!"

GM: sigh....

Apart from "it's all roleplaying" I wonder if there's a good mechanical way to reflect the dramatic build-up to an action where the drama is all in the decision to act rather than the action itself. Or is that imposing mechanics where they shouldn't go, dictating how characters act and react and disempowered the players?

A-Muse-ing

... and fairly accurate. By way of illious

( what's my muse? )