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Originally Posted by Philotomy Jurament  For me, it depends on the game. Usually (but not always), with D&D, I take the approach of "PCs that survive are special." A 1st level PC might be special, with a fantastic story and legendary exploits in his future...or his story might be to die from a giant spider bite twenty minutes into his first foray in the dungeon. (My D&D games are kind of like George R.R. Martin novels, in that respect -- characters might die, but the tale goes on...) | No Kidding! One of my favorite deaths was in 2E, I rolled up a replacement dwarven cleric for a previous character that died, I rolled several real good attributes for him, I remember he had max CON, he had a really high AC, I expected to play this guy for a long time. He died in the first encounter, ripped apart by velociraptors.
My other favorite was actually in a higher level game, and we had the un errata'd reincarnation spell going on in 2E. Every single time that PC ran into a Green Dragon I failed the save and died. Every time, which was 3 times over the time I played that PC. Plus he died several more times versus poisons. All this and he was a mage thief, if anyone should have made thsoe saves, it was him, and I failed EVERY single time I had to save versus the Green Dragon Breath Weapon, and every single time it was save or die poisons. So he got reincarnated a total of 8 times, with no level loss, since we didn't have the "corrected" version of the spell. Plus it was lots of fun adjusting to being a kobold, ogre, even spent time as a thieving bear.
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It is the spirit of the game, not the letter of the rules, which is important. NEVER hold to the letter written, nor allow some barracks room lawyer to force quotations from the rule book upon you, IF it goes against the obvious intent of the game. As you hew the line with respect to conformity to major systems and uniformity of play in general, also be certain the game is mastered by you and not by your players. Within the broad parameters give in the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons Volumes, YOU are creator and final arbiter. By ordering things as they should be, the game as a WHOLE first, your CAMPAIGN next, and your participants thereafter, you will be playing Advanced Dungeons and Dragons as it was meant to be. May you find as much pleasure in so doing as the rest of us do.
-1E DMG, page 230 | 
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