Death in Ravenloft after receiving all 4 Dark Gifts?

Z

Z. H. Darkstar

Explorer

• May 4, 2016

• #1

Is there a rule regarding what happens to a player who dies 4 times, receives all 4 Dark Gifts, and then dies a 5th time? Can they take the Dark Power rez?

I have a feeling that it might come up at my hardcover adventure table. My players are just now getting to the end of Death House, yet 5 PCs have died a total of 6 times. The PC who died twice has both #1 and the dreaded #4, rendering him into a Paladin who cannot heal himself outside of resting and potions. I fear that his predicament will lead to at least 1 more death before they reach Tier 2. Therefore, knowing if there is a rule that I should be aware of will be a great boon in the coming weeks.

 

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T

Tyranthraxus

Explorer

• May 4, 2016

• #2

I never even thought about this. Although wouldnt you think dying 4 times with the same character might be a hint that the character isnt working out?

 

KahlessNestor

Adventurer

• May 4, 2016

• #3

There's no rule. You can rack up multiples of the same Dark Gift. You just have to buy them all off from Jenny.

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Z

Z. H. Darkstar

Explorer

• May 4, 2016

• #4

Tyranthraxus said:

I never even thought about this. Although wouldnt you think dying 4 times with the same character might be a hint that the character isnt working out?

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Normally, I'd be inclined to agree with you. However, my tables tend to have a special relationship with RNGesus. He seems to make sure that my tables experience a rollercoaster ride for His personal amusement. Ever since that fateful day He allowed a Revenant to kill an annoying player's character with two back-to-back crits (which resulted in mind-blowing sex with said player's ex, but that's a story for another day...) after said player pushed me to my limit the week before, I have come to accept that the there is a divine presence watching over my tables. RNGesus has been responsible for many a feat that should have been otherwise impossible: dethroning the Deepking, having a death save reroll during the Battle of Blingdenstone go from 1 to 20, and summoning a unicorn via Wild Magic Surge during the spectre fight for Dawnbringer.

Since the Paladin (a class that should shine in CoS) who's died twice is moving away in a month, I get the feeling that RNGesus is trying to make sure that the player leaves with quite the memorable experience for his last run at my table. This is probably going to lead to at least one more death before his time is up. I figured that since statistical outlier seems to be the status quo at my table, I might as well ask this before it happens.

 

KahlessNestor

Adventurer

• May 4, 2016

• #5

Tyranthraxus said:

I never even thought about this. Although wouldnt you think dying 4 times with the same character might be a hint that the character isnt working out?

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Our party was getting it's butts kicked by the coven at the windmill. Most in the party were some sort of evil. It got to the point where we went around stabbing downed (and stabilized) party members to auto-crit kill them so they came back the next round fully charged with the benefits of a long rest from the Dark Powers. We won, but not sure anyone had any money or downtime days after buying off everything from Jenny.

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T

Tyranthraxus

Explorer

• May 4, 2016

• #6

Dont you find it a little sad that they are equating 'quite the memorable experience' with character death. Generally when you get too much of something or something happens too often, its stops being memorable. Memorable events usually being things that happen infrequently. Dying a lot and coming back (I generally pick Factionless characters for this very reason) seems a way to NOT make Death memorable.

 

S

skerritthegreen

Explorer

• May 4, 2016

• #7

We are working on a revised version of this rule that we will release via the website as soon as it is complete.

 

Z

Z. H. Darkstar

Explorer

• May 4, 2016

• #8

Tyranthraxus said:

Dont you find it a little sad that they are equating 'quite the memorable experience' with character death. Generally when you get too much of something or something happens too often, its stops being memorable. Memorable events usually being things that happen infrequently. Dying a lot and coming back (I generally pick Factionless characters for this very reason) seems a way to NOT make Death memorable.

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The reason that PC death has become memorable at my tables is because it's happened so infrequently in the previous 3 seasons. I've been running AL since November 2014, and only 5 PC deaths have occurred in that time: 2 in PotA and 3 in the RoD AL modules. Fast forward to CoS, and now death seems to be handed out every other week. There were 3 deaths the first session, none the second, and 3 more last week.

So while it might seem like there are plenty of deaths this time around, it definitely fits the description of "happening infrequently" when viewed in the context of the collective experience of every session I've run in 1.5 years. This is what allows the sudden influx of fatalities to be considered a "memorable experience" to my players.

 

P

Pauper

That guy, who does that thing.

• May 4, 2016

• #9

KahlessNestor said:

There's no rule. You can rack up multiples of the same Dark Gift. You just have to buy them all off from Jenny.

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The Dark Gifts don't stack, so if you get all four of them, congratulations! You're as cursed as you can possibly be.

--
Pauper

 

R

Rils

Explorer

• May 4, 2016

• #10

...we went around stabbing downed (and stabilized) party members to auto-crit kill them so they came back the next round fully charged with the benefits of a long rest from the Dark Powers.

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Greg, can you fix this while you're at it?