D&D 5E How has your DM handled death before and after the party getting the spell Revivify?

Blue · Jul 15, 2018

I have monsters attack according to the monster. Some are beasts and go after those that hurt them or are the closest. Some are tactical warriors who focus fire. Some are honor bound that go one on one. Some are undead that will stop to feast. Some have area of effect attacks and will inflict additional hits to finish off opponents. Others have goals that involve defeat but aren't bloodthirsty where they won't kill.

I run them the same before revivify as after. But part of that is that pre-revivify the investment in the character and how tied they are into campaign plot arcs is less - so I can go all out regardless of their ability to self-revive.

ccs · Jul 15, 2018

Whatever their lv, I've never had any qualms about killing characters. Revivify (or it's lack) doesn't change that.
And like others I play foes individually. So some will (intentionally) finish the job, some will switch targets, sometimes there'll just be collateral damage (awhile back a downed character got trampled by the bullette the party was fighting)....

Gavin O. said:
. Or, if they are willing to kill of party members before the party gets access to this spell, what happens to the characters who get killed?

Assuming the rest of the party wins or retreats with the body? Then they usually get looted.
THEN the other players decide what to do. Haul the corpse around/home & see about a proper burial or some kind of res? Just leave it behind? A battlefield burial/cremation? Take a finger or something planning on some higher res spell?
I've also seen dead characters stuffed into Bags of Holding. Sometimes animated as a skeleton/zombie & used as a pack mule.
I saw one fallen character get eaten.... By the parties Lizardman! Said something about he hadn't eaten Gnome in ages.

As for the characters spirit? It goes to the afterlife.

And finally the character sheet gets put in folder for use some other time.

Harzel · Jul 15, 2018

As others have said, for me whether the PCs themselves have resurrection magic has no effect on how I play the monsters.

Gavin O. said:
... any party member death usually either means the DM has to handwave some reason for an NPC to revive them, ...

If by this you mean an NPC offers a rez for no good reason, I'm puzzled that you think that is the only alternative (or even one worth mentioning). It is, I believe, common practice to have, under appropriate circumstances, NPCs that offer their services for reasonable recompense, either in coin or deed (or both).

Oofta · Jul 15, 2018

I ask my players during the session 0 how risky they want the campaign to be. As a general rule, raise dead and resurrection are not simple or straightforward so they know that if they die during combat it's likely permanent.

While there is no 0 chance of dying, it can still vary quite a bit depending on monster and situation. Since healing magic is relatively common, intelligent tactical monsters may double tap to make sure people aren't back. Intelligent monsters that have encountered the group before or heard of them may attack the healer first. Unintelligent monsters will drag off victims, but may still inflict more damage as they are dragging their supper away. After all, the PC is unconscious but not dead which means they're still twitching.

So if people want that gritty feeling with death around every corner, combat can be quite fatal. Most campaigns? Most campaigns end up being on the more forgiving side and I generally avoid attacking people that are down. It depends on what the group wants.

Shiroiken · Jul 15, 2018

As others have said, my play as a DM doesn't change based on the availability of player abilities. I generally have more deaths before revivify, mostly because lower level characters are more fragile. While I seldom have creatures attack downed characters, it's based on the intelligence of the creature.

The last time I recall having done it was when a 1st level PC charged into a group of 10 kobolds and got surrounded. Due to the positioning of the combat, half the kobolds didn't have a useful action after the PC dropped on their next turn, so they stabbed him until the twitching stopped. The player was a bit upset, but I responded "you're 1st level, and charged ahead of the party to be surrounded by almost a dozen kobolds. I'm sorry, but your character suffered from terminal stupidity." It was a life lesson for him, as well as the rest of the players, because nothing like that has happened since*.

tglassy said:
Have the ghoul try to drag the player off to be eaten.

I'm a big fan of beasts and other hunger driven enemies dragging off fallen PCs. The goal of these creatures is a full stomach, not just being xp fodder for PCs.

*Technically the next time it happened was when another person was DMing and the terminally stupid character was mine :blush:

MarkB · Jul 15, 2018

Jester David said:
Smart monsters will also know that magic can rapidly bring back fallen foes and will recognise clerics, and know that their odds increase if they can keep a downed enemy down.

That's very campaign-dependent. Strictly speaking, it's extremely rare for a cleric to be able to accomplish this, because any character aside from the PCs dies immediately upon hitting zero hitpoints, and the material component for Revivify is expensive enough to not be commonly available.

ad_hoc · Jul 15, 2018

MarkB said:
That's very campaign-dependent. Strictly speaking, it's extremely rare for a cleric to be able to accomplish this, because any character aside from the PCs dies immediately upon hitting zero hitpoints, and the material component for Revivify is expensive enough to not be commonly available.

This is a side note but one of the things I think 5e got very wrong was the rules concerning what happens to a character at 0hp.

I think they should be conscious but unable to do anything. It's a common trope in action/fantasy movies for characters to be down but watching the action and perhaps saying a word or two. It would keep a player more engaged. Make healing from 0 less jarring as the character wasn't actually fully unconscious and then suddenly back into things. It would also allow for more design space like the Purple Dragon Knight's Rallying Cry getting the PC back onto their feet.

MarkB · Jul 15, 2018

ad_hoc said:
This is a side note but one of the things I think 5e got very wrong was the rules concerning what happens to a character at 0hp.

I think they should be conscious but unable to do anything. It's a common trope in action/fantasy movies for characters to be down but watching the action and perhaps saying a word or two. It would keep a player more engaged. Make healing from 0 less jarring as the character wasn't actually fully unconscious and then suddenly back into things. It would also allow for more design space like the Purple Dragon Knight's Rallying Cry getting the PC back onto their feet.

A reasonable idea. Would also allow for the occasional "Oh, I have a healing potion in my pack you can use on me" without it being too metagamey.

5ekyu · Jul 15, 2018

When I have my way, i tell the players session zero in the "death, how it happens and what next" the following...

1 You wont see your character go from active to dead by one die roll. So no massive damage rules.

2 You may see your character go from inactive to dead by several die rolls and events - see death saves for example. These will often be death by neglect as partners decline to assist.

3 You may die by die roll or by no die roll if we both agree its reasonable - your character is chosing to do something ectremely likely to kill them and we both agree beforehand - sacrifice play or. Tstl (too stupid to live)

After that we go into the after-death posdibilities which very by setting but beyond 3rd level revive type efforts its usually tougher than the book with expensive required pre-components on you when you die - soul catcher.

The understandings about death and after are core to the world and setting and help shape the whole shebang.

So it gets good time in session zero.

How NPCs deal with downed foes vary, but intelligent ones are looking to win a fight and a vulnerable downed target still alive will consume active allied actions and likely be easily put back down by sude effects, so they usually dont go out of the way to kill what may make a great hostage or bargaining chip.

At the very least tho, if the PCs use strong AoE they might stand over the downed pc.

MNblockhead · Jul 16, 2018

I stick to the RAW. I have no issues with the death save mechanic. I have no issues killing players at low levels. I'm a big fan of the funnel system where players start with four level-0 PCs. From any that survive the first adventure, they chose the once to make a 1st-level character with. The idea is that everyone is going to have at least one of the four characters die and their is a chance that all four will die. It helps players get used to the idea of characters dying and teaches them to be careful and bit more tactical early on.

As for whether I have monsters continue to attack characters at zero hit points, it depends on the nature of the creature and the specifics of the encounter. Many times in the heat of battle, you see someone go down and you move on to the next immediate threat. But there are plenty of times when this won't be the case.

A roc, who is just looking for a bite to eat, may just attack until a character is down, and then carry him off. Same with other carnivorous flying creatures who are able to carry away a medium-sized creature. Also, in a world with gian owls and eagles, why not giant vultures? They may circle battlefields and when they see someone go down they swoop down and carry the 'carrion' away. If the character makes three death saves and comes conscious, the vulture can just drop the character from a high height to finish the job.

If not in melee range with other characters, an enemy who takes down a character may make a follow-up attack to stab into the heart or cut of the head, similar to double-tap drills taught to many shooters today. I don't mean walking around stabbing corpses after a battle to make sure they are dead. I mean, a soldier could very well be taught to make a final attack after taking someone down--if combat situation allows. This would be especially the case in a world with magical healing I would think.

Then you have those who are just in a rage or blood frenzy. They don't want to just kill you, they want to rip you apart.

Other situations where enemies won't stop at zero:
Zombies, after you go down they start to devour you.
Swarms. Why would a swarm of stirges, or rats, etc. tactically move on to the next party member. They would continue to feed on the fallen. The party will have to fight the swarm off -- at the risk of further damaging the prone and unconscious party member. Swarms should be a scarier than they are typically played.
Oozes, jellies, and puddings.