Character Death from DM perspective

[baradtgnome]

I think it has been mostly said here, change the economics, make clerics who are able to bring them back scarce, create other challenges when they come back (scarring, ability loss, change of body perhaps, loss of some abilities until a quest of some sort?).

IMC I have always made ressurrection scarce, so that is what the players know. You have to figure out what method you are comfortable with to change their reality.

If you are concerned with changing the behavior of the offending cleric, why not a ressurection that includes a penalty/geas on the 'murderer'? If the poor wizard who was toasted by the cleric was a friend of the resource who brought her back - why wouldn't that more powerful cleric choose to 'penalize' the careless offender? Even CN characters must realize there can be a cause and effect on their actions.

I do think that your players need to confront the offending cleric in game - either he is a good team player or not.

 

[GoldenEagle]

Loss of a level is a pretty good deterrent.

I agree that the cleric may be the problem. IMC a player gets 0 experience for the session if they hurt another players PC with an area effect spell or otherwise.

GE

 

[Feanor Starym]

how i work it in my game is that the largest remaining portion of the body is required, regardless of whether it is raise dead, resurrection or even true res.

It makes for interesting twists in the game, where the PCs can't afford to retreat without their companions bodies. That, and it makes undeath even more hideous, as undead are people with their souls trapped in their earthly remains.

 

[Erithtotl]

I have to chime in on the level loss issue. I played in a campaign where the DM made an artifact available to the party at a low level that could raise dead once every few weeks (we had to go on a long quest for it), because he wanted to keep the party together throughout the campaign. My character died twice and I was incredibly upset when it happend, as losing a level felt like a couple months of work (playing every other week) down the drain. Unless you have really rapid advancement I can't imagine how level loss isn't a sizeable enough punishment, unless these guys are 18+ level and can cast true ressurection, in which case, yeah, maybe they shouldn't fear death, but they should have some pretty dangerous opponents.

 

[EtherHulkRending]

Something else you could do is toss an Inevitable at the party. One of the inevitables is a creature that ruthlessly hunts down those who would deny death. Being raised too often is listed as possibly drawing the attention of one. They are in the MM now so keep tossing them at the party till you rid them of the the "frequent-diers"