Character dies mid-adventure

[buchw001]

We have had characters die before, but they were either brought back to life (Higher level so OK for both DM and players), or died valiantly (Lower level and for specific reasons no raise possible) in the final battle and will never be forgotten by other PC's (OK for both again).

How would you handle re-rolling a new PC for a lower level party (say up to 4th level) if they died in a situation where raising was not possible, but the adventure was far from finished?

 

[Tabarnak Smokeblower]

I'm not sure I understand the question correctly, but do you mean what happens when a character dies in mid-adventure, is abandoned, and another, fresh character joins the party?

Unless the other characters are in a remote location, there is always an easy way to have another PC arrive out of the blue. Maybe it was a former NPC who wants to join the PC's in their quest, maybe they find a prisoner of some sort, maybe its a long lost friend who shows up just at the right moment...

Whatever the reason you might invoke, its more or less a rapid way of integrating the player into the action again, so that he (or she) doesn't have to go in the living room and watch TV for an hour or two.

In that line of thought (well this has been true for my group), the other players usually want a complete party as fast as possible, so that they can tackle the problems at hand...

Hope this helps

TS

 

[BigFreekinGoblinoid]

Not mid-dungeon that's for sure. Depends on the situation of the adventure of course, but generally I would wait for a logical time to introduce the new character. If that means waiting until the party emerges to a likely place, then so be it. The player just has to be patient - work out a plan and communicate that to your player privately ( or work on it together ). It might even affect his race/classs decision.

Of couse you can be really kind and allow the rest of the party to find an "imprisioned" ( or some other such plot bender )replacement someplace...

The real question the players should have is what they are gonna do with their fallen comrade. If they have raised dead characters in the past, why wouldn't they abandon the adventure to get this guy taken care of?

 

[buchw001]

The real question the players should have is what they are gonna do with their fallen comrade. If they have raised dead characters in the past, why wouldn't they abandon the adventure to get this guy taken care of?

In the past the party had a character with access to raise the dead spell. This will be a DIFFERENT lower level party (without this type of magic or the $$ to pay for it).

Actually I am just planning for the worst. I don't want anyone to die, but (as we all know) at lower levels characters can have a woops moment.

I feel confident that I can create a valid/interesting why the NEW character will join the party; however, I was wondering what y'all thought about his level.

Should I make him/her start from 1st level, average party level, one level below thw lowest PC?

What do you guys think?

 

[Hardhead]

My suggestion would be two levels below his dead character, or one level below the lowest level party member. Whichever is better.

 

[Shaele]

A different answer

I have them reroll a character with experience equal to the lowest-level person in the party.

Other folks will suggest that you make the new character 1 or 2 levels lower than the other party members, but I've never liked that approach: it feels like you're punishing the player whose character died. Sometimes characters die, and players enjoy it more when they can come back as a character they want to play, at the same level of effectiveness as the rest of the group.

Of course, I'm lucky - nobody in our group would dream of abusing this and intentionally killing off characters. Most would much rather take the level loss of being raised than to have to retire a character. This makes it hurt a little less

 

[BigFreekinGoblinoid]

Whats good enough for mearls is good enough for me : 1 level lower than average party level.

- Per his why I love being the DM thread...

"BTW, my policy for character death is that you come in one level behind the
survivors' average. If everyone dies, I take the complete party's average level
and you all start a level below that."


http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=56115

 

[sithramir]

Thank god I don't play you your guys rules. You would have a very power different group. If all 4th then he comes in 3 and then they all reach 5 (him 4) and another 5 level guy dies? He comes in at level 3 or 4? now you've got people a level or 2 apart. Why not just at the same level if the group is all the same level so they they are equal? Maybe just have them at the base exp of that level that way they're probably still a bit lower. If that fighter died saving the mage from attacks if I was the player i'd say screw that the mage can be 1 level lower than the rest of the party with his new character and just protect myself.

 

[BigFreekinGoblinoid]

Thank god I don't play you your guys rules. You would have a very power different group. If all 4th then he comes in 3 and then they all reach 5 (him 4) and another 5 level guy dies? He comes in at level 3 or 4? now you've got people a level or 2 apart. Why not just at the same level if the group is all the same level so they they are equal? Maybe just have them at the base exp of that level that way they're probably still a bit lower. If that fighter died saving the mage from attacks if I was the player i'd say screw that the mage can be 1 level lower than the rest of the party with his new character and just protect myself.

Well, I'm not EXACTLY sure what you are saying, but keep in mind that a character 1 level lower tends to almost "catch-up" fairly quickly due to the increased number of experience points needed as you progress to higher levels.

Many player deaths result from the player doing something stupid anyway. There SHOULD be a penalty for that.

Tip for newbie players ( and one of my players from last session that has been gaming for 20+ years ) If the bottle you find in the dead priest's tomb has a note that reads "drink me" :

- DON'T !

Not without a "detect poison" cast first anyway...

 

[Sixchan]

For me, it depends on the situation. If the player does something stupid to get himself killed, then he comes in one level below the average. If a player dies from bad rolling, or though roleplay, then he comes in at the same level. This also applies to raising in this case, although it is usually impossible to raise characters who have died of plot (kinda like Aeris in FFVII).