PC Death = Campaign Death?

[SableWyvern]

I've had three sulkers in my time. Two weren't respected enough by the group to even remotely threaten camapaign dissollution, and one of those two was sulking in a Paranoia session (What? He didn't expect to have the Team Leader demand that the registered mutant take point? He didn't expect to be shot on sight by Vulture Troopers? He didn't expect to be taken advantage of in every way by more experienced players? He didn't even expect to die when he refered to me by my real name?) - so I just got nastier and killed him more. He came round by his last clone.

The third occured when we were in our relatively early years (average age probably about 16), and the player concerned had lost around a character every two months for about three years. While quite a few of these deaths were his fault, I must admit I was well known as a killer DM at the time, and killing this particular player's characters had become second nature to me.

He sulked for about 20 minutes, claimed he would never play again, and then rolled 2 or 3 100s for stats (with a plethora of 90s) for his next character. Thus, the mighty Alron Storm was born, whose name will be remembered longest of all the PCs ever to adventure in my campaigns. And one day, perhaps, this player will come up with a plan to free his most beloved character ever from the depths of the Abyss.

 

[Cloudgatherer]

My current campaign centered around the theme of "get home" with home being an alternate prime material plane. Recently, three of my players dropped due to real life overload, and so I have a single PC who still has the overarching quest to "get home", but the rest of the party is content to stay in my campaign world (2 are natives, 1 has converted to a local religion).

While the change will cramp my "end" scenario a bit, I think I can adapt. New things are always coming up in my world .

 

[Skald]

I've played in several games where PCs have been killed (mine included). No one I've ever played with threw a fit over it, but there certainly was a sense of loss after many months or several years having grown attached to the characters.

What you may need to remind the players who throw fits over their characters' deaths are two key points.

1. Heroes are meant to die, ideally under circumstances where they are sacrificing their lives for the sake of others or for goals and ideals loftier than their own. Charging foolishly into situations that serve no purpose is not the path of heroes. For a character to die under foolish or disgraceful conditions would certainly be upsetting for the player, but hey... the player controls the character's actions. Perhaps your player was so upset because he does realize this fact, and can't stand blaming himself.

2. The road of violence ends in death, nothing more. That is the way it should be, for only when people truly realize this will they begin to take responsibility for their actions. For your player who was so traumatized over the death of his character, for him to childishly rant about it is akin to a soldier in war who complains to his commanding officer and fellow soldiers that the enemy is shooting at him, that they shouldn't be doing so, how dare they be good marksmen with their rifles, how dare they be good warriors themselves, how dare they have courage, he might die because of this, and could someone please make them stop. If your player understood this, he would have accepted the reality for what it was, which is not necessarily a good way to have one's life ended.

To avoid the possibility of players getting upset, try to start off the next adventure or campaign by letting the players know from the beginning that they will certainly be risking their lives. Maybe an NPC tells them seomething along the lines of "Some of you may not return from the task of which we ask of you, and for this I ask your forgiveness beforehand. We do, however, truly need your help..."

To illustrate a great example of "character deaths" measuring up to that of heroes, watch The 13th Warrior. I think about 8 of the 13 warriors died in the course of their adventure, including Bulwyf, the party's nominal leader and greatest warrior. They all knew what could happen to them, but still they continued...

 

[CWD]

I was running Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil tonight and EVERYONE DIED (all 6 of them)!

I just segued into Ravenloft II, which I converted over to 3rd edition. It starts with everyone dying, don't ya know.

CWD

 

[DnDChick]

House on Gryphon Hill? LOL What a coincidence! I just sent a 3e conversion of that to Morrus to post on his converted adventure site!

 

[Skald]

Another great "character death" that can be used to illustrate how a hero should die... Boromir from Fellowship of the Ring. His character was flawed yet noble, and died in a manner that most men never could, and it wasn't in vain.

 

[DnDChick]

Well the player I had in mind when I started this thread was a serious munchkin in the game, but a very good friend. I didnt want to offend him, and when he played he did contribute to the game.

Its just that he took it VERY personally when his character was "messed with," and god forbid he should ever loose a charater, even at low levels! He saw it as a failure on his part and let it affect him deeply.

He is not one to accept failure.

Unfortunately, I let this guy bully me as a player for so long, it became pretty much standard.

 

[SableWyvern]

Well the player I had in mind when I started this thread was a serious munchkin in the game, but a very good friend. I didnt want to offend him, and when he played he did contribute to the game.

Its just that he took it VERY personally when his character was "messed with," and god forbid he should ever loose a charater, even at low levels! He saw it as a failure on his part and let it affect him deeply.

He is not one to accept failure.

Unfortunately, I let this guy bully me as a player for so long, it became pretty much standard.

Ah, the plaintive cry of a mistreated DM.

If only there was some way I could assauge the pain. But alas, my good fortune in never having had such an experience leaves me unprepared to offer useful advice.

Listen well, Players, and gaze in self-loathing at the sad face DnDChick has posted.

Seriously, I'm kinda depressed now. We DMs have chosen a hard life.

 

[Skald]

This is off-topic but...

I went to DnDChick's website and took a look at the Critical Hit tables she worked up. They look pretty good to me. Go to her profile and follow the link to her website if you want to catch a glimpse at them.

Good work!

 

[SableWyvern]

We can't solve the problem, but we can say nice things to cheer you up!

I went to DnDChick's website and took a look at the Critical Hit tables she worked up. They look pretty good to me. Go to her profile and follow the link to her website if you want to catch a glimpse at them.

Good work!

Yeah, I agree, they look good to me as well. If I was looking for something like that (rather than being fanatical about damage in d&d remaining ambiguous and ultimately beyond mortal comprehension), I'd probably use them.

BTW, while the site is still sparse, its got a cool attitude (love your blonde-chick in the header).