D&D 5E What to do when Pc's die? What then for that player?

[was]

Go home, Charlie Brown, let us deal with the Dragonking. You go ahead and slay all that Dire Dust that's been plaguing the city.

That's a Dire Dust Bunny right?

 

[Jaelommiss]

I'm not sure what other DMs do when PCs in their games die, but I personally relish the opportunity to use my maniacal laugh.

 

[Morrus]

It's been many years since I used to punish players for character death. Not to my tastes anymore at all!

 

[Jester David]

When a character dies the player must leave the game. They're dead, they don't exist any more.
That's just how the game works.


[HI][/HI]

 

[Mouseferatu]

It's been many years since I used to punish players for character death. Not to my tastes anymore at all!

This. I don't bother with XP, just leveling as appropriate. A character dying is enough of a "penalty." I don't feel the need to further penalize the players mechanically.

And it's enough of a pet peeve that I would seriously consider leaving a campaign I was playing in if it was "everyone starts 1" or even "everyone starts any significant level below the party."

As far as "Lots of mythic/fictional heroes have lesser people around them," that's a fine way to run a campaign--if it's what the players of those "lesser people" want. But nobody should be forced into it.

 

[was]

Please..no more Chick Tracks. I try not to wish ill upon people, but this guy tempts me.

 

[Jester David]

Please..no more Chick Tracks. I try not to wish ill upon people, but this guy tempts me.

Spoilsport.

 

[Keeblrkid]

I have a list of 100 achievements I change from campaign to campaign. Each one is worth 300- to 1000 xp in 5e. When a player dies they come in at level 1 +xp equal to the achievement bonus. So, for example 2 nights ago our dwarven druid, Lycium, died at level 2. He now rolls a new character with 600 xp: 300 from the achievement, "He's Dead, Jim!" (Be the first character to die in a campaign) and an additional 300 for the achievement, "Well isn't this awkward?" (Be more than an hour early to a session).

The only limitation is that a player can not come in at a higher xp total than the party average. It has always added a good deal of fun to my games, while it does slightly punish a player for dying, it also makes sure that people who attend the sessions and earn these stupid achievements feel rewarded for being there.

 

[S_Dalsgaard]

To me, the obvious solution is to always go for a TPK.

 

[Wednesday Boy]

I prefer that everyone has the same XP and level. The penalty for character death is that you don't get to play a character that you enjoy and put time and effort in developing and playing. Penalizing the player more is unnecessary.