D&D 5E Do PCs at your table have script immunity?

[Vaalingrade]

It always seems to me the people enthusiastiac about death possibility in these discussions aren’t the people doing the dying. Or aren’t the people that spent months working on a backstory For a promised year plus campaign. The answer is never what the dm wants their Game to be like really I think, it’s what the players want, the majority wants, everyone gets a vote but the dm just has one.

In my experience, most people's approach to death doesn't vary whether they're the player or DM. It's more about how they view stakes and how they view investment in their character.

Typically, people who like death view it as the ultimate or most important stake (or even the only one) and/or put the onus of those stakes on the player rather than the character. They also are much more likely to not be so attached to their character and just ready to roll a new one. Not universal obviously (I'm sure someone will write at least five paragraphs berating me on that point despite this very disclaimer), so I think it's unfair to them to suggest they prefer lethality because they're not doing the dying.

 

[Smackpixi]

We’ll, like I said, it’s a discussion, cause I feel like its a rare group tha says oh, you died. Sucks, you’re out till we finish this campaign, we’ll call you in 8 months When it’s done. Maybe some people do that, but that’s really weird to me. I feel like no matter what happens, we’re ALL gonna continue playing d&d next week.

 

[overgeeked]

It always seems to me the people enthusiastiac about death possibility in these discussions aren’t the people doing the dying.

As a player I don’t want characters immune from their choices. Mine or others. I like making characters and trying new stuff.

Or aren’t the people that spent months working on a backstory for a promised year plus campaign.

Why would you ever do that? If you’re starting at low levels your character hasn’t done anything worth writing a backstory about. You’re a farmer fresh off the farm or a noble fresh off the estate. That’s a few sentences of backstory at most.

The answer is never what the dm wants their Game to be like really I think, it’s what the players want, the majority wants, everyone gets a vote but the dm just has one.

It always seems to me it’s mostly people who don’t have to put in the work DMing who think it is a democracy, or should be one.

I feel like TPKs or player deaths should be allowed to happen, but then the players determine what’s next. Is resurrection a possibility or not? Is the TPK the end or do you want something to follow? I get how revealing that the end may not be the end if the players/s don’t want it to be removes the scariness of death For future deaths, but again, it’s what the players want. Take some time with the death, what do we all think this should mean, what kind of game are we playing…all that.

Yeah, the players can always decide to roll up new characters and keep playing. As long as what’s going on in the game wasn’t wrapped up in those dead characters specifically, it’s simple to keep going. One major reason not to do character-centric games.

Some DMs want these to be hard rules set ahead of time cause they believe it makes things matter.

Because it does.

I don’t think it does.

I couldn’t disagree more.

Feel like every death is a discussion, what does this one mean, and how are we gonna handle it.

In a fantasy land with magic, death, dragons, armies, and undead hordes...life is cheap and death is easy. There’s not much to discuss unless the players want to milk the deaths for pathos.

 

[overgeeked]

We’ll, like I said, it’s a discussion, cause I feel like its a rare group tha says oh, you died. Sucks, you’re out till we finish this campaign, we’ll call you in 8 months When it’s done. Maybe some people do that, but that’s really weird to me. I feel like no matter what happens, we’re ALL gonna continue playing d&d next week.

Absolutely. This is also why having hirelings is great. Turn one of them into the replacement PC. Short term or long term. Never leave anyone out of the game any longer than absolutely necessary. Hell, drop in a prisoner in the next room if you have to. Leave no player behind.

 

[Smackpixi]

Doesn’t sound like you’re playing a 5e D&D game. My thoughts were for such where it’s common for people to have more developed characters, and be more emotionally invested in them before they even start the game.

 

[MGibster]

Good adventure stories are about the journey, not the destination.

I get where you're coming from, but the G in RPG stands for game. We're not just telling a story we're playing a game. In the vast majority of games I run, death is always on the table. Any encounter where both parties are using deadly weapons, the possibility of death is looming in the background. Personally, I'm fine with my characters dying in D&D and some of my most memorable moments as both a player and a GM have been character deaths. When I ran Ravenloft once, the halfling Rogue thought it was a good idea to follow the ghosts coming out of Strahd's castle and go inside. Alone. I'm playing in an Eberron campaign now and my bard died the very first session. It was a hilarious run of bad luck.

 

[loverdrive]

Generally, whether they have it or not depends on whether the rules provide it. I used to mod in "no death" stuff into 5E, but not anymore.

 

[toucanbuzz]

I've tried story-script immunity, but it felt too much like I was walking characters through a book I had written. They couldn't die because I had a story to tell. Once you get the feeling your character can't really die, then rolling the dice isn't really that exciting anymore. And yes, this has been debated that there's more than one way to experience failure (e.g. your choices or bad dice rolls mean the village gets smothered in lava), but in my experience the one that really gets the heart beating, the anxiety going, the excitement rolling, is risk of losing your character.

That said, I really hate a pointless death. I love this quote from a Star Trek character (who died a pointless death in Season 1, and in a future time-warp episode, got a second chance at it):

“I died a senseless death in the other timeline. I didn't like the sound of that, Captain. I've always known the risks that come with a Starfleet uniform. If I am to die in one, I'd like my death to count for something.”

 

[Umbran]

In some campaigns yes, in some campaigns no. At some moments, I may decide to give some script immunity, others not.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Voted 2. I generally consider doing incredibly risky and foolish things to be player buy-in wrt PC death, but they aren’t gonna die because a random mook got a crit and I rolled max damage.

Otoh, I’m facing a situation where a PC I am deeply invested in might die next session. I used my flying armor to scout a castle tower where an unknown monster had holed up and was taking nearby villagers, and when I tried to stealth I got caught in spite of a very good roll, and the BEHIR zapped my level 9 Rogue Wizard. Thank goodness I made my save and then used Absorb Elements to half the damage again, because the 60ish damage the DM rolled would have taken me out in one go, and the fall would have given me a failed death save.

But…then I barrel rolled in through the window and tried to get a good hit on the thing…and missed even with advantage (a 3 and a 7).

And we ended the session there. The rest of the team is at least a round away. Basically if I win initiative next session, I’ll attack it so it can’t OA me (swashbuckler) and sprint to that window and jump. If I lose initiative…I might very well die before my turn comes.

At which point my DM and I will discuss how I want to go forward. There is an NPC that can probably bring me back, and another character already came back as a revenant at the start of the campaign.
Whatever happens, it will be dramatic and emotional and engaging.