D&D General How Often Should a PC Die in D&D 5e?

[Reynard]

I don't like the way the poll is designed so I didn't vote.

Assuming a typical campaign like those published by WotC, I think every major adventure or portion (act) of a campaign adventure should have a significant possibility of resulting in a TPK. I think campaigns need real stakes, and while death is not the only potential stakes, it is a major one in action adventure stories.

 

[TiQuinn]

I don’t really boil PC death down to a deaths per level.

I think PC deaths should occur when someone fails their 3 death saves. That simple.

 

[dave2008]

There is alot of discussion around whether 5e needs to be harder, more challenging and more deadly, so it got me to wondering just how deadly do people want their campaigns to be... I'm also curious on whether someone being a player or a DM affects the answer so feel free to let me know which you are. Finally I'd be interested in hearing why you feel your selection is the sweet spot and whether you feel it can be achieved with 5e and if not what edition or even other game you think hits your sweet spot better.

I think you are looking at it from the wrong perspective. Just because a game is more deadly doesn't mean there has to be more character deaths. I run a fairly deadly game; however, we have few to 0 character deaths because the players adjust their strategy and tactics to avoid deadly situations. If my players just jumped into every encounter and never had an out, their would be multiple deaths per level. However, the plan, research/investigate, and prepare to avoid, as much as possible, deadly encounters.

 

[dave2008]

figure things out the hard way, plan for things... yes skills too, or finding someone who can help you instead of getting everything handed on a silver platter by a spell

With only one spell cater in our group (and a low magic setting) it makes that style pretty easy for us to play in 5e

 

[KYRON45]

Shouldn't there be an option for: as often as it happens?

 

[TwoSix]

There's a couple factors at play.

In a game with few PCs (2-3), any PC death is more likely to damage narrative continuity than a game with many PCs (6-8). So I'd like to see less deaths in the smaller game.

If the game is more OSR or sandbox style, I'm much more open to frequent PC death. In a game driven by PC's agendas, I'm less of a fan.

For 5e, as a DM I tend to start at higher level so permanent death is less of a risk.

 

[KYRON45]

There are more reasons for death than just "stupid decision". Bad luck, miscalculations, heroic sacrifice, appropriate story beat, someone else does something stupid, player leaves the group. If death is never a possibility why do we track HP and why are there rules for dying?

 

[cranberry]

I didn't vote because having a schedule/doing it systematically as the survey seems to imply, doesn't make sense.

A character death should be driven by the environment they are in, and the decisions and actions they take.

IMO, the possibility of death should always be present, otherwise, you're just playing out a story with a plot shielded Mary Sue.

 

[Oofta]

The problem I have with the wording is that "should" implies that it's independent of character choices and, as I explained earlier, player preferences. I've killed off PCs, had my own PC die, had a few TPKs (admittedly none in 5E), had a lot of times where we came close to a TPK (in all editions). In my campaigns if a PC does die, it's not guaranteed they can be brought back. In fact, I can't remember a PC ever being brought back to life other than maybe once or twice with a revivify.

However, as others have stated there are many ways for the PCs to fail and death is typically the most boring option. If a PC dies the player just writes up a new character and we all move on. But if the group fails to stop the capture of the artifact that guards the city? The ongoing story of the campaign and change based on this pivot point. Depending on the scope and downstream aftereffects, failure (and success, especially unexpected success) can have dramatic long term consequences. It's one of the reasons I like to have an ongoing campaign world.

So if a PC dies it's "Hey, remember Harry the dwarf? Yeah, the dwarf cursed with facial baldness. How did he die again?" Meanwhile failure can make for a fun rallying cry and story turning point "It all makes sense now, but this city fell because we failed. We vow to not fail again! Remember the Omala!"

 

[Crimson Longinus]

What a weird poll. I voted "once in campaign," but it it is not that these things are one some sort of a schedule. I want character death to be rare but possible. I also do not like resurrection magic (apart revivify,) once you're dead, you're dead. Character death, were it to occur, should be an impactful and dramatic thing, not a temporary inconvenience.