A PC died in my campaign on Saturday

[Darklone]

mhensley and Tewligan:

Yeah, somehow you're both right. Still, for me the players action made sense... in a heroic way. Certainly the DM might have done something else...

But I don't like pulling the punches. Either I use CdG in that situation or I houserule it at the beginning of a campaign. But I would not let my NPCs act foolish. And anything but killing the char who failed his Hold Person save would have been foolish for the high priest and the grimlocks.

The player went heroic, the DM acted accordingly and the PC died ... because he failed his saves. That's bad luck. Like if you fail a Slay Living save. Or any other save or die spell. Welcome to D&D, save or die.

 

[Arnwyn]

How do you all handle these sort of situations? What do you think of PC Deaths,? DO you feel that the RAW can be so lethal at times, or do you play, "Let the dice fall where they may..." and be done with it?

How do you handle the fact that it sucks to have a PC die when you have invested time and emotion into it?

This:

I know a lot of DMs and players aren't as affected by PC deaths, and some are downright flippant about it,

Been there, done that, it's part of the game, and for us sucks no more than paying rent in Monopoly.

Nothing to "handle", for us.

 

[DestroyYouAlot]

Ah so you need to design your character so he's only brave when he has two or more friends around?

No, you need to accept that heroes die sometimes.

This is no judgment at all of your decision to use it, but I absolutely hate the idea of CdG. Hate it. That situation was entirely avoidable by simply having the guards attack him and to a ton of damage. Hopefully the party catches up the next turn, and he gets another saving throw.

But yeah, CdG are no fun at all.

Hell, at least you get a save. Traditionally (i.e., pre-d20), if an able-bodied, armed character or monster can get to a helpless character or monster, with a free round and nobody to interfere, they can just plain kill'em - end of story; fin. Get out your 3d6.

 

[catsclaw227]

How do you all handle these sort of situations? What do you think of PC Deaths,? DO you feel that the RAW can be so lethal at times, or do you play, "Let the dice fall where they may..." and be done with it?

How do you handle the fact that it sucks to have a PC die when you have invested time and emotion into it?

Been there, done that, it's part of the game, and for us sucks no more than paying rent in Monopoly.

Nothing to "handle", for us.

Different strokes...(and all that). I've played in games like this before and I personally didn't care for the disposable nature of PCs that I felt from it.

 

[pogre]

Others have said it, but to echo their thoughts - do what is fun for your group. Point blank ask the player if s/he thinks the game will be less fun in the long run if the PC's death is ignored. Most players in my campaign would take the rare death, but your group may differ. Clerics in my group's parties usually have connections to a powerful temple with someone who can resurrect - the price for such rituals is usually steep and full of adventure!

 

[Doug McCrae]

Hell, at least you get a save. Traditionally (i.e., pre-d20), if an able-bodied, armed character or monster can get to a helpless character or monster, with a free round and nobody to interfere, they can just plain kill'em - end of story; fin. Get out your 3d6.

High PC turnover worked in the days of multiple PCs per player, henchmen and characters defined by their six attributes, magic items and nothing else. Not so much now when they have mechanical complexity, background and personality. Heck, I hear some PCs even have names now.

 

[Simm]

Just a thought. How would it change if all CdGs were ruled nonlethal. Either a CdG puts somone down to say -1 and stable or results in nonleathal damage enough to put them unconcious.

 

[DrunkonDuty]

Hey Catsclaw, I think everyone in your group, yourself included, played it just fine. The heroic barbarian rushed off to the rescue, the vicious monster killed him (viciously). As many folks have said already: it aint heroism if there's no risk.

I'm not keen on killing PC but I'd have done exactly the same thing as you did in that situation. The bad guy's action were appropriate for that bad guy in that situation.

Even better is the way you're going to handle it after chatting with the player. Sounds like a win all round.

keep up the good work.

cheers,
Glen