All PC dead, what to do?

[danzig138]

Grab the dice

Roll up new characters and start a new game, either connected or not to this one.

And don't fudge dice for the sake of story as recommended by another poster.

 

[Plane Sailing]

What would I do?

Turn it into a capture scenario. The coup de grace was with a sap, not a shortsword, and each of the PCs was knocked out. They wake up in the prison of the guy who hired the rogue to get them, due to be questioned in a few days time. They then have the opportunity to escape from the prison, find their stuff, kick off the adventure in a new direction (and with a new enemy that they can really hate).

Thats what I'd do.

 

[Crothian]

And don't fudge dice for the sake of story as recommended by another poster.

There is nothing wrong with doing that. Some people don't like to just throw away 31 game sessions.

 

[Aeolius]

The PCs awaken in the laboratory of a mad mage, only to discover they have been transformed into sentient skeletons...

 

[theredrobedwizard]

Honestly, I can't believe that no one made their save vs massive damage. Average damage on 4d6+2 is 13. DC 23 Fortitude save isn't *that* hard at 7th level, especially for the fightertypes. Granted, it's still difficult, but the average 5th level character in my campaign has a fortitude of +6 or more. Sure, they'd have to roll a 17, but with a better Con score or more levels/magic items, that target number would get substantially lower.

Anyway, on to the point. What module was this? Was it meant to be a TPK?

My solution? Continue the campaign in the afterlife. All the PCs go to Limbo / The Astral Plane / etc. and have to earn their mortality back. After a couple of adventures, the PCs regain their lives and are shunted back to the moment before the assassin began to pick the lock. Now, with an extra level or so (in addition to being awake), the assassin fails miserably.

It strains belief a bit, but that's what RPGs are about.

-TRRW

 

[Crothian]

The PCs awaken in the laboratory of a mad mage, only to discover they have been transformed into sentient skeletons...

There brains have been swapped. Mix and match character abilities. For instance they keep their own Int Wis and Cha scores but gain the Str, Dex, and Con of the new body their brain is in!!

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

And don't fudge dice for the sake of story as recommended by another poster.

As the person who suggested the fudge, I respond:

It is one thing to have a TPK because the PCs made bad decisions, or had a series of bad rolls in combat, or as a stepping stone to the next phase of the adventure (say, through the afterlife)- those things happen, and when they do, people still generally have a good time.

It is quite another to have a TPK because of some failed skill checks that effectively rendered a competent party essentially helpless. Its anticlimactic, its antiheroic. It isn't any fun for anyone, except possibly certain DMs.

Players want to play the game to succeed, or at least go out with a bang. Even the occasional accidental, anticlimactic death is OK...

But an anticlimactic TPK is simply distateful on many levels, at least to me.

And to judge from the original post, it was quite distasteful to the OP's game group as well.

 

[Gold Roger]

All PC dead, what to do?

Take their stuff?


Meh, sooner or later somebody had to say it.



I dunno, this is quite a messy situation you got there.

I'm no great fan of "rewinding" things. If you are unlike me in that regard, I guess that may be the way to go.

If you won't rewind, discussing what you could/should have done differently won't help.

I guess if the PC's have some unfinished business, you might want to consider letting them stay in this world as gosts, give them a time limit, limited area of influence and some harsh esoteric restrictions.

They need to either have it arranged that they get raised or finish their business within those limitation, otherwhise afterlife claims them and they are truly lost. Don't make it to hard, but fun.

I believe every bad situation in the game can be turned into a plothook to make it more exiting.

 

[Enkhidu]

I'm of the mind that situations like this (non-combat TPKs) call for going the extra mile as a DM. In this case, you could always do something like this:

The rogue wasn't the one who's skill defeated the PCs, it was the sword - a powerful and semi-intelligent weapon in its own right. Why is it powerful? Because it eats and absorbs essences, gaining the skills and powers of those it has consumed, drawing in special spirits by delivering what would be a killing stroke. And, of course, the PCs (who are special by default - they're PCs!) are next on the menu.

So what happens next? The PC need to escape of course, fighting their way toward whatever exits you deem suitable, through whatever landscapes the sword has cobbled together from the memories of its victims (and possibly over the bodies of the victims too). PCs that fall in battle this time are dead, of course, consumed by the sword, but those that survive escape, their spirits returning to their bodies (likely panicking the gravediggers or undertakers).

It might smack of deus ex machina, but you might b able to pull it off. Either way, have fun!

 

[der_kluge]

Well, you certainly won't do that again, will you?


You made your bed, now sleep in it.


Either you own up to your mistake to your players, or you start a new campaign.