Bring out your dead.

[Inconsequenti-AL]

This is something I've been wondering about recently... havn't seen any threads about it, so here goes: What happens with dead PCs in your campaigns?

Never let a PC die?

Drop a level? What about XP they've gained in their current level?

Start them again at 1st level?

Live roleplay it and hide the bodies in the freezer?

New character, no items?

Lets not forget resurection magic...

What happens to the PCs toys? Buried with them? Sold for big $$$$?

 

[Steverooo]

This is something I've been wondering about recently... havn't seen any threads about it, so here goes: What happens with dead PCs in your campaigns?

Never let a PC die?

Drop a level? What about XP they've gained in their current level?

Start them again at 1st level?

Live roleplay it and hide the bodies in the freezer?

New character, no items?

Lets not forget resurection magic...

What happens to the PCs toys? Buried with them? Sold for big $$$$?

PCs die. If they can't be rezzed, we bury them (usually after a bit of running around to temples, and such). "If you die, we're splitting up your stuff!" Unrezzed PCs' players then roll up a new PC.

 

[Inconsequenti-AL]

PCs die. If they can't be rezzed, we bury them (usually after a bit of running around to temples, and such). "If you die, we're splitting up your stuff!" Unrezzed PCs' players then roll up a new PC.

That's what I was wondering about... What level does the new character end up at? Given that the old characters stuff have been split up/sold or eaten... what does the new guy get in the way of toys?

 

[DragonLancer]

This is something I've been wondering about recently... havn't seen any threads about it, so here goes: What happens with dead PCs in your campaigns?

Never let a PC die?

Drop a level? What about XP they've gained in their current level?

Start them again at 1st level?

Live roleplay it and hide the bodies in the freezer?

New character, no items?

Lets not forget resurection magic...

What happens to the PCs toys? Buried with them? Sold for big $$$$?

In my games the players usually try to fork out the gold for a ress or similar spell. Otherwise the deceased is buried after the party look his still warm corpse for magical items and gold.

 

[Ottergame]

I used to play in a DMs game who pretty much killed a PC a week. Since we knew that was his goal, we'd roll up characters are load them with one or two big budget magic items and let him get killed. The magic items would go back into the party, then someone else would die the next weak. We managed to stockpile quite a large sum of items before the DM started to catch on, then we stopped.

We exploited our DM quite nicely.

 

[Nightfall]

Generally, dead PCs stay dead unless they have access to res magic. And then it varies from case to case.

 

[Jeph]

Dead PCs are DEAD, dee ee ay dee. No ressurections without direct divine intervention and a good bit of plane hopping, and even that is considered blasphemous necromancy. The new PC for that player must be a character built along distinctly different lines, and starts one level below the lowest level PC in the group, minimum 1st.

 

[Inconsequenti-AL]

Dead PCs are DEAD, dee ee ay dee. No ressurections without direct divine intervention and a good bit of plane hopping, and even that is considered blasphemous necromancy. The new PC for that player must be a character built along distinctly different lines, and starts one level below the lowest level PC in the group, minimum 1st.

Interesting stuff!

What sort of level is that kicking around at?

What's the DMs take on death magic/Save or die abilities/etc?

 

[Grazzt]

PCs die in my campaign. Dead characters are buried/burned/whatever the tradition is for their race/culture....if possible. (Raising or resurrection are possible, just really rare and scarce.)

As for their gear and belongings, since we use a variation on the 1e character sheets, each PC has a Will that tells exactly what is supposed to be done with his gear and stuff when/if he perishes.

 

[DaveMage]

In my games, it depends on the premise.

If I'm running a module, I warn the players if it's going to be a challenge or not. (Once I even had them bring in 2 characters each because I had a feeling that they all would not survive.) This way they understand that permanent death is possible.

If I'm running a homebrew, I usually provide means for them to bring their characters back, usually by draining their purses.

My group is one that gets very attached to its characters, so we have more fun if there is at least a way to bring them back.

As a DM (and because of the group I referree), I'd prefer the characters survive to reach the end of the story. If they die in the final battle, well, that's OK.