Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="MostlyDm" data-source="post: 7014311" data-attributes="member: 6788973">I'm curious how other people handle PC death, and what general opinions are.  I don't much care for polls; I'm more interested in a conversation.Here's how I handle it.First of all, I play with a lot of kids, people unfamiliar with RPGs, and parents who haven't played much in 10+ years.  So, a lot of people who aren't super familiar with D&D.  I also play some games with a core of hardened grognards.One house rule I've begun implementing for the groups of new players is, for lack of a better term, Death Flags.  In Session Zero I ask each player how they feel about their character dying.  Is that something that they recognize is a natural, reasonable possibility? Are they okay with it? Will losing their character before they feel like the character's "story" has been told be something that is really frustrating and un-fun?If so, I flag them as unkillable.  Here's the thing... I think that failure should always be an option.  I prefer running unleveled open worlds without encounter zones or tailored adventures.  I don't have any interest in fudging at the table, either.  None of this probably sounds consistent with having unkillable PCs.So what happens is simple: If they're going to die, they still die, in game mechanics terms anyway.  They make death saves, they stop making them if they get three failures, etc.But, for the people flagged as unkillable, three failed death saves isn't the end of their story, even if they are too low level to have ready access to resurrection magic.  Perhaps I will provide an alternate means of resurrection, that leaves them in the pocket of whoever resurrected them.  Perhaps they simply didn't die, and groggily regain consciousness, badly injured, some time later.Whatever the outcome, it will be based on the situation surrounding their "death" and it will come with some sort of long-term drawback.In practice, there are two groups I have used this system with.  In a party of 5 PCs, only 2 have opted to be unkillable.  In a party of 6, we have an even 50/50 split.  In both cases, the kids who decided they don't want to be able to die also specifically said they might change their mind later, but they want to get a feel for the character first.So far, I've had one unkillable character "die," a level 1 rogue who ate a 5d8 thunder damage shatter type effect off a magic item when they were taking on a buffed up Veteran and his guards.  5d8, con save for half, is a tough pill to swallow as a level 1, CON 10 rogue with 8 HP. Died outright, no death saves.Instead of dying, she's suffered some permanent hearing loss, imposing disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely solely upon hearing.  I let her know that I might give her advantage on saves against magic that explicitly requires the target hear the caster, though, such as vicious mockery or suggestion. Assuming she's a decent distance away in the middle of a fight, anyway... someone using suggestion at point blank range during a social scene, probably not.This policy seems to be working out really well so far.  So much so that I might start offering it as an option for my grognards, though I suspect their initial reaction will be to scoff.If you made it this far, thanks!  So, how about you guys?  Do you let the chips fall where they may? Do you fudge to save PCs in certain circumstances?</blockquote>

Verification