D&D General Continuing a Campaign (with the same PCs) after a TPK

[ph0rk]

I'd be strongly tempted to make the old PCs small-time legends (big time legends have a greater come-home rate), and make new PCs in that world. They might be relatives, friends, or otherwise attached, but they might be entirely new unattached characters (as some will want that option, I might).

It could be a generation later, five years, or a couple months - any can work, and there is now some rich backstory for the players that want to work with it, as well as a chance to do something different for those that want that.

 

[AmerginLiath]

Grab the new Ravenloft book. The PCs wake up seemingly a few hours later on the abandoned battlefield, batting away some carrion birds pecking at them. Something seems…off about the terrain around them, but they cant quite place it. And why don’t these wounds seem as fresh as they should be?

 

[tommybahama]

If your players are taking notes you can assume the characters are writing in journals as well. So as long as their bodies aren't completely incinerated you can assume their journals are found by the next adventuring party so no campaign knowledge is lost and continuity is maintained.

 

[Weiley31]

Well you got Reborns now, Hollow One Supernatural Gift from Theros as well as the Revenants from the one UA. You most certainly have your pick for poisons when it comes to life after death options for PCs.

You could even use the Deathless Nature from the UA or the new Ravenloft's book if ya really wanted to go that far. Note that route would mean you'd have to adjust to a number of "quirks" like healing being interesting, but at least potions and certain spells still work though.

 

[aco175]

Last time it happened was back in 3e with the Age or Worms campaign. We were 2nd level and met an ogre in the tavern and ended up fighting him at 2nd level instead of at 6th level. The DM asked if we wanted to ret-con the encounter and talk to him instead of starting a new game. None of the players minded.

 

[Ganders]

There doesn't need to be clear in-character explanation. It's possible to just decide, as a group of players, to restart. Just because you want to. Almost like starting from a save point in a video game.

But that might seem too cheap, like cheating, and players could feel guilty for continuing like that. One solution is to make it a Groundhog Day scenario. The characters have to do the day over again. And if they don't do better, they have to do it again... and again... until they get it right. That way, when the group does move on, there's more a feeling of having earned it, and they'll feel less undeserving.

 

[jgsugden]

Other ideas:

• Revenants.
• Allies bring the PCs back.
• Don't explain it right away. They wake up, without their equipment, nearby. They have to uncover what brought them back - and why. You can figure it out in advance, or wait for inspiration to strike and then tie it to an unfolding event in the game.
• It didn't happen. If a cleric has cast the right divination spells recently, or used their divine intervention, rewind to that point and explain that the spell revealed the future if the PCs follow that path...
• Rewind and don't explain why. Then, as the PCs continue to adventure, introduce a 'multiverse' storyline and have them visit the world where they died in that battle, and see the difference they've made in their universe.
• An archaeologist raises them a thousand years later to study them. They can escape and use magic to return to the past (creating a branching timeline).
• An enemy of the group that killed the PCs brings the PCs back (which is a flavor on th deal with the devil, but it doesn't necessarily involve a deal).

 

[oreofox]

I had this happen recently. I "fixed" it by having their NPC companion (the only one to survive the fight, by running away) recover a chunk of their body, take it to a druid, and they got reincarnated into new bodies. Since it was still level 1, they didn't have the diamonds required, so now they are indebted to the druids. The only reason I did this is because my two players are really interested in this little seasonal mini-adventure that they wanted to continue with it. So, I went the reincarnation route.