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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Urriak Uruk" data-source="post: 8274012" data-attributes="member: 7015558">Full disclosure, this post is inspired partly by this video;[MEDIA=youtube]t0VaD80ACBU[/MEDIA]So, let's say you are running your campaign... and the PCs suddenly make a bad decision, getting themselves into a tougher-than-expected-combat. The PCs are rolling badly. The enemies are rolling well. The cleric goes down. Then another PC. Then a third. The cleric has failed his death saves, the enemies are closing on the barbarian... it's a Total Party Kill. And you, the DM, know there's no way these baddies are going to leave the job unfinished.Believe it or not, I don't believe most DMs are excited when this happens. The players obviously get invested in their characters, but a decent DM is going to get invested too... maybe their next villain is pulled from a character's backstory, or the fighter is secretly the lost prince to the throne, or maybe they just enjoyed their comraderies.Anyway, the point is, sometimes you don't want to let the story end with the PCs dead and the players having to roll up new characters. So, how do you continue a campaign when all your characters are dead? Not captured by the way; DEAD. Those death saves are rolled, and doggone it, you aint a DM who wants to retcon!So here are three ideas on how to keep the same party of PCs going, even when they hit an untimely demise.1. Deal with the DevilSimple, but effective. The party is dead, but their souls are brought forth before a powerful, planar entity. This can be anything, from a Archdevil, a Celestial, an Archfey... anyone whose got enough power to twist the wheels of fate so that the PCs souls are sent back to their bodies (or entirely new ones). This could be a malicious force, like Zariel demanding servitude in exchange for another try at living, or it could be a Deva who needs assistance in pushing back an incursion in Mount Celestia. This favor could be cashed in immedietly, as the Fey require assistance with a monster in their grove right now, or it could be a contract that doesn't come due until the characters are alive again. This option has the added benefit of giving the players a choice; they can turn it down, sealing the PCs deceased fate. Or, they can accept the consequences of a deal!2. Escape the AfterlifeThis one is a little more wild... what if the PCs are given the opportunity to pull one over on the jailors of death, and make an escape attempt? Think of how in Greek Myths, heroes cheated death by tricking the Reaper or simply trying to fight their way out of the Underworld. The opportunity for an escape could be as simple as the Boatmen falling asleep at the wheel, and the PCs have the opportunity to seize control of the boat and try to sail back for the living. Or maybe, an angel gets a little impudent and decides to slip a PC the key to their bonds, in hopes they can escape heaven and return to their bodies. This could be a short "Fight our way to the portal to the Material Plane!" or a longer traipsing through the planes as Inevitables are sent to drag the heroes back to the afterlife.3. Roleplay the UndeadThis one is perhaps the most out-of-the-box, but let's say your party has been killed, but some time has gone by. A mad scientist (for fun, we'll say Mordenheim) has brought the party back to life, their souls returned to their bodies... their stitched together, slightly misshapen bodies. This requires a bit of buy-in from your players of course, with the additional caveat of how this might change their personalities. But there are loads of reasons why a unscrupulous villain may find it useful to bring back dead heroes. A vampire could bring the party back as their new spawn, or a hag might need new revenant foot bodyguards. With the new Van Richten rules, these are all possible. Of course, what the villain doesn't know is the the PCs have maintained a bit of their personality, and maybe even a bit of free will. As soon as their eyes are turned, they may find the PCs ready to smash a flowerpot over their head, or run off when the master is away.Those are my ideas; do you have some of your own?</blockquote>

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