Dead Character Prevents Plot

[Dannyalcatraz]

Elswhere, I've described how Warforged originated in my homebrew as weapons- receptacles for the consciousnesses of soldiers who were psionically active (to work the construct bodies) but physically incapacitated. Think Cybermen or Daleks.

They were "doomsday" weapons for a race that hired Dwarves to make them. However, instead of paying the Dwarves, they double-crossed them, but the Dwarves used the Warforged bodies themselves in a last-ditch effort to save themselves.

Now, those Warforged Dwarves are all that is left of either race, and they call themselves Inheritors.

In your world, Warforged could have similar origins, so inert Warforged bodies could be cached in many places throughout the campaign world.

Another take on this could be similar to what happened in the Classic Trek episode, Return To Tomorrow or the SG: Atlantis Episode, Duet. Your Pal winds up sharing control of the Warforged's body for a limited time, something the Warforged is willing to do...but there will be consequences. Sometimes, the body has control problems (negative dex mods), or they struggle over who is in command (negative initiative mods).

The hourglass is losing sand rapidly, though, for the situation is unstable. Ultimately, one consciousness or the other has to go, or both may die.

 

[lightgun_suicide]

I've just run into a big wall, as far as my plot is concerned. Not in the sense that I have nowhere left to go, story-wise, but a character was killed, and I don't know a way to bring him back. I'll give a brief background of what's going on:

Okay, so I'm playing 'Scepter Tower of Spellgard' module, to lead into original material upon its finish. One of my players (dragonborn) brother is behind taking the tower, and I am thinking of making him a prominent bad guy after he robbed the party (this was a while back). Anyway, they've been giving him chase, and I'm thinking of ways to have him try to (maybe) enslave the oracle and such. It's all boiling down to this last (hopefully) epic battle. Anyway, the dragonborn character (party side) has died in a very close battle. Not a foolish defeat, or a wipeout. Everyone just made it through battle by a hair. He managed to fail his death saves, making it the only death, and very close at that.

It's right near the end, and I need some ideas to bring him back without giving the party the idea that they can do whatever they want and be ressurrected.

The tower is near a monastery, so some monks could play out a part in this, but I'm not sure how. The party can also carry the dragon to be ressurrected, but I don't know if they should be lugging around a huge dragonborn through a huge tower, pass catacombs, through much more, and finally back to the monastery. Maybe someone could bump into them. This seems like a big setback, and hope people have some ideas. Let me know if I've left anything out, or you'd like more details

Thanks!

I know its a painfully obvious suggestion, but have you considered just back-tracking to a few rooms/encounters before this death, explain to everyone playing its just not possible to continue otherwise?

I DM'ed a game years ago where I refused to do this under any circumstance. Two characters who were much loved by their players died. They stopped playing when I refused to back track. I reccomend doing this. It may cheapen death is the game, but frankly in a world where you can pay a guy to bring someone back to life I feel that is already the case.

This is why having a "story" in a dnd game can often be problematic.

In my mind, the story is told after the game. It's the recounting of what happened. When you dm with a story in mind, you're asking for trouble: pc deaths or even just the pcs deciding to do the unexpected can suddenly "ruin" your storyline.

Do that and you're playing a very different game to the plot-driven rpg.

I've played in D&D games where the core rules were irrelevant, no dice were rolled for many hours between long exchanges between characters, planning between players about political manovering, etc.

As DM for 15 years I know what you're saying. Your plot falls apart, they tear holes in it. You have to develop characters, towns and dungeons within minutes to accomodate what the players are doing, or else set huge obsticles in their path to guide them back on the course you had in mind.

I could write forever on this aspect of DM'ing. Suffice to say, know your campaign and your campaign setting and nothing can go wrong. They defeat the ultimate bad guy before the second dungeon is finished through smart, intelligent manovers? Your campaign has just changed, change with it. The world is in your hands, big responsibility to be given don't you think? Keeping up with what the people in that world will do when you give them all possibilities is tough. As much as they might outsmart your entire campaign, they may also out-stupid you, simply doing absurd things that get nowhere or get themselves killed. Deal with it, adapt. Your story is ever-changing if you role-play it, as you are no longer the single author, the players are writing the story as much as you are. Its a challenge for even the greatest fantasy author. Indeed if you can't keep up with an ever-changing world, stick to dungeon crawls.

 

[Vaslov]

...One of my players (dragonborn) brother is behind taking the tower...

I am of the school of thought that says roll with it, but you know your players best and what will be interesting. Perhaps they have an idea? Putting my own evil idea hat on how about having the brother, or a lackey who didn't mean to kill the master's brother, bump into them and offer a solution. For a price of course. [insert evil laugh]

 

[fireinthedust]

I like the Oracle sending him into the body of a Warforged, for the duration of the adventure. She's trying to get free, so she put the PCs spirit in the mechanical body. This will last until the end of the adventure only, then PC death.


The body could have been left by the spellplague, or something. Or be a magical suit of armor or a statue that was just lying around and too heavy to be used; and rusted, so no one stole it.

anyway, the party could have the option of a quest to give him a mortal body once more. Or he could stay as a warforged. or he could roll up a new PC, as this one is supposed to go to the next world/afterlife.

 

[El Mahdi]

deleted

 

[Mechanimal]

I like the Oracle sending him into the body of a Warforged, for the duration of the adventure. She's trying to get free, so she put the PCs spirit in the mechanical body. This will last until the end of the adventure only, then PC death.


The body could have been left by the spellplague, or something. Or be a magical suit of armor or a statue that was just lying around and too heavy to be used; and rusted, so no one stole it.

anyway, the party could have the option of a quest to give him a mortal body once more. Or he could stay as a warforged. or he could roll up a new PC, as this one is supposed to go to the next world/afterlife.

Lots of good ideas. These seem like things I'll let me players roleplay towards. Though, since you mention spellscars, I should mention that the party (good) dragonborn has a spellscar that only our magic-user knows about. So tired, I somehow can't think of his class now. I'm definitely going to go towards making this transfer have some penalties though. I'll work on those closer to our next session, though.

The brother was hoping something like this would happen, or somehow manipulated fate for this to happen through a ritual.

I'm really digging this idea. Not only does my character die, but I make it seem like it was his intended fate.



There's lots more I want to reply to, but I'm too tired to quote a million more things.

 

[Infiniti2000]

I know its a painfully obvious suggestion, but have you considered just back-tracking to a few rooms/encounters before this death, explain to everyone playing its just not possible to continue otherwise?

I DM'ed a game years ago where I refused to do this under any circumstance. Two characters who were much loved by their players died. They stopped playing when I refused to back track. I reccomend doing this. It may cheapen death is the game, but frankly in a world where you can pay a guy to bring someone back to life I feel that is already the case.

I strongly disagree with this level of retconning. IMO, it's a good thing those players quit in your example. If they can't handle the consequences of a game, then they shouldn't be playing it. It's not like this is Thunderdome or anything. Just create a new character.

 

[LostSoul]

The evil dragonborn tells the party that he'll raise his dead brother if the PCs screw off. Both groups make some kind of ritual oath that will hurt them if they go back on their word. (I don't think there is a ritual for this but it would be a pretty cool addition to the game. One clause is that both parties must be willing.)

The PCs could still push through and fight him but they'll be worse off now. It's a hard choice.

You could have a nice scene where the evil dragonborn tries to talk his brother into joining him.

 

[Daern]

Have him come back as a temporary Revenant? Animated with the sole purpose of rescuing the Oracle and defeating his brother? That pushes the story forward but makes the character change as a consequence of death...

 

[the Jester]

I know its a painfully obvious suggestion, but have you considered just back-tracking to a few rooms/encounters before this death, explain to everyone playing its just not possible to continue otherwise?

I DM'ed a game years ago where I refused to do this under any circumstance. Two characters who were much loved by their players died. They stopped playing when I refused to back track. I reccomend doing this.

If the players can't handle character death, they need to play in a game that doesn't support it. Sounds like you play a vastly different game than I do- I would never retcon a game like you suggest. In fact, that's one of the few things that I can think of that would make me drop a game straight away, whether for the benefit of my character, another pc, an npc or whatever.