Dealing with Death

[Fawkes]

First post! (Though I do browse these forums rather often..)

Anyways,
I've come across a quandary in how to handle player death in my game. When my players die (and though it doesn't happen often, it happens enough to matter) they have the option of getting res'd via normal means or rerolling a character at one level lower.

The problem is nobody wants/cares to get resurrected because they take not only an XP hit, but also the coin amount as well. The cost of the res can be recovered by following the rules for "characters beyond 1st level" as proscribed in the DM Manual.

What is a good balance between resurrection and rerolling that keeps players interested in their current character but doesn't hit them too hard for doing so? Should I have rerolls start at 1 and ignore the complaints of my players? Should I reduce the cost of a res in either coin or xp?

I've already tried having a "multiple character" system akin to the Dark Sun 2nd ed. suggestion so that they might have a "backup" character to use, but that never caught on.

As a mini-reference, everyone is about level 6 in an overpowered setting (44 pt. skill buy). Coin and items aren't plentiful, but aren't scarce either -- players tend to hoard their rewards rather than spend them.

 

[SuperJebba]

How your players handle death is really up to them. I am in the same boat as you. My players never resurrect their characters, and I feel your pain in that I would like them to be a bit more invested in their characters. It would definitely help with advancing the story and plot hooks.

You can certainly lower the requirements to resurrect someone, but I have found that does not help, either. Some players just get bored quickly and player death is an easy way to try out a new concept.

 

[John Blackwood]

It might seem like power abuse but you could put penalties on rerolling. Nothing to severe. Tell them they can't reroll the same class they just used. That way they can't just reroll the same character to avoid the disadvantages of resurrection.

It also helps if you require them to write at least one full page of back story for each new character. That gives them more of a chance to get attached to a character. It's also annoying to people who minmax and don't care about story.

If you make them write back story you could then find ways to connect the character's story with the main story of your campaign. That way their characters feel more important.

You could also use renown. You could reward people who have characters that they've been playing for longer. Being recognized by an NPC feels good and it can make a player proud of his character.

In the end though sometimes you need to just let them reroll. Maybe after playing a character they find they hate him or maybe they believe it's their time. Whatever the reason, you can't play the same character forever.

 

[Rakusia]

i use factions. i have a mercinery group thatsome people are known by and they get benefits for it. also if someone dies make them reroll lvl 1's maybe then theyll be less inclined to take the easy way out

 

[rgard]

Waive the xp cost.

 

[Fallenibilis]

Mechanically waving the loss of a level like posted above sounds like the easiest and most likely thing to keep them from retiring their character.

As to personal experince, my PC died tonight , this is the second time my character has died ( and i had just caught back up to the rest of the party in level from the last time). But to me his point in life has been reached yet, theres to much at stake to die. It helps that he has a fairly obscured past, and he has promises to keep (as a lawful good wizard on his way to becoming exalted so these matter a great deal to him.)

Other than that character is a sort of combination of my first and second character (my first characters campaign didnt last very long we didnt even finish the adventure, so when the new game came up i recycled the character name and concept and then my DM determined that this character was the son of my original) and i've been playing him for over 3 years now so to me and i know this may sound lame but he feels more like an extention of who i am then just some character.

Anyway thats just my take, i realise that its not very helpfull but i tried.

Falleniblis

 

[Rakusia]

yeah but if you waive the xp cost then it kinda makes a resurrection less meaningful. the cost is easily recuped by a decent group in at least a few adventures if not sooner. idk id prob get rid or lessen the price before the xp cost of a resurrection. of course i dont like the idea of letting them make a character one level lower than they were.

have you thought that maybe thats part of why they treat their chars as throw away. they havent had to fight and earn their levels at least more than once or twice.

 

[Fallenibilis]

yeah but if you waive the xp cost then it kinda makes a resurrection less meaningful. the cost is easily recuped by a decent group in at least a few adventures if not sooner. idk id prob get rid or lessen the price before the xp cost of a resurrection. of course i dont like the idea of letting them make a character one level lower than they were.

have you thought that maybe thats part of why they treat their chars as throw away. they havent had to fight and earn their levels at least more than once or twice.

Thats a possibility i know making my character from the ground up has been very fulfilling.

 

[Rakusia]

indeed. most of the things that you do and remember from your char happens at kinda lower levels. i mean a lvl 10 party taking down a dk isnt nearly as awesome as my lvl 4 taking him down with a crit with my throwing short with a called head shot. orc dk i might add.

 

[Fallenibilis]

indeed. most of the things that you do and remember from your char happens at kinda lower levels. i mean a lvl 10 party taking down a dk isnt nearly as awesome as my lvl 4 taking him down with a crit with my throwing short with a called head shot. orc dk i might add.

Exactly anyone can write down on a sheet that they've done this or that but actually doing it living through the adventure and killing the Orc Warboss whose battle ax you now wield is infinitely more satisfying then just saying that you did it.