Dm Suicide!!!

[Darklone]

Hmm

Had this situation. Player was annoyed and complained about having no chance to get out alive (without trying to hide or pretending to be sick or whatever) and simply killed the character. Well.

Since we just started a campaign, I "gave" her a new character. The player is rather new to the game and inexperienced. I slowly get the impression she likes the new character more. At least I hope it will be that way.

For your situation: Scale down the new character. Dropping something since it's cursed is boring. If he wants to let the character retire: That's better than killing him off.

 

[Eben]

I think it's important that a DM never gives the impression that a situation is hopeless, on a meta level that is. You should always try and encourage your player to seek creative solutions.

Same here. PC did something stupid in game, now she suffers the consequences. Every NPC she consults in-game might be saying they've never seen anything like it. But on a meta-level the DM should keep encouraging the player to seek solutions to the problem.

On the other hand, you might be stuck with a PC you don't like, doesn't fit in the group or has no motivation whatsoever to take part in the campaign (i.e. you might have made a dwarf and end up in a campaign question for the the return of an ancient Elven god. Motiviton might be low in some settings.) In such a case the DM should allow a PC to retire. People split up in real life as well.

But in your case, it sounds a bit like bad role-playing to me. But far from me to judge since I don't believe there is a right way of role playing. Try and find the solution that fits your group.

 

[Eryx]

I'm guessing that the curse/s was gained due to repurcussions of the characters actions. If so, then the player needs to live with the fact that his/her character now has this problem.

Also, if the character/player isn't seeking a cure for the curse, then tough cheese, it's not for the DM to just write a scenario for the situation. The character/player has to get off their butt and go look for it.


I would take the player to one side and explain that you are not happy with the proposed suicide and explain why. If they still seem intent on it and sob't have a good solid reason for doing it, make that player sit out until a convinent slot appears in the campaign to bring in a new character.

 

[King_Stannis]

i say let the player change characters, but make her new character suffer from a critical flaw. you can make it her choice, but it should be something big...like fear of the undead (-6 to all will saves vs them or something akin to that). perhaps she could suffer from a crippling fear of heights.....don't let her get off with saying that she is a light sleeper.

 

[Crispy Critter]

If you want to keep the character in the campaign then look at this as a great opportunity for the adventurers. A quest to end the curses! It gives her character an opportunity to be the center of a attention for a few sessions. Her fellow adventurers, who are her friends, probably really want to help her because of her afflictions.

If you can fit it into your current campaign, that could be a possible solution.

 

[Quickbeam]

Your first task, is to determine whether the player geuninely has lost interest in her PC, or if she's just bummed out by the curses under which the PC currently labors. If it's the former, then definitely let her create a new character to be creatively introduced in lieu of the fighter/mage. PC suicide is not necessary, and it's far more likely the suffering character would move along in search of a cure. If the latter point is your player's problem, then make absolutely sure she understands the curses are NOT punishments and that an in-game cure is attainable. Encourage her to stick with the PC, and perhaps tweak the curses (as suggested elsewhere in this thread) so that they're a bit more amusing to roleplay.

We've all had PC's lose attribute points, levels, limbs, etc., but we managed to forged ahead despite the adversity. Heck, I had a character lose one of his hands to a particularly nasty trap. Sure it sucked but I founds ways to deal with his shortcomings, and within a few sessions the DM offered a possible restorative solution down the road. Similarly, one of my players had a character lose an eye during a brutal encounter with a raging bear. The party found some treasure in the refuse strewn about the bear's cave after it was defeated, and this PC placed a pearl from that loot in his orbital. He used this as a storytelling/bluff device to intimidate and impress others, and actually made his loss a benefit of sorts.

Don't let her become overly discouraged...after all, this is just a game and everyone's enjoyment is at stake .

 

[Umbran]

Mr. Edwards,

I've seen a few similar things, but the causes and solutions vary. Sometimes it's childishness, an inability to accept consequences. Other times, it's from feeling trapped. There may not be much you can do for the former. The latter is fixable.

In this case, you ask, "...what do you do about a player who, rather than seek a cure for their problem suddenly begins acting 'out of character'..."

The immediate questions that comes to mind: Are you sure the player realizes there might be a cure for the problem, or where to seek for it, or that it is acceptable to derail the current plots or adventure to seek it?

 

[Henry]

If the player wants the character to die, agree to kill her character -- but keep the agreement secret from the rest of the party. That way she can be a very dramatic "red shirt" in your next adventure. The first sign of the assassin is his blade coming out of her chest from behind, or the first sign of the brontosaur is a big foot crushing her, or...

You get the idea. Then start her out a few levels behind everyone else.

An amusing story:

-I once had a player in our very first D&D game who played a halfling sorcerer/cleric. He tired of the character, and decided to retire him at about 5th level. He brought in a 4th level character (Elven Paladin/Sorcerer) and continued. At 7th level he tired of that character, and wished to kill her off so he could try just a traditional "big, dumb" fighter. However, being in the middle of a dungeon raid to kill off a group of mercenaries, I told him to prepare the character, and get ready to introduce it.

Later, in the middle of a fight, I had the opportuity of a lifetime when an orcish fighter landed a crit against the PC and took her down to low negative numbers. The other players expected the orc to come after them, since the opponent was down. Iinstead, he coolly chopped her head off executioner-style. The players, who were not in on the "little secret" looked at me dumbfounded, as if I had just snapped the neck of a small defenseless animal, which the player looked artificially hurt and depressed.

It finally dawned on them a few minutes later what was happening when they rescued the prisoners in the dungeon, and the Player began taking over one of the prisoners.

Played right, a character-change can be quite rewarding to both Player and DM.

 

[Firefly Games]

I have no useful advice, only a funny story. Though it probably falls more into the DM cruelty category.

A friend of mine played a fighter in a Forgotten Realms game. Due to his own impulsive actions, the fighter landed in jail several times. The player envisioned his fighter as a noble defender of the little people (but didn't play him that way), and doing all this prison time didn't fit his image. So he announced to the DM (not me) that his fighter killed himself in jail and he was going to make a new PC.

DM: "Your fighter kills himself? How does he do it?"

Player: "Well, he hangs himself I guess."

DM: "No, he can't see anything in his cell to hang himself with."

Player: "Uh ... then he cuts his throat on something."

DM: "Nope. The guards searched him and took away all his weapons. And there's nothing sharp in the cell."

Player: "FINE! I run at the stone wall as fast as I can and smash my head into it until I'm dead!"

DM: "OK, you smash your head into the stone wall a few times. You start feeling woozy and everything goes black ... a few hours later you wake up with a horrific headache ..."

Eventually the DM cut short the suicide attempts by putting the jail breakout he'd planned all along into action, and the PC went on to get thrown in jail another time or two before the campaign died.