Do TPKS end campaigns?

[Monkey Boy]

Last night we finished our Ravenloft game with a TPK. Strahd and some minions ambushed us on our second trip into the castle. No-one could think of legitimate reasons to bring in a new party; all the good hooks had been taken by replacement PC's as they arrived to replace dead characters.

It felt almost comical this never ending stream of PC's arriving in Barovia on various missions.

This isn't really a whine. The game was fine, it was just the high turn over of characters took the wind out of our sails.

As a DM I have also experienced the TPK wreck when running STAP. The party, all caught up in the eleborate plot got butchered by Onolungu (the Balurga demon). Introducing replacement characters to the isle of dread was a little awkward, replacing a whole party without the prior groups motivations and history proved too jarring.

So my question is does a TPK mean an end to a campaign?
If not how have you successfully carried on playing after a TPK?

 

[Crothian]

It doesn't have to. I had a TPK and the next week they all awoke after being rescued by an NPC ally. I've done the TPK that lead to them all being captured.

But the best was the TPK that lead to a campaign arc of them in the afterlife trying to figure out how to get back.

 

[Fenes]

So, the question should be: does the loss of all PCs end the campaign, or can the entire part be replaced and the campaign be continued?

 

[Aria Silverhands]

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Just depends on the campaign. I had a pc paladin turn evil and basically TPK the rest of the party. One escaped and became the archnemisis, hiding among the shadows and doing what she could to disrupt the blackguards plans. I advanced the plot of the campaign two hundred years and the players made characters that were descendants of or related to the characters of the original party.

 

[Arawn76]

I think it depends on the circumstances.

I TPK'd my players in our Burnt Offerings adventure by Paizo. It killed the campaign. It wasn't so much dying as the utter pasting she gave them that soured them to the campaign.

In fairness though it left me with a bitter aftertaste, even with me fudging the rolls and making stupid tactical decisions for the enemy cleric the group acted so stupidly and rolled so badly (the dice gods spat on their graves) that she ruined them.

 

[thundershot]

I'd take the Giant Size X-Men #1 route. First off, it'd turn out that they were all just knocked out, barely alive, and now captured. One of the PC's allies realizes they've been missing for some time, and recruits a new team to find the old one (and if they die, it won't matter, since Xavier would just wipe everyone's memories of them away.... ).

At the end, if they survive, you could have "What are we going to do with 10 party members?" and maybe have them mix it up a bit.



Chris

 

[ki11erDM]

Last night we finished our Ravenloft game with a TPK.

Sounds like a good end to a Ravenloft campain.

I personally don’t like to care bearing a TPK. If they all die then they all died. If you ‘rescue’ them then that kills any since of accomplishment. But there is no reason a newly started campaign cannot lead back to the same place… with a healthy dose of foreshadowing to scare the hell out of them.

Having to fight your old PC who is now vampired up is always a good thing.

 

[ki11erDM]

care bearing a TPK.

Humm maybe thats why my players like my enworld name...

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

It can end the campaign. Especially if the players want it to be. That's how our Age of Worms campaign ended prematurely. We got tired from the regular character death and near-TPKs, until we finally had a real TPK (and we did have it because we consciously decided not to go for a retreat...).

It might be the end of a campaign if too much of the story is focused on the PCs - prophecies involving them, the PCs personally motivated to follow the goal of the campaign. Basically everything that can make a campaign stand out and memorable can also mean its doom if it comes to a TPK.

 

[Jhaelen]

No-one could think of legitimate reasons to bring in a new party; all the good hooks had been taken by replacement PC's as they arrived to replace dead characters.
It felt almost comical this never ending stream of PC's arriving in Barovia on various missions.

I think you answered that one for yourself. One TPK doesn't typically kill a campaign. But if the TPK is just one of many, if the game has already degraded into a long series of dead characters, then it's basically already finished.

Every death sucks a little fun out of the game. If death doesn't occur often that's alright. But if it becomes a regular feature, the game stops being fun.