Do you care?

[Psion]

It's my fault Black Leaf died. I can't face life alone.

 

[Henry]

I've lost FAR more characters to dead games than I ever have to the axe or the sword. DM's creativity getting sparked into ideas for a new game rather than continuing the current one have been the death of many a character for me.

Secondly, I play all my characters enthusiastically, but I don't get so attached to them that it hurts my enjoyment of the next one. What's the phrase? Better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all.

On the flip side, I do feel a little badly when a character death occurs from time to time, but the truth is my players accept that it's a risk factor in whatever adventure they send their characters on. I also make sure that there is at least the CHANCE for a resurrection, so they don't feel frustrated. They and I prefer to know that it's a possibility, rather than having too many dramatic licenses come in and save them. They and I feel like they have earned it more if they successfully avoid calamity to emerge victorious.

What's that other phrase - no internal organs, no glory?

 

[Talmun]

It's my fault Black Leaf died. I can't face life alone.

NO, NOT THE BLACK LEAF!!!!

 

[Piratecat]

Unfortunately, the last PC I had die on me was killed when I wasn't even there; someone set off a trap, and aparently my earth gensai druid was too close to the door. Kind of frustrating. That game was dying due to DM neglect, but I was still irked.

I usually tend to play in long-running campaigns (Sagiro's is going on 7 years now), so I get very attached to my PCs. It's part of the fun.

 

[Gundark]

Have not palyed midnight, but I heard that it's a setting with very little hope. The bad guys are in a position of incredible power and usally end up winning. That said losing a character in this setting should be anticipated.

This is a Midnight game, so there is no raising if I die. Unless of course I come back as a Fell, in which case we have an interesting moment, because my best friend would probably have to kill me the second time around.

I shall miss Jez if she dies, but the sad thing is not so much losing the character, but knowing that I won't feel so inclined to put the same amount of effort into the next one.

 

[Zappo]

I care about most of my characters, but I don't let this get in the way of my fun if death occurs! It's better when the death is something meaningful, though (which I seldom accomplish, see the "heroic sacrifice" thread...)

 

[Arnwyn]

So how much do other people care when their PC dies?

While I haven't been a player in many, many years (full-time DM) - back when I did get to be a player I certainly did care about losing a PC.

However... that's only because I despise character creation. I want to make a character once, and then never have to make another character again. Ever.

(And, of coure, this being a game makes the "caring" part a little relative. In the scheme of things, I don't really care. Certainly not enough to feel "sad" or "upset" or anything like that.)

 

[randomling]

Have not palyed midnight, but I heard that it's a setting with very little hope. The bad guys are in a position of incredible power and usally end up winning. That said losing a character in this setting should be anticipated.

Yes, to a certain extent. It's a setting without much hope, yes, but we're not playing it as totally hopeless: life is grim and victories are difficult, but real heroes can achieve something. And we were doing so well!

 

[fett527]

I agree with Crothian's earlier comment that I don't want to play the PC if I don't care about what happens to him. We play only a couple times a month so we have a lot invested in our characters. I don't want them to die, but if it happens it happens. I will still put as much effort into my next character.

 

[Charles Dunwoody]

In 1st Edition my character's died all the time (random death was the norm in the 1st Edition I played ). Poison, swallowed by frog, killed by lightning from the gods etc. I just made a new one, which was a lot faster without having to pick skills or feats! And it was better then the cursed belt of gender neuter the elf ranger ended up with.

In 2nd I played a wizard who never got killed and made it to 7th level before the game broke up. Most times I DMed. Again, death was annoying but part of the game.

I'm DMing for 3.5 players now and some of them have a tough time with death. One character died from a random crit on his first adventure and he's been gone from the game for two months now after three years of gaming in my campaigns. I have actually only seen crits kill two characters in three years in a random way, so it didn't seem so bad to me. He disagreed and still twitches when anyone mentions water elementals (we're still friends, he just games with someone else now. It hurts, but I have to be fair to everybody and I couldn't change the situation for him while remaining fair towards the other's players).

Last adventure, three of five characters died. They went on the Glacial Inferno adventure from Dungeon. They knew about the Fire Lord, fire stuff, etc. but no one prepared. No resist fire spells, no bags of holding full of water, and few non-fire attack spells ready. I was stunned since this group worked its way up from 1st level and really knows better. The greater fire elemental tore them to pieces. Again, I couldn't fix it for them. They knew what they were getting in to (I don't railroad them through adventures) and had access to any gear/information/NPCs they might have wanted. They had an off night, but in a profession of kill or be killed an off night can destroy a team.

Tonight I'll see how the group does on an easier adventure (they are going to level back up before going after the Fire Lord again). They're broke (raise dead is expensive), owe a cleric a favor, and down levels so I'll be interested to see if they play well or just give up. I hope they overcome their mistake and go back to cram a boot up the Fire Lord's assets. I hate in when the bad guys win. Whatever happens I'll keep DMing fairly and letting the adventure unfold as character choice and random rolls dictate.