Do You Kill off your PC's.

[Elf Witch]

Sometimes I do. If they do something stupid or if they just lose in the dice rolls. But I will fudge if it is just a matter of totally bad luck. They have done everything right and it is not a matter of they run out of HP before the bad guys they are fighting but because they are rolling badly then I will fudge to give them a chance.

I have read so many people say that the game is not fun without the threat of death and I don't always agree. Yes the possiability is always there but my players enjoy the the thrill of exploraing new areas and solving mysteries and watching their characters grow and seeing their backstories used in the game.

My players write journals and do very good backstories they are very involved in the game they make role playing decisions and very rarely ever metagame.

I don't think they would have so much fun if the game was deadly as the way some DMs run their games.

I know my players are having fun because they tell me so and can't wait to play everyweek.

 

[danzig138]

than to call for deus ex machina explanations how the new character joined the party in mid dungeon.

Or, you know, you could not come up with a lame excuse, and not try to shoehorn in a new character immediately. IMG, you die mid-dungeon, you die mid-dungeon. It's up to the others if they want to keep going or retreat and try and bring you back. Depending on the game, you may be out for a couple of sessions, or take control of an npc or monsters.

I don't go out of the way to off characters, but I don't go out of the way to avoid it. If the dice or bad luck or something gets a character killed at 2nd level by a lucky mook goblin, oh well.

 

[Michael Morris]

I feel really bad for my NPC's if I don't have at least one fatality / session. Last session saw 4 (two where the monk's fault though, I swear).

The look on the cleric's face as the 11-headed hydra came out of invisibility and "The first head strikes your torso and lifts you high into the air. The other heads grab your head and limbs and pull them off in 5 directions"

(How else do you describe 143 points of damage to a character with 80 hit points?)

This said the party has a rod of ressurection and they tend to use the revive spell a LOT. This little 4th level gem has made waves in my game and I'm glad I coined it.

Revive
Conjuration (Healing) [White]
Level: (4), Clr 4, Drd 5
Components: V, S, DF
Casting Time: 1 standard action

This spell functions like raise dead, except revive only works upon a creature that has only been dead 1 round / caster level and revive has no material component. The creature also must make a fortitude save DC 20 to be revived.

Revive can also be used to let a creature attempt a second saving throw against a death effect if it is cast within 1 round / caster level since the death effect occurred. If this saving throw is successful then the creature is returned to life and can make a fortitude save DC 20 to avoid the level loss normally associated with dying.

 

[Templetroll]

I've been killing mine a lot less frequently of late. They've recently remembered how to surrender.

In RuneQuest there was a very cool game mechanic Ransom that all intelligent creatures supported. A creature would call out Ransom and the offer, or sometimes just ransom and the attack on them would stop. They had to sit peacably and they definitely had to make good on the ransom.

 

[Slife]

I feel really bad for my NPC's if I don't have at least one fatality / session. Last session saw 4 (two where the monk's fault though, I swear).

The look on the cleric's face as the 11-headed hydra came out of invisibility and "The first head strikes your torso and lifts you high into the air. The other heads grab your head and limbs and pull them off in 5 directions"

(How else do you describe 143 points of damage to a character with 80 hit points?)

This said the party has a rod of ressurection and they tend to use the revive spell a LOT. This little 4th level gem has made waves in my game and I'm glad I coined it.

Revive
Conjuration (Healing) [White]
Level: (4), Clr 4, Drd 5
Components: V, S, DF
Casting Time: 1 standard action

This spell functions like raise dead, except revive only works upon a creature that has only been dead 1 round / caster level and revive has no material component. The creature also must make a fortitude save DC 20 to be revived.

Revive can also be used to let a creature attempt a second saving throw against a death effect if it is cast within 1 round / caster level since the death effect occurred. If this saving throw is successful then the creature is returned to life and can make a fortitude save DC 20 to avoid the level loss normally associated with dying.

Sounds like revivify from the mini's handbook. Great minds run in the same ruts, as the old saw goes.

 

[the Jester]

Out of curiosity to those who have PC's die with regularity, do you allow rezzes?

Yes, if the party has a character who can cast it. Otherwise, they have to find an npc who both CAN and WILL cast it. For instance, if they go to a cleric of the god of peace to get the party fighter raised, there's a very real chance that the cleric will refuse on principle.

 

[Aus_Snow]

I've never killed a PC, the dice do it.

Ditto.

But, on that note, let the dice fall where they may.

 

[Crust]

I try to avoid PC death until the option of raise dead becomes available, whether through PC casting or by paying a cleric. However, like others have said, sometimes the dice overrule my best wishes.

 

[shilsen]

I don't kill PCs, because that would be too kind. IMC, players can use action pts to turn a killing blow/effect into one that reduces them to -9 hp and stable. Without that, I'd be killing an average of a PC every two sessions.

With the rule, no PCs die, but that works well for the campaign since it's very character and plot-driven, and resurrection magic is rare and unreliable. And anybody who thinks that removing death from the game means there's no risk or excitement needs to try harder.

 

[pogre]

PCs sometimes die in my campaign and I usually feel bad about it. I am very careful with CRs and ELs because my group does not often run. However, there are times they get stuck in and through some bad rolls they die. I never fudge die rolls, but I sometimes create an extra escape hatch or two.