Do you think a character should be resurected or changed when it dies ?

[Treebore]

I allow Raise Dead and the Ress. spells. i let the player do whatever they want, as long as I can live with it as the DM. I also have a high mortality game. 3 game sessions ago each character died once and 3 of them died twice. Now they are nearly broke. Now the cleric is also high enough to cast raise dead.

i only give the penalty as per the DMG IF they died due to their own stupidity. Most of the time they die due to bad tactics for the situation or just bad rolls at the wrong time. The night so many of them died they never thought to cast magic circle against... so the summoned creature killed them with its death attack. Which was to essentially establish a grapple and break their neck if they failed a Fort DC 20 check. If they had cast the spell it wouldn't have been able to touch them, or, therefore, kill them.

 

[Maerdwyn]

I allow resurrections by the questing only, usually by the whole group, but sometimes just a 1-on-1 adventure with the fallen PC's player running the character's cohort/relative/contact/etc.

The amount of penalty depends on the difficulty of the quest, which the player and I discuss before I write the adventure.

 

[Tonguez]

I don't use Raise Dead and Ressurection begins a Quest (ie it opens a Path into the realm of the Dead which the PCs then have to travel down in order to locate and convince the deceased to return, fighting whatever undead/outsider/abberation hordes I want to have guarding the place at the time)

For replacement purposes I have PCs create background NPCs (family, mentors, associates) who everyone gets to meet. If the PC dies I then require that the new character be an associate of the dead character - a relative, friend from the academy, padawan etc.
This allows the Player to play whatever race/class they want but also keep the continuity going (since cousin Bori knew all about dead cousin Jori's adventures and hopefully already has some connection with the group - from when they last stopped of in the village for instance).

 

[paulewaug]

this is a topic I have been thinking alot about actually.
I have 2 feelings about this.
In any other game than DnD I feel "Dead is Dead."

But recenlty I have been chaning my feelings about this with regards to DnD.
This is due to the fact that it is easy to get killed in DnD and it is also relatively easy to be brought back.

I understand the ffelings that dead is dead, and have read and agree with many threads about the problems the easy access to coming back from the dead causes. You can't just kidnap an important person and threaten their death. As they may be brought back to life. This creates logistical problems for the dm, and limits a lot of gaming potential.
The pcs can gain power at an alraming rate, in older versions it could take some time and characters had a more dificult time getting to that point.

But the game as it is presented is desinged to work the way it does. It is a given that there will be certain things available to a party at a certain point. Magic items and equipment of xx value and magic of xx potency.

The encounters have been (allegedly-arguably) designed to take this into account. So running D&D with few magic items or restrcited access to the "gimmes" of magic thoughs this off.
Nice thing about the Midnight setting is that they have taken this into consideration.

Basically I feel that if you want to make serious changes to the way D&D was designed you should be using a different system.
I don't mean this as a smart@ss, I mean this seriously.
There are a lot of great systems out there and a lot of fun can be had with them. D&D is the only one I know of, off hand, that has been built with the idea that death is just an inconvenience.

When I run games that I want dead to be dead unless it is undead, I will use a different system. Very likely Savage Worlds.
That is how I plan on runinng Freeport and the Iron Kingdoms.

In the implied setting of DnD (I don't mean "Greyhawk" )
death is just another thing to be overcome.

There are d20 systme rules that can be used to not have things be this way. Most notably "d20 Modern."
I do feel there must be some penalty to "getting killed" though, so that it at least has Some consequence, lest the pcs embarce death at every battle.

Well those are just my musings on the subject. Make of it what you will.

 

[SpringPlum]

I know our DM plays fast and loose with actually being dead. One of our players must've died a dozen times but his character was so good that our DM fudged. If resurraction exist in the world and the other PC want to resurrect the character, why not?

 

[Umbran]

I don't much care if theparty goes for ressurection (that's the party's choice, not hte player's) or if theplayer goes for a new character. I however, frown mightily on people who bring in character they know will be disruptive to the current party. The game is a cooperative effort, and the player who had a character die is still supposed to cooperate.

 

[Christian Walker]

The Blackleaf Treatment

When a character dies, the char. sheet should be torn asunder, its owner forced to "boo hoo" all the way home.

A fitting treatment for those who lack proper dungeoneering skills.

 

[MatthewJHanon]

I have done a couple things to make death more perminent, whith out making it inescapable.

First off its not that there is no resurection, just that doing so risks upsetting the god of death, and those who are allied with him (most non-evil gods, and a couple evil ones). So they party can do it any time they want, but they may find a group of death worshipping bounty hunters on their tail.

Secondly this only applies to once "the soul has departed." It take a cople rounds after dying for the soul to depart, so if you can cast raise in combat (casting time has been reduced also) you can get away with it without angering anybody.

 

[pogre]

Re: The Blackleaf Treatment

When a character dies, the char. sheet should be torn asunder, its owner forced to "boo hoo" all the way home.

A fitting treatment for those who lack proper dungeoneering skills.

I like this "treatment."

I disagree about the lack of skill though. Death is pretty easy in D&D. A 1st level fighter with say 14 hp is fighting an Orc. Just a simple run of the mill Orc - no problem right? The fighter's AC is 19 - not great, but respectable. The falchion wielding Orc hits him with an 18 - possible crit - then crits by rolling a 15. A damage roll yields a 12 and an 8. Fighter is now at -6. The cleric had better get there quick! If the Orc had maxed out damage the fighter would be dead right there right then.

edit: poor math.

 

[Grazzt]

I am a great believer in a simple maxim:

DEAD IS DEAD.

My players know this and are good with this; when one character was actually raised from the dead, it was seen by most as a miracle and by a couple as an abomination.

Kobolds die. Goblins die. Orcs die. Bugbears die. Even dragons die.

Therefore PCs die.

Yep- I agree. Raising/resurrection, etc. is very rare in my campaign and when it does occur, it is something "unique" and special.