OD&D First Character Death

Garthanos · Oct 11, 2019

Draegn said:
Traveller; tearing the vacsuit open in vacuum. Laser rifles suck.

IS that the one where you could die during character creation before beginning play?

pogre · Oct 11, 2019

O D&D '75 - thief scouting ahead in the dungeon. He found a trap - the hard way. Game over, but I was hooked.

Unwise · Oct 11, 2019

My first character death was during character creation. It was Traveller system. I rolled a great spec ops guy, he died in a training accident before hitting the table.

My first in-play death was at the hands of a party member who wanted to see what a magic fountain did. He pushed me in to it. It shrunk me. He then decided he would be blamed by others for that, so he killed me and hid the body. This all happened as I had left to make lunch for the players.

Next death was by the same player. Next death was at the hands of another player. Next was because my character went beserk and killed half the party when they tried to calm him down (Rolemaster - fail a Perception check and you can't tell friend from foe in combat if beserk).

After that I started GMing and took a tougher stance on in-party murder. First items the party found were amulets of retribution that pretty much killed the person that kills you.

Son of the Serpent · Oct 11, 2019

Unwise said:
My first character death was during character creation. It was Traveller system. I rolled a great spec ops guy, he died in a training accident before hitting the table.

My first in-play death was at the hands of a party member who wanted to see what a magic fountain did. He pushed me in to it. It shrunk me. He then decided he would be blamed by others for that, so he killed me and hid the body. This all happened as I had left to make lunch for the players.

Next death was by the same player. Next death was at the hands of another player. Next was because my character went beserk and killed half the party when they tried to calm him down (Rolemaster - fail a Perception check and you can't tell friend from foe in combat if beserk).

After that I started GMing and took a tougher stance on in-party murder. First items the party found were amulets of retribution that pretty much killed the person that kills you.

I love how your first experience taught you to be a thusly prepared dm. Thats a pretty nasty gauntlet you went through.

Todd Roybark · Oct 11, 2019

It was in Travelers...circa 1980......died in character creation.
It was so cool. I loved that game. I eventually survived character creation

Goonalan · Oct 11, 2019

Magic Missile could have saved my life.

First PC ever, a Lvl 1 Wizard called Eggnog (Red Box) I was 12 years old, I arrived late to my very first session of D&D (I was out racing on bikes) and so the DM kindly stopped the game (the other four players, also 12-14 years old, were moaning like crazy). I only got a place at the gaming table because my brother was in with the other guys. So, approx. thirty minutes later Eggnog is born, all I have to do is get him from the town to the dungeon (and catch up with the other players- at last).

But what's this- a lone Kobold.

The kindly DM gave me initiative, I tried for a spell with an attack roll- the DM kept telling me to use a Magic Missile (or whatever it was called back then) but I wasn't listening. I am EGGNOG THE MIGHTY. I send Gandalf to the shops for my Dr. Who Ice lollies, that's how tough Eggnog is.

Anyway, I missed- thirty seconds later and Eggnog's dead.

The DM, now as fed up with me as the other players (I didn't take Eggnog's death very well), said I could roll up another PC for the next session.

I ran off in rage.

Damn them all.

Damn D&D.

Damn it.

I was hooked.

I brooded for a year or so... reading books, specialist (top shelf) magazines (Imagine, White Dwarf), making plans.

Then I was back.

Aged 13- voice breaking, hair in rum places- in the early stages of noticing girls.

I was ready, I had matured.

I became a DM.

I've been killing PCs ever since.

Cheers goonalan

Draegn · Oct 12, 2019

@Garthanos Yes that could happen.

Garthanos · Oct 12, 2019

Unwise said:
My first character death was during character creation. It was Traveller system. I rolled a great spec ops guy, he died in a training accident before hitting the table.

My first in-play death was at the hands of a party member who wanted to see what a magic fountain did. He pushed me in to it. It shrunk me. He then decided he would be blamed by others for that, so he killed me and hid the body. This all happened as I had left to make lunch for the players.

Next death was by the same player. Next death was at the hands of another player. Next was because my character went beserk and killed half the party when they tried to calm him down (Rolemaster - fail a Perception check and you can't tell friend from foe in combat if beserk).

After that I started GMing and took a tougher stance on in-party murder. First items the party found were amulets of retribution that pretty much killed the person that kills you.

Ouch?

Yaarel · Oct 14, 2019

My first character death was an Elf, Wizard / Fighter / Rogue. A werewolf killed him.

The death was genuinely traumatic for me as a kid, twelve years old, and I still remember it to this day.

Heh, since then, I have zero interest in ‘lethal’ campaigns, and want campaigns that focus on stories.

I like the 5e Revivify spell!

At some point in the future, I plan to resurrect the character to play him again. I will probably translate him, such as an Eldritch Knight or Bladesinger. Or, perhaps instead of resurrecting, play him as having turned into a werewolf, and play him that way.