Have you ever refused to come back from the dead?

[kolikeos]

I haven't been in that situation as a player but when I DM my players always refuse to have their characters come back from the dead. I think it is because I let them make new characters at the same level their last chararacter was. Next time someone makes a new character it is going to start a level lower than the lowest level party member. That would probably fix the problem.

 

[Davelozzi]

I generally DM, and when I play it's usually a one-shot or mini-campaign so I've never really had to make that choice. However, in the campaigns I run, the permanent deaths outnumber the temporary ones. Notably, one of my players refused to have his dwarf raised just because he didn't think it was in character.

 

[Davelozzi]

I haven't been in that situation as a player but when I DM my players always refuse to have their characters come back from the dead. I think it is because I let them make new characters at the same level their last chararacter was. Next time someone makes a new character it is going to start a level lower than the lowest level party member. That would probably fix the problem.

I don't see it as a problem at all. In fact, I generally prefer to see a player start a new character when the old one dies. A meaningful death lends verisimilitude to the campaign, and is often one of the more memorable events of the campaign.

 

[sakkara]

For me, it usually depends on 1) the philospohical outlook of the PC, and 2) my current satisfaction with the PC.

I've repeatedly has a character ressurrected in order to complete an important task, and I've also refused them if the PC was happier in the afterlife, or if I'd had my fill of the PC and was ready for a new one...

Sakkara

 

[The Grumpy Celt]

I hate those spells.

 

[Brian Gibbons]

I haven't been in that situation as a player but when I DM my players always refuse to have their characters come back from the dead. I think it is because I let them make new characters at the same level their last character was. Next time someone makes a new character it is going to start a level lower than the lowest level party member. That would probably fix the problem.

Personally, I've never been a fan of the "lose a level from being raised" system. I prefer the variant where being raised from the dead causes the PC to gain one negative level, which they suffer from until 30 days have passed/they next gain a level/they perform a ritual in their deity's temple/whatever is campaign-appropriate.

But yes, giving players the choice between continuing to play a Level X-1 PC or playing a new Level X PC is giving an incentive in the wrong direction (even moreso if the choice is between a Level X PC with cherry-picked level-appropriate equipment vs. a level X-1 PC with whatever equipment they happen to have scrounged from your adventures).

 

[Sejs]

I have had characters that decided to stay dead.

Some were just tired of living. The afterlife was a rest. Didn't really want to go back.

 

[Siegfried Niemand]

My LE necromancer realized just how evil he had become (he'd been planing to murder his cohort just to gain a little influence with the goddess of murder just before he died), so he refused to come back when the party used true resurrection, choosing instead the punishments of Dis.

 

[Aeric]

I refuse resurrections for metagame reasons: the chance to make a new character, especially one with hand-picked magic items according to the Wealth by Character Level table in the DMG.

 

[mhacdebhandia]

My first character in Hong's Britannia campaign refused resurrection because he considered death his best way out from his responsibilities. He didn't try to get himself killed, but he was certainly quick to avoid coming back to deal with his tainted-by-evil wife.