How Do You Like Your Death in D&D

[Reynard]

A few threads have gotten me thinking about PC death in D&D campaigns, so I thought I would put the question to the community.

In general, how do you tend to treat death in your campaigns (either as DM or your preference as a player)? Feel free to elaborate in the comments. Thanks.

EDIT: Also, I separated death due to bad luck versus bad decisions when death is not a constant threat based on what others have written the inspiring threads. I realize it won't be a perfect fit for everyone but do your best to choose the most common occurrence that fits, I guess.

 

[Satyrn]

I'm quite fine with my character dying - those moments are sometimes my best memory of the character, even. So I never consider resurrection.

Death is a good excuse to make a new character.

 

[Satyrn]

EDIT: Also, I separated death due to bad luck versus bad decisions when death is not a constant threat based on what others have written the inspiring threads. I realize it won't be a perfect fit for everyone but do your best to choose the most common occurrence that fits, I guess.

Yeah I'd have liked the first option except that death is more rare than it suggests. So I went with the death by dice option because ultimately it is the dice that decide just how stupid the decision was.

 

[Prakriti]

Depends on whether I'm running a gritty, dungeon-based campaign or a story-based, RP-heavy campaign.

I've done both recently.

 

[GreyLord]

Be nice to be able to choose multiple options.

Death is normally due to PCs choices but those choices can lead to die rolls where they might still get away with it, but roll badly and die.

 

[the Jester]

I voted "Life is cheap", but let me add the caveat that the pcs have a great deal of control over their risk and reward level.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

In a game where the only limits to your character ideas are your imagination, the death of one character, while a bummer, is also an opportunity to bring someone new to life.

When I’m running a game, death is generally, rare (unless I’m specifically running a high-mortality game), but it can happen. Generally, it’s a result of poor choices rather than poor rolls, as I’m more likely to give someone that rolls poorly a chance to save or be saved than I am someone that does something blatantly foolhardy. But death can occur if the dice will it, too.

I'm quite fine with my character dying - those moments are sometimes my best memory of the character, even. So I never consider resurrection.

Death is a good excuse to make a new character.

 

[Mercule]

So, what is intended by "as a result of PLAYER choice"? Is that the same as "characters only die when the player says it's OK"?

 

[Shiroiken]

Yeah I'd have liked the first option except that death is more rare than it suggests. So I went with the death by dice option because ultimately it is the dice that decide just how stupid the decision was.

Not always. I've died via cut-scene at least 3 times, because my decisions were so epic bad (or deliberate) that no amount of lucky die rolling was going to save me. I've not had to do it as a DM, mostly because my players aren't as suicidal as I sometimes am

 

[Nagol]

Depends on whether I'm running a gritty, dungeon-based campaign or a story-based, RP-heavy campaign.

I've done both recently.

When I run a RP-heavy campaign, I choose a rule set that offers decent support and tools for that sort of game play. D&D pretty much has none so you are reduced to using DM force for all of it.