How much concern do you have with PC death?

[Wombat]

In my current campaign, everyone has at least 2 characters. All the characters (current and future) belong to the same institution, thus it is easy to drop in a character at any point. This means the game is not focused on a single individual or a very loosely allied group of people, but rather the general fate of the larger group. I blatantly stole this idea from Ars Magica

With this being said, it is still upsetting when a PC dies. Sometimes interesting plot threads are lost. Sometimes important information is lost, if the PC forgot to pass it along. And of course there is the loss of a hero.

Still, as a GM, I can manage this.

 

[Azul]

I went with some concern. I don't mind a dramatic PC death or seeing a PC get greased because he did something foolish. My concern is more with "unsatisfying" deaths that leave players feeling cheated of a character they invested time and energy into. If your PC dies in my campaign, I like it to go out with a bang rather than a wimper.

This concern about PC death is partly due to our campaign flavour. Raising/ressurection are very rare in my campaign but we use house rules that lower the odds of outright dying in battle... KOed and maimed is more likely. Regeneration spells have more or less taken over the "fix up the smashed PC" role that resurrection plays in most campaigns. Instead of being raised from the dead, they need to have a permanent injuries healed.

My other concern is with widescale and/or frequent death. Having too many PCs die too often plays havoc with any sense of continuity in a campaign. I like hooking plots around PC traits and backgrounds but I dislike making any PC indispensible to a storyline. In order to maintain the sense of danger, I make it clear that any PC can die and TPKs are possible (although I do try to avoid them if the situation can allow that - e.g. have the baddies capture the PCs for interrogation instead of outright killing, give the PCs a chance to run for it, whatever).

 

[kanithardm]

Okay, nevermind then.

 

[gizmo33]

I don't like PC deaths, but the alternative of fudging is worse IMO. There are ways to make the PC death less disruptive to the campaign (eg. a good/compatible background for the replacement PC). IME players tend to get over the death of the old one within a session or two - as long as you're playing fairly regularly.

TPKs are much harder to deal with - I've only had one about 5 years ago. Other situations have been close but the last player usually has the sense+ability to run away.

I don't believe in worrying too much about whether players are doing something "stupid" or not. I don't think a DM always know what looks "smart" and what doesn't from his side of the DM screen. IMO DMs should let players play the game, and let the dice/situation determine whether the PC lives or dies. Sometimes people do stupid things and live. And sometimes people do smart things and die.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

I answered some concern. I will be honest and say it very much depends upon the player and the PC. Some players I know will be able to take on a new character in the event of a PC death with little or no problem, while others may not be so pragmatic about it. Along the same lines, losing certain PCs would bother me because they are so well developed, but others are so two-dimensional cookie-cutter PCs that replacing them would be easy.

Ultimately I may take steps to prevent PC death when I have a day where I am rolling fantastic or the party is rolling horribly, but I won't stop a death due to just routine combat or because of poor/stupid play.

Also, my level of concern escalates if the same player has multiple tragic deaths - I do not want players to stop investing themselves into their PCs because they keep dying.

 

[MoogleEmpMog]

PCs deaths are annoying when the PC in question has become strongly tied to the plot, usually by surviving through numerous sessions. The player (and often other players, in my experience) becomes more attached to the character, backstory, rivalries and story hooks build up around him, and his role in the party becomes clearly cemented. When a character like that dies, it's a downer for the whole group.

On the other hand, PCs who just pop in for a few sessions and get whacked are expendable. Usually becuse their players play in such a way as to be expended, thus leading to many new characters who have less and less impact on the overall plot. When a player comes in with "four backup characters" ready to go... he's planning on PC death and if a monster is in a position to finish one of many characters off, guess who it'll be? :\

I don't worry too much about the overall rate of death because about 70% of my players fall into the "I have ten character sheets kept up to level and will want to switch characters three sessions from now anyway" model. Also, because I have more than a dozen players, 4-6 of whom will be absent for any given session.

On the other hand, when characters die because of poor encounter design on my part, I do mind it.

 

[The_Gneech]

In my game, only one character has died -- but he died several times. -.- Mostly because he was a rogue who kept running headlong into combat against giant brutes. I suggested several times that he might consider taking some levels in fighter if he wanted to play that way, but he always resisted.

Eventually, the character was retired ... I'm hoping the player doesn't keep following that pattern with his new character, or I'm going to have to forbid him from playing anything other than a barbarian in full plate.

My general feeling is that fudging to keep characters alive is best avoided, and the best way to do that is to have larger numbers of small encounters. Unfortunately, my players prefer just the opposite, and start yawning if their characters still have more than half their hp at the end of the session. This leaves me in the delicate position of having to beat them up enough so they feel like they've been in danger, but not actually wiping them out.

-The Gneech

 

[The Shaman]

I don't like PC deaths, but the alternative of fudging is worse IMO...IMO DMs should let players play the game, and let the dice/situation determine whether the PC lives or dies. Sometimes people do stupid things and live. And sometimes people do smart things and die.

I agree with gizmo33.

Adventuring is dangerous - sometimes the monster wins.

As GM my main concern is providing the players with encounters where they have a reasonable opportunity for success, and then letting the Polyhedrons of Fate decide the outcome. If anything I probably err on the side of encounters that are 'too easy', but I also find that those small successes go a long way toward making the really tough fights that much more compelling to the players and their characters.

I've experienced two TPKs as a GM that I can recall: one a low-level D&D party that got taken out by a single orc, the other a mid-level Modern party that was taken down by a lone assassin. In both cases the party actually overmatched their antagonist, but the dice just didn't fall the characters' way. It happens - it's also what makes the game more than storytelling for me, since in the end neither the GM nor the players know the outcome in advance.

That said, I do get a little bummed when a character dies, especially a well-played, interesting character - I accept it as part of the adventuring life, but I don't necessarily like it when it happens. I feel badly for the player who invested the time and effort to roleplay a well-rounded character - there's also a metagame factor here considering the amount of hard work it is to create and advance a character using d20 rules. I hope that character deaths are meaningful to the other characters and the players when they occur, as that can soften the blow a bit. But, as I said, it's part of the game - you 'mourn' a little, and you move on.

 

[dren]

X factor.

Sometimes it is due to a continuing plot threat.

Sometimes it is where in the game it happens (deep in the dungeon, no convenient way to introduce a new PC conveniently.)

Sometimes it is who died, as in the player spent 2 weeks working on the character, bought a new book, and we sent dozens of emails back and forth working out the details.

Sometimes the character died by stupid luck, and I hate to inflict penalties (i.e. lose a level or the wealth to raise from the dead.)

Or, sometimes, it was just a cool character that worked really well and would have loved to see the character continue.

But mostly, I don't care, as it part of the game and it happens.

 

[kigmatzomat]

I used to be much more worried about it b/c the setting made raise/resurrection almost unattainable. One PC did die shortly after meeting one of the few individuals who could bring someone back from the dead but reincarnate turned out to alter the character too much for the player to keep it.

Now they've hit the point where pretty much any of them can die and get brought back. It might require a few months' travel to find someone able to cast True Res but they can pull it off.

I'm still concerned but not sweating bullets.