D&D 5E How to deal with player death?

[AnimeSniper]

Player A Dies... Release the CLONES

Okay so for a decent sci-fi opera campaign the GM gave us the option of buying this interstellar health care package after we all got paid and only three of us chose the Omega 6-66 option... well eventually we three players died horribly and most gruesome deaths by a shipment of NOVA bombs detonating aboard a spacestation.

The other players thought they would divide up our gear... Two players died when they set off a rigged crate of Kira's and the GM said to roll out new PC's for next session while the other three paused to call in a specialist to see if anything else was rigged which was when our Omega 6-66 packages were found resulting in the specialist calling the nearest Clone clinic and finding out that yes our Clones and recent upload from our Neural Implants would be done in 36 hours.

The players looked ticked off and our GM said "I did offer you the same Package!" before smiling

 

[TallIan]

It very much depends on you and your players. I've known grown men almost in tears because of a character death and I've been in one campaign that got a bit farcical and we cycled at least one player every session, but the players were having fun. I tend towards a softer approach that allow PC death, but i know that isn't for everyone, but there needs to be some risk or things get boring.

Back up PC's are a good idea, especially if the death occurs early in the session. If the PC dies later on I will sometimes let them run the mobs during fights (though NEVER the BBEG) but beware the vindictive player. This does make the fights a bit more wargamey and slightly more deadly.

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[AnimeSniper]

Another session a player who took the Omega 6-66 package was thought dead so a clone was made to obtain the intel that she acquired before her death... two session later both original and clone were reunited and thankfully no clone genocide took place.

 

[Li Shenron]

So, I wanted some advice on player death. At the end of an adventure, fine. They die, they need to role a new character next week, yadda yadda. But what if they die in the first encounter of the evening? As in, straight out die? Should I have them role a new character right then and there? That takes time, and would cut in to everyone else's playtime. Do I make them just sit there and stare at the other players and not do anything? That's not fun. I suppose I could have the group go find a way to bring him back to life, but again, that's boring for the player who died, especially if the group doesn't have the means to do so.

I had thought about doing something like make them into a Revenant to finish out the adventure, or use the homebrew Soulbound that I found a week ago (that seemed interesting), you know, transform their character in some way. This is obviously before anyone learns how to raise the dead.

Or should I just say "You suck. You died. Start rolling a new character while we move on." And they can join in when they're ready?

What do y'all do?

You have many ways to make it work. You also have one major way to screw it up, and that is if you do not communicate properly and agree with your players.


a) On one end of the spectrum, you can just comply to what the dice say, and if it's death so be it.

This works if players don't take it personally when they lose a PC.
This works if players don't get emotionally attached to their characters.
This works if players don't invest too much in character creation.
This works if the system allows for quick creation of a new character.

This works better if PC deaths happen often, so everyone is guaranteed to lose a PC now and then, and it becomes clear that it's not a big deal.

b) On the other end of the spectrum, you can promise no PC dies without its player's consent.

This works better if PC deaths happen rarely, otherwise players may start losing suspension of disbelief, or feel that playing well is not worth it.

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In recent years I have mostly chosen option b) but you can find a middle ground between the two.

I find it less problematic to manage, especially because it keeps working even if there are different expectations from players. If a player assumed that dying was permanent and irreversible, he can only be positively surprised by being able to choose. If a player wants death to be permanent and irreversible, he is indeed able to choose so for his own PC. Not so if you choose option a).

With option b) you are free to choose many ways to convert a PC's death into something else, if you want to reinstate a penalty that keeps suspension of disbelief and reward good play. Unless deaths are frequent, you won't easily run out of ideas.

In addition, option b) supports more playstyles, for example it allows carefree players to jump into the game and try unusual ideas without too much fear, and it allows both tactical players and serious roleplayers to "invest" into character design (tactical or narrative side respectively) without being afraid that one bad encounter will spoil all their efforts. There is hardly a worse DM than one that first requires everyone to write pages of PC details and backstory, and then let them die easily.

 

[ShinHakkaider]

My thing is this: have your players make a back up PC or two and have THEM figure out how those backup PC's are related to the characters and story. Have them come up with a decent insert/introduction point.

I'll never remove character death from games that I run. What I tend to do is try to make it harder for a character to die. I pad PC hp by having them use their CON score + starting HD as 1st level HP. Even when faced with certain death there's a rule at my table where if all of the players agree they can sacrifice an action point to keep a PC alive but on the brink of death.

But beyond that? Live with the decisions and the dice and have a back up character ready.

 

[Uchawi]

Yes there is. Several, actually.

True.