I’m so weak!

[Umbran]

Re: I’m so weak!

Has anyone else ever faced this sort of prejudice – either been the dm and wanted to keep some specific characters alive and not others (the classic example of the guy who lets his wife sit in at the game shouldn’t be that rare here) or maybe been a player and noticed this behavior in the game? How did it end up?

Ugh, favoritism is a Bad Scene. Don't go there. One of the primary requirements for being a good DM is fair play.

You can tell a good story with or without the threat of PC death. Unless the players make it clear that they don't mind that some characters may be sacrificed and others not, playing favorites with death is as bad as playing favorites with magic items.

 

[Seule]

I've struggled with being too lenient on the characters for years. However, I am now starting a new campaign, and I am planning to use Karma points (one per level, spend one permanently to avoid death from one source or attack, if you can come up with a justification), and let the players that I am pulling out all the stops. They have had their fair share of character death (in a party of 7, only one has never died at 17th level), but I will also be instituting a no raising rule: you die, you are dead. I think it will make the game far more tense for the players, and that's a good thing. I also expect to have some character turnover, but my campaign framework is designed to allow that.

--Seule

 

[Fenes 2]

I don't kill off PCs. If you want that risk in my game, then better not expect any long-running special hooks or plots involving your PC - I do not waste hours of preparation on a PC that could die any session.

 

[TroyXavier]

Usually, in my games, the players have to really earn death. However, sometimes bad luck causes a player to die.

 

[Mallus]

I've got a bad --well, mixed-- feeling about this.

When I was a fledgling DM, I ran a game where it was pretty clear that death permanent unless you had sizable fortunes or powerful friends. So death at the lower levels meant "roll a new character". One player rolled four or five. I have to say it added something to those early adventures, especially since the challenges I engineered pitted the heroes against outrageously overpowered enemies --really, if you're villians are threatening the entire world, do you think they're going to employ Girl Scouts as henchpeople? I mean Girl Scouts who lack badges in Tae-Kwon-Do and small arms combat.

And only one PC died. Well, 4 PC's with the same player.

My group has fond memories of me being savagely unfair and unbalanced. They found it pretty thrilling.

But... something happened along the way. As the campaign went on, as the story grew richer and more vast. I began to dread the thought of ending these PC's stories for good. It was like having the choice of not getting to the end of a novel you already begun to cherish.

So one of the PC's, the center of a massive and multi-year story arc, gets himself killed in a duel. Against someone he never needed to fight, let alone honorably, one on one. Its just stupid. And I brought him back. I looked around for anything at my disposal to use that wouldn't break the story. And I happened to have a given the party a Ring of Wishes, which would work exactly once for anyone person, and grant them first their wish, and then sometime later, an equal but opposite fortune. I think I called the damn thing the Ring of Fools. Something that until then people were deathly afraid of using.

So one beloved NPC cleric, who owed her fame and marriage to this PC, distraught over her inability to raise him, grabs said ring and brings him back. Thus seeling her own fate. Then another beloved NPC cleric, her husband, forceably grabs the ring from her and wishes her fate onto him. Thus seeling his fate. So when the newly-living PC opens his eyes, the first thing he sees are his two freshly-doomed friends trying to put on brave faces and welcome back to life...

Sorry for the longwindedness... Moral of story? It's natural not to want certain characters to die. And character death and resurrection can be a tremendous boon to the stroyline; so long as its not handled like buying a wagon and mule.

And even though you may not like a PC's character, if they're not being disruptive, lay off of them. Take your enjoyment from the other players and just try to show that player the proverbial "good time".

 

[jgbrowning]

rules

change whatever you want.

you're the DM.


the point of the game is for everyone to have fun.


joe b.

 

[S'mon]

I don't kill off PCs. If you want that risk in my game, then better not expect any long-running special hooks or plots involving your PC - I do not waste hours of preparation on a PC that could die any session.

Wow.

Are you sure D&D is the right game for you?

 

[Orco42]

I let the dice fall where they may.

I have no regrets with killing a character. They understand the risks and it is what makes the games exciting.

About the only time I will fudge is when I make a mistake that will cause the death of the entire party.

But if the whole party does stupid things they will all be killed.

Luckily they have learned that there will be times that they must run.

 

[ForceUser]

My last major campaign had "charmed" characters on an important quest. Oy vey. Never again. Let the dice fall where they may!

 

[Piratecat]

In an old campaign, I slowly discovered that my character (who was the leader of the party) couldn't die. He couldn't. Once I realized this, all the fun went out of the game. I'd do wacky and stupid things to try and ace mmyself, and a DM ex machina would save me every time. It was infuriating.

As a result, I've decided that no one is indispensable... and if you decide that you want to keep someone alive, never let them guess it!