Is it O.K. for the DM to kill a character when the player isn't there?

[Pendragon67]

Again, I ask...
Is it acceptable for the DM to kill a character in the game when the player (for that character) is not at the session? Under what conditions should this be acceptable? I know it's the DM's game and they can do what they want and they are the final arbiter, BUT! Is this fair?!?! It seems to take the joy out of it. This recently happened to me with my character. I'm not sure what to think. Is he taking advantage of his role as the DM? Any thoughts? Thank you.

 

[Mouseferatu]

While there's no official rule on this, my friends and I have always felt that it's completely inappropriate for a DM to kill a PC when the player is absent. (I might make an exception for a TPK--total party kill--but that's never been an issue.)

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

It is fair if and only if there is a prior understanding that character deaths may occur if the player is absent.

 

[Morrus]

It doesn't sound very fair to me. D&D, when it comes down to it, is supposed to be one thing - a fun game which a group of friends can enjoy. When things are happening which upset members of that group, they need to be addressed.

Perhaps you guys have a previously agreed arrangement which makes this OK; otherwise, I'd say that the DM in question isn't really focusing on the "let's all play a game and have some fun" aspect.

Dunno. depends on your group dynamics. I wouldn't dream of doing that to a player myself.

In our game, we have a rule which has worked very well for a dozen years now. If the player isn't present for the session, the character effectively isn't present. yes, this can be unrealistic (does he just teleport out of the dungeon?) but we find it the fairest, most enjoyable way to handle the stuation. We'll rationalise it if we have to (he's there, but sticking in the background doing other stuff, or whatever), but the essence of the rule is that, as far as the game is concerned, the character is not present. He suffers neither onsequences or rewards of that sesison's play.

In the end, all it boils down to is this: what does your gaming group find acceptable?

 

[Endur]

Is this fair?!?! It seems to take the joy out of it.

Fairness depends. Dying is never a joyful experience.

Scenario #1: During a long melee combat, you go to get the pizza at the front door while the DM rolls a critical hit and kills your character.

Scenario #2: Part 2 of a Dungeon crawl started last week. Party can't find their way out of the locked crypt. Your character (being played as an NPC or being run by another player) is eaten by a monster in a melee combat. Dice rolls were witnessed by other players.

Scenario #3: Mysterious assassin strikes and slays you. No dice necessary. Your gone.

#1 is life. Them's the breaks of stepping away from the table.

#2 is what can happen in big dungeons. Imagine how Gandalf's player felt when he found out that his character stayed behind in Moria to delay the Balrog while the rest of the party went to Lothlorien.

#3 is no fun. And GMs should avoid doing things like this. At least roll some dice to give the hapless PC a small chance of survival.

 

[billd91]

Generally, I wouldn't kill the PC of a player who wasn't at the game session unless it was a TPK. And even then I might rule that the PC escapes it.

Whether or not it's fair depends on what the table rule is for players who aren't there. Does someone else play the PC? Does the PC just kind of hang in the background, doing things off camera but still present? Does the PC stay at the camp/inn/castle to keep an eye on things that day?

If the PC is otherwise fully present and actively being played while the player is away, I think most reasonable observers would consider death a fair possibility. If the PC were being played out of character or exploited to save the hides of the PCs whose players were there, then I would say that the death is unfair regardless of the general rules when players are absent.

But, even if the death would be fair, I probably still wouldn't do it. I simply feel a player should be there for his PC's death. It's more fun to see the look on their faces when it happens as well.

 

[Wik]

Well, lemme relate a little story:

Recently, we had a player, who, for the sake of anonymity, we'll call... screw it, his name is "Scott".

He showed up for the first and second session, and then missed the third, fourth, and fifth. During those three sessions he missed, the group was forced to run his character, and hated doing it (it's a headache running the group's cleric when you're running a fighter).

During a session where some carnivourous creatures (I won't go into details because it was set in the Savage Tide arc, so let's just say they were critters that like to eat PCs if they have the chance) were attacking the group, all of the group was knocked to the negatives except for one character, the Dragon Shaman, who was unable to reach the rest of the group in time.

So, as the GM, I was faced with a dilemna: Do I kill a character whose player has shown up every session, or do I kill a character who was a full level behind the rest of the group, whose player had missed half the essions?

I killed the character whose player was missing.

Whoops. ;P

 

[FreeTheSlaves]

Imo, the dm is responsible for placing threats to any given character in an adventure. The threats then may kill a pc.

The player is responsible for the character that exists in such a threatening world. A present player automatically assumes responsibility of their pc. An absent player may or may not depending on the agreed table rule.

What then are the table rules of the group? This is a question that needs to be answered at the beginning of the adventure. For the record, imc the pc of the absent player earns half xp, is played conservatively but risks death.

 

[Angel Tarragon]

In my games, I give the player the option of having someone else play their character when they are going to be absent from the group. They know full well that that means, whatever happens, happens. Not that I'd ever 'make' something happen to punish the player for being there, but just that actions have consequences.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

In my games if you miss the session you can choose to either have someone else run your character or they are "somewhere else" for the session. If you let someone else run your character you get 2/3 xp (compared to 1/3 if they are "somewhere else") but if your character gets killed it's too bad.

So it's then up to the player to decide whether they want the extra xp or the safety of not dying. So far it has only come up a few times and the player has always chosen to have someone else run their PC for them. No-one has died in the 16 sessions so far, let alone when they weren't at the game so it hasn't been a real issue for us.

Olaf the Stout