Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Squire James" data-source="post: 3197422" data-attributes="member: 548">The thread-starter seems to suggest that, if a character gets killed, it's always the DM's fault.&nbsp; However, I will try to think of the question a little more neutrally, like &quot;Is it OK for a character to die when the player isn't there?&quot;Essentially, the DM has to analyze his players a bit.&nbsp; If the players generally tend to be... easily upset... then it's probably best to contrive a way for those characters not to die.&nbsp; In a normal gaming situation, though, I'd run them as slightly more cautious versions of themselves and let the dice fall where they may.I recall a circumstance where a player missed one session, and my working assumption was that his character would follow along as an NPC (it was not a logical time for characters to leave the party, in the middle of a tough adventure and all).&nbsp; I ran that character in a manner consistent with his class, probably more cautiously than would ever occur to the player.&nbsp; The party progressed to the end of the adventure, where a beholder awaited them as the final encounter.&nbsp; The NPC's caution was serving him too well, and he was inflicting quite a bit of damage with arrows.&nbsp; I think you see where this one's going... it's not like the beholder's just going to let this guy kill it!The player was upset that his character died, but accepted that this kind of thing sometimes happens to adventurers.&nbsp; At least he went out heroically, because he was doing so well he became a priority target!&nbsp; He still plays today (other players left for what I considered poorer reasons).</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Squire James, post: 3197422, member: 548"] The thread-starter seems to suggest that, if a character gets killed, it's always the DM's fault. However, I will try to think of the question a little more neutrally, like "Is it OK for a character to die when the player isn't there?" Essentially, the DM has to analyze his players a bit. If the players generally tend to be... easily upset... then it's probably best to contrive a way for those characters not to die. In a normal gaming situation, though, I'd run them as slightly more cautious versions of themselves and let the dice fall where they may. I recall a circumstance where a player missed one session, and my working assumption was that his character would follow along as an NPC (it was not a logical time for characters to leave the party, in the middle of a tough adventure and all). I ran that character in a manner consistent with his class, probably more cautiously than would ever occur to the player. The party progressed to the end of the adventure, where a beholder awaited them as the final encounter. The NPC's caution was serving him too well, and he was inflicting quite a bit of damage with arrows. I think you see where this one's going... it's not like the beholder's just going to let this guy kill it! The player was upset that his character died, but accepted that this kind of thing sometimes happens to adventurers. At least he went out heroically, because he was doing so well he became a priority target! He still plays today (other players left for what I considered poorer reasons). [/QUOTE]

Verification