D&D 5E Killing a Teammate

[iserith]

It feels like it would be a little too weirdly convenient to just happen to find something like that right when they need it. Wouldn't that seem metagamey in itself? They're currently in the Underdark, so I can't think of a good reason anything there would be helpful.

My problem is that her character's still alive, so she shouldn't be making a new character. I don't think it's unreasonable to only allow a player to have one character at a time. I mean, it kind of sucks for her, but that's the consequence of failing the saving throw. Letting her character die feels kind of the same as letting a character die because you rolled bad stats. It's not trusting the dice to make a good story.

Your player has a right to have fun. If playing a character that can do nothing except speak falteringly isn't fun for her, then it's time to either retire that character and bring in a new one or offer an opportunity for her and the rest of the party to fix the situation in which the character finds herself. In the Underdark, the players might come across a twilight grove of phosphorescent mushrooms tended by a myconid druid who has the means to help her if the party promises to rid it of a monster that plagues its guarded lands. Or you can modify this 3rd-level challenge I wrote and posted by making it a quest to obtain two gas spores which the myconid can use to restore the stunned PC.

I wouldn't worry about perceptions of "metagaming." However they've arrived at their proposed course of action, your players have valid concerns and their decisions to deal with it should be fairly considered.

 

[n00b f00]

What they said. There's lots of ways to introduce new PCs (runaway slaves) or restore her (ruined temple with anti mind flayer artifact, it is the underdark). A mercy killing in the underdark on a 0 int character seems reasonable, worst things than a dagger to the heart. Being months away in game seems insanely impossible to survive. If the PC doesn't want it case closed, but in setting I see it as a maybe questionable, but certainly not evil. There's in setting basically no chance for her to survive. Them assuming it's a given is meta gaming.


Either way I can't stress enough how bad an idea making her play a brain dead character is. She can't play a character who has no agency, thoughts ,words. A character who is effectively dead for 10 sessions.

Is the player supposed to show up and sit on their hands for months doing nothing in game. That seems like the premise to a dnd horror story.

"The time I played a coma victim for months because I couldn't reroll "

 

[dmnqwk]

My problem is that her character's still alive, so she shouldn't be making a new character. I don't think it's unreasonable to only allow a player to have one character at a time.

Framing a response that isn't harsh is very tough here I'm afraid. You have essentially decided a player is not entitled to have play because you rolled 3d6 (failing the saving throw didn't cause this, after all, the final 3d6 to devour the intelligence did). If you lost your phone, it still exists. Would you deny yourself a new phone until you were absolutely certain 100% it was no longer useable, or would you get a new one as soon as you could to replace it?

Same thing applies here - the player cannot play without a character, and their character is unavailable at this point in time. I heartily recommend you learn that being a DM is NOT about control and power, it's about sharing a story with people. If you feel the story is ruined by more than one character, you will have to cope with the loss of this player because very few people will stick around after being treated the way you are treating them over this.

It's okay to follow the dice religiously, but understand the DM has the final say. You cannot go "sorry, the dice killed you" because they cannot, only the DM can. In essence the only reason the player is in this situation is not because they failed a saving throw, it's because you chose to let this happen. Being a DM is about wielding this level of power fairly, and denying a player the opportunity to play for 6 to 8 sessions is a choice you are clearly making, just don't blame the dice.

 

[Clancey]

One possible uptick is for the party to *not* attack every being they come across. Roleplaying diplomacy in order to get help for your comrade could be a nice changeup in groups that don't normally try that tactic. Offering up a magic item from the debilitated PC would be a really good way to deal with the situation and be a fair cost of getting yourself in the situation in the 1st place.

 

[derickmoore25]

Either kill the character off kindly cause they can't feed someone in a coma. The Character will starve in a week or three according to the starvation rules. Give them a warlock level and have the patron awaken them. Instant solution.

 

[goblynknight]

Maybe house rule a recover mechanic (1 point per long rest, or a d6 worth regained) Role playing a recovering person could be fun for a bit.

 

[BoldItalic]

A possible resolution that preserves the fiction and satisfies the players together might go like this:

In-game, the PC suddenly becomes conscious again, but seems to have a completely different personality. Her empty mind has been possessed by the restless soul of a dead adventurer who has been drifting in this place for untold time since being killed. She now has different knowledge (possibly useful knowledge about the immediate surroundings), different personal goals and so on but is quite willing to co-operate with the other PCs, if only to get out of this place and get some sort of a life.

Out-of-game, the player keeps the physical aspects of her PC but creates a new personality with its own name, ideals, goals and flaws, any way she likes. She gets to role-play a brand new character but without losing the accumulated XP, equipment, wealth and so on, of the old.

Think of it as a soul transplant.

With the player's agreement, you could just declare it as a fait accompli or play it as an encounter with a benign ghost who just wants a body.

 

[Horwath]

I would take 3.5 rules for that.

You recover 1 point in ability damage for a long rest.
You recover 2 points if you spend whole 24hrs resting.

Double that if someone else treats you with DC 15 healing check.
Triple that if someone else treats you with DC 20 healing check.

of course you have to be in some environment that provides some comfort.

 

[Mecheon]

The best solution is let them have an alt-character, get their character to help, and then let them chose which character to proceed with. Because the alternative...

My problem is that her character's still alive, so she shouldn't be making a new character.

is basically saying "I'm not going to let that player have any fun because they rolled bad"

 

[Al2O3]

My problem is that her character's still alive, so she shouldn't be making a new character.

If she wanted to make a new character, but you refused with the quoted justification and the players then started discussing killing the PC I would say you are the reason for the metagaming. The players are solving a metaproblem (DM won't allow a new character while the old lives, despite the wishes of the player) with a metasolution (kill the old character).

If the player wants to keep playing the character with no brain, then I see no reason why metagaming would cause the suggestion of killing the character, rather the opposite (our companion will be a liability and in suffering, so we should do a mercy killing, but since the player doesn't want us to, we won't).

And regarding the objection that a player should only play one character at a time: make the fighter into an NPC, let the player make a new one and she will still only play one character. No metaneed to kill the old one.