D&D 5E Not dying?

[uzirath]

I was just reading another interesting thread, The Dying Conundrum, and I realized that my response wouldn't really address the question. Thus a new thread is born.

Does anyone else not kill player characters? Or at least mostly not?

Ever since high school, I've generally run long campaigns (lasting many years) with most players keeping their characters in binders stuffed with background information, campaign lore, maps, descriptions of magic items, unique spells and items, etc. The investment by the players is huge, so character death, for the most part, isn't part of it. We want to see what happens to these characters over time. How can they impact the world? How will they get out of tough spots?

In more informal pickup games, of course, characters get knocked off, and it's great fun. But with the real campaign, there never feels like much need to have character death as a threat. Failing in their goals is enough of a threat to keep game tension high. Allies and NPCs can and do die, sometimes tragically due to PC failures. These moments are packed with pathos and keep the players coming back, hungry for revenge, forgiveness, or to rehabilitate their reputations. (We've definitely had tears at the table.)

There are occasional exceptions. We've agreed that if someone does something so ridiculously dumb that there's no reasonable way for the narrative to continue, then they're toast. That's for situations where someone leaps into lava, charges toward Cthulhu, etc. Similarly, there are occasional epic confrontations that could lead to dramatically satisfying character death. Mostly, however, characters die when players feel like it is appropriate. Sometimes one comes to me before a session (sometimes months before) and lets me know that they're up for an epic death. I've even had players mid-session pass me a note (or whisper to me during a snack break) that they feel like their character should die in a particular scene.

Anyone else in this camp? How big a deal is character death at your table?

 

[cbwjm]

If any of my PCs die, I just roll up another one. We did have a couple other's PCs die in one game but we got them raised which led to us owing the priest who cast the spell and having to turn much of our hard earned gold over to the gnome shop keep whose diamonds we used in the casting.

In general though, when I DM I don't go out of my way to kill PCs, I instead try to make an encounter which is challenging. If this leads to PC death due to poor planning on their part, the luck of the dice, or my total and complete mistake in overpowering the encounter, then so be it. The options then become do they want to be raised or do they want to roll up someone new. Either option is good as far as I am concerned.

 

[Caliban]

As a DM, I generally don't go out of my way to kill or save a PC, although sometimes a PC will temporarily have "plot armor" for storyline purposes. That's an exception though.

 

[ccs]

My battle-mat is soaked in the blood of dead PCs & Valhalla is well stocked.

That said? I don't go out of my way to kill off characters. But adventuring is a dangerous, high risk, occupation.... We just let the dice fall as they may. If that means a PC dies? (shrugs)
Like you, we play to find out what happens to the characters. Sometimes that turns out to be a long involved story. Other times things get cut tragically short by a random crit or whatever. That's the beauty of it, we don't know how the story'll play out until the dice are rolled.


Edit: The only time a character is safe from death is when the player isn't present.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

The stories I love best are the ones where it totally looked like the PCs were all going to die, and then they didn't due to a brilliant plan or even sheer improbable luck. That can't happen unless you're genuinely willing to pull the trigger on them.

 

[eayres33]

I’ve killed a few characters, actually only one that wasn’t at the semi-request of the player. Why as a player I have no problem with a character dying that means I get to try out a new class or revisit a class I haven’t played in a while.

Most of my home game players however don’t like character creation or have become attached to their characters so I try not to kill them. I often knock them out and often have two or three PC’s down but then I start fudging some rolls to let the last one or two standing save the day. But it’s a beer and tacos game so I keep the tension high but the consequence light.

In my PBP game its let the chips fall where they may. But anyone playing play by post is dedicated enough and creative enough to whip up a new character on the fly.

 

[ad_hoc]

The problem is that this means that there are no real tough/tight situations. We know the heroes will prevail because they are destined to.

The very real possibility of failure/death makes victory worth something.

 

[iserith]

I enjoy running a game with all manner of compelling stakes in play and that includes the stakes of life and death. If a character dies, so be it. We've already got backup characters ready to go.

As a DM, I play as hard as my booze-addled brain will permit. My players do their best to survive and many times they walk the razor edge between victory and defeat. They are usually the victors. But not always and that's okay.

 

[robus]

I don't go out of my way to kill my PCs. A couple are total newbies and one is quite sensitive. The remaining player would love to have his PC die on a daily basis but he's an old hand I'm not saying I set things up to be easy but I also don't try to make it hard.

 

[transtemporal]

charges toward Cthulhu

Our party did this once. We thought we had a chance lol. Two of us escaped.

I occasionally nudge events so PCs don't die in a non-heroic way but if they do something dumb or my dice are running hot in an encounter, there's always the chance they'll die.

Out of curiosity, how do you handle spells like "Power Word Kill"? Are enemy casters prohibited from having the spell? Or do they always "happen" to target the person that you know has 100hp or more?