D&D General On PC Death

[prabe]

No throwing ever. Buy a Dice Prison instead.

My games started at game stores, in the Before Time. Throwing dice was strictly verboten (a quick way to lose your invite and your dice).

 

[TwiceBorn2]

None of the above.

I'm sad that my character died, but that's part of the game and potentially makes for a richer story. We've never used resurrection spells in our games.

I accept death with grace, as do the other people in my gaming group.

No real risk of death = no significant stakes.

EDIT: closest reply in the poll would be "roll up a new character." But I don't think I've ever used the pretext that I hated the deceased character, which, IMO, still reeks of unsportsmanlike behaviour.

 

[Stormonu]

Clatter 1
”Well, that sucked...what was the DC again? Stupid game.” Leaves table.

3 days later. “Hey, I got this idea for a new PC. Even rolled three 18’s and took a background that gives him plate armor and a flaming long sword to start with. I do get to start at the same level as my last character, right?”

 

[Shiroiken]

"Pull out one of 3,429* character ideas I have that I never thought I'd get a chance to play."


*--approximately

Since I DM half the time, this is FAR more accurate for me! Still get hit in the feels after a good death, or in the gut after a bad one (i.e. I screwed up).

 

[Alzrius]

One thing I remember seeing for a while, in late 2nd Edition and early 3rd Edition (or at least, that's how it seemed) was how often the death pact spell - which automatically brought you back to life if you died (albeit at a high price) - seemed to turn up in various books. That spell appeared in DMGR7 The Complete Book of Necromancers, Powers & Pantheons, and Magic of Faerun.

Given how evil the spell was, it was clearly meant as a way for high-level villains to cheat death so they could come back and continue to fight the PCs. I was always a bit miffed about that, as it meant my own PC couldn't make use of it. Just another reason why evil PCs are more fun.

Please note my use of affiliate links in this post.

 

[ShinHakkaider]

One thing I see pretty commonly is players who do not want the chance of essentially random character death. They want it to MEAN something, either in the context of their personal character story, or the larger campaign story. And I get that because a lot of people view TTRPG play as a form of narrative. I don't actually view it that way very often, especially as a player, and I am more interested in seeing what emerges out of play. So unless I feel like something was abjectly unfair, when I lose a PC as a player I find it interesting and then I move on. As a GM, I try not to hinge the campaign on the PCs all surviving...

Yeah I'm not a fan of that. It's one of the reasons I stopped listening to Critical Role.

I know everyone prioritizes the narrative part of the game but for some of us it's also A GAME. It's not a novel or movie and in my preferred style of play? No one has plot armor. I do ALOT to put narrative control into my players hands in the form of Hero Points and typically when adjudicating If it comes down to calling a rule I'm usually doing it in the PC's favor unless the rule is GLARINGLY clear it should go otherwise.

I ran a 10 year COTCT game and the players lost more than a few PC's during that game. The players did a great job of setting up future new possible PC's and integrating them into the story. Only ONE player played his PC from that very first level to level 15-16. He died once (from two really bad die rolls to save against a death effect) but the party was high enough level at that point and cultivated contacts to get him raised by a trusted Cleric ally.

I guess I dont view character death as anything but a speed bump to a solid campaign. The narrative still goes on and can still be VERY strong. One of the PC's used a playtest version of a class early on and decided that they didnt like the way the character played. We agreed to make that character an NPC and they made another PC. That PC made it all the way up to high level and actually completed their specific mission. Together we set up working the original PC back into the game so by the time they were ready to retire the "new" PC the "old" PC rejoined the party with a new effectiveness and mission that was in line with the old group.

Your players can be very effective co-showrunners if you engage them!

 

[billd91]

Yeah I'm not a fan of that. It's one of the reasons I stopped listening to Critical Role.

They may emphasize the narrative in a way that may not be your style, but I really don't see how that fits with the topic of the thread. Critical Role PCs have gotten themselves killed and Matt Mercer is a "let the dice fall where they may" kind of DM. Character death just tends to happen when the PCs are high enough level to raise or at least revivify the dead PC (Mollymauk being a significant exception as the PCs were comparatively low level).

I certainly understand that their style of game isn't everyone's cup of tea. They do focus a lot on characterization and internal motivations and relationships and that tends to de-emphasize getting into fights compared to other playing styles, but I don't generally see Mercer pulling punches in a fight. He might make it relatively easy for them to bring a PC back from the dead, but that sometimes that just offers up even more story hooks as the PCs find themselves in debt...

 

[ShinHakkaider]

They may emphasize the narrative in a way that may not be your style, but I really don't see how that fits with the topic of the thread. Critical Role PCs have gotten themselves killed and Matt Mercer is a "let the dice fall where they may" kind of DM. Character death just tends to happen when the PCs are high enough level to raise or at least revivify the dead PC (Mollymauk being a significant exception as the PCs were comparatively low level).

I certainly understand that their style of game isn't everyone's cup of tea. They do focus a lot on characterization and internal motivations and relationships and that tends to de-emphasize getting into fights compared to other playing styles, but I don't generally see Mercer pulling punches in a fight. He might make it relatively easy for them to bring a PC back from the dead, but that sometimes that just offers up even more story hooks as the PCs find themselves in debt...

You're right. I think I stopped listening early I guess during the first campaign. Right around the 80's. This was a few years ago so I might be misremembering but they seemed more focus on keeping the characters in play. I think Scanlon died in one of the last ones that i listened to but was promptly returned to life by the Raven Queen or something like that.

So maybe characters DID die but it felt like death was just a speed bump because the PC's would be right back up the next session without going through the rigmarole of being raised by a cleric.

As opposed to the way the Glass Cannon or Find the Path runs their games. Characters die. and then there are new PC's who are integrated into the story. There's a fair amount of characterization in those games too but they lack the celebrity of CR so the fans take character deaths in stride no matter how much you like the character.

 

[Lanefan]

How do I react to unexpected PC death? Unless there's something blatantly wrong with how it went down e.g. an egregious rules misapplication on the DM's part, at low levels I can pretty much sum it up in one word:

NEXT!

At higher levels there's often the chance of revival, but it's not guaranteed; meaning that at some later point either I get the character back or go straight to the one-word solution above.

 

[Oofta]

Well, considering my luck, it would be "Dang! This elf almost got to 3rd level! That would have been a first!"

I don't take PC deaths too hard (it's expected if I play an elf) it just means I get to play a different PC.