D&D General On PC Death

[iserith]

This sounds like it comes from someone who has never been betrayed by their dice.

I do the betraying.

 

[Musing Mage]

Why is 'all of the above' not an option?

 

[steeldragons]

You missed: "Throw cursed dice across the room. Prolific profanities. Vow never to use those crap dice again. Then, go pick them up to roll up next/replacement character." I click that one.

 

[ninjayeti]

Matt Coleville has a great story about killing a PC. He said the player (also his boss IIRC) was FURIOUS....for about 30 minutes. Then he sat down with the rulebooks and started working on a new PC. The player later stated that he just needed some time to be mad, get over the character death, and then he was excited to move on with a new character.

I think this is exactly the right reaction - having a PC die should be upsetting. It is that emotional attachment that makes the game exciting. But if you are a grown-@$$ human being you should also be able to get past the disappointment in a reasonable amount of time and get back to enjoying the game.

So #1 for like 30 minutes, then #5.

 

[Minigiant]

Jokes on you, I'm into that.

pulls out binder of backup character ideas and sheets

 

[Marc_C]

You missed: "Throw cursed dice across the room. Prolific profanities. Vow never to use those crap dice again. Then, go pick them up to roll up next/replacement character." I click that one.

I had one player throw the d20 at me once after character death. I had to duck or be hit. The die was incrusted 2" deep in the basement styrofoam... needless to say everyone shouted at him for about 2-3 minutes.

 

[jmartkdr2]

I will rules lawyer the hell out of a death if there's anything as small as a missing Oxford comma to lean on.

Then I look for way to resurrect the character, because no one keeps the no resurrection rule in place after stupid deaths of beloved characters.

But if the character wasn't beloved (or a poor fit for the campaign), I take a few minutes to collect myself then start making a new one based on the slew of ideas I have floating in my head.

 

[prabe]

I had one player throw the d20 at me once after character death. I had to duck or be hit. The die was incrusted 2" deep in the basement styrofoam... needless to say everyone one shouted at him for about 2-3 minutes.

There is a key difference between "throw the dice" and "throw the dice at the GM." One is not acceptable, at all, ever; the other might be.

 

[Marc_C]

There is a key difference between "throw the dice" and "throw the dice at the GM." One is not acceptable, at all, ever; the other might be.

No throwing ever. Buy a Dice Prison instead.

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[Marc_C]

I don't recall any character death after we switched from Basic to AD&D. We did use death at -10. Most of the time I retired a character or the campaign folded.

My reaction would probably depend on how it happened, that would determine if I wanted to continue playing with that group and/or DM.