Other PC death=Not fun

[Erithtotl]

I found one of the worst parts of character death in D&D is the whole element of getting raised.

What I mean is, being able to raise dead characters means that the drama of dying isn't quite so dramatic, especially at higher levels. There is no weeping or dramatic funereal orations. Instead, its replaced with the intense frustration of losing a character level. What could have been a dramatic, fantastic roleplaying moment is instead reduced to a depression brought on by increased character impotence.

Unfortunately since the game is designed to a degree around the ability for higher level character to get raised as necessary, it makes to make access to those spells too difficult, since its something that hurts the PCs but not the bad guys, for the most part.

 

[Tinker Gnome]

Lanefan: Our sessions tend to be very lighthearted, I think I was the only one who felt bad about it. The player is fairly new to the game, and the first time he died was because of a lucky crit.

 

[Sejs]

I wouldn't go so far as to say the night's ruined, but it certainly does set the tone. Things get serious. A friend of yours has just died. That sort of event is supposed to drain the colour out of a scene. Adventuring is dangerous work - somebody might get hurt.


Personally I will never forget the looks around the table when the first death in my campaign took place. To be fair, it was scripted, but only one player at the table knew that. The necromancer in question knew he was going down (he was higher level, but most of his spells he had memorized were for research and raising the dead at the time - they got the drop on him) so as his last 'For hate's sake I spit my last breath at thee', he casts his emergency get-out-of-jail-free spell at the little rogue girl: Stop Heart, modified with Black Lore of Moil.

The table reaction was priceless. They players were looking at me like kicked puppies for two days before I finally cracked and told them the truth of the matter - the rogue's player wanted to change characters, and as such that particular bullet had her name on it.

 

[Harmon]

Everyone dies, its a fact of life, whether its fantasy or reality.

In all the years I have gamed I have lost less then a half dozen characters, all but a couple have come back.

Its sad, yes, but its just a piece of paper. Know that with your characters passing another will come to be cared about and loved.

 

[Tinker Gnome]

Its sad, yes, but its just a piece of paper. Know that with your characters passing another will come to be cared about and loved.

True, but it can get to the point of " I am not even going to bother RPing this one as I am going to die eventually so why bother?"

 

[Uder]

The only time PC death bothers me is when it's my fault... either because I made a mistake in the rules while DMing or because my character's Will save is so low that I'm easy pickings for enemy enchanters (I killed two fellow players and severely wounded another just two games ago... it was fun to let loose on the party, but the end result wasn't so fun).