Penalties besides PC death

[Ringan]

Sorry if this has been discussed earlier, but I had trouble finding any old threads about it.

In my campaign PCs only die if their player decides that they should. Now I know that this can have a tendency to make players cocky because they don't fear PC death, but I am still not interested in killing my PCs. However, I do want to penalize PCs for making bad decisions. I know going after favorite NPCs, or perhaps the PC's inventory are ways to do it. My players are very into the story end of the campaign so fluff-type stuff is fair game. Do you have other ideas? General guidelines or cool stories would both be appreciated!

 

[Arkhandus]

Earning the enmity of important, or very begrudging, people could be a penalty. My PCs acquired the Deck of Many Things from a dragon's hoard, and one of the cards drawn by the PC archer got her a fiendish enemy (so now some fiend, somewhere, is going to hunt her down and try to kill her....).

Losing a limb or something could also be a nasty penalty. PC gets an enemy really ticked off, and they get that PC pinned down or something for a moment? Maybe he chops off the PC's arm, or gouges out one of their eyes, or chops off their tongue, then leaves them to bleed to death or something. The PC may survive, but loses something important. If they're a spellcaster, they can't do much with their tongue gone, and just have some minor problems if they lost a hand instead. A warrior can't hold a sword and shield at the same time, or just a greatsword, if he's lost an arm. Losing an eye can make it hard to aim properly or see trouble coming, so spells or attacks may go off-target.

The DMG has some basic rules on penalties for losing particular limbs and such.

Regenerate is a high-level spell, so only really experienced adventurers can manage to circumvent such losses, and only if they have a sufficiently advanced cleric among them (or an NPC one in their debt).

 

[Herobizkit]

* Introduce "cursed" magic items; you could use them as written, or you can be more creative. I have had an idea that I haven't tried yet, but should be easy to implement (the idea came from the old artifact tabkes from the 1st ed. DMG): create magic items as rewards that have both positive and negative effects.

Example: The PC's find a +2 longsword that gives +2 to Str (like gauntlets of ogre power) but -2 to Int and Cha (more like an ogre).

Example: The PC's find a strange gem that can act as a regeneration spell, but kills all plant life and small animals/vermin within a 60' radius when in effect, or drains a like amount from anyone in the same radius.

* PCs who are normally killed becomes "ghosts".

* Bad press. Word of the PC's ineptitude spreads far and wide, and people start avoiding them in the streets, charging them extra for goods and services (or refusing them outright), and urging them to move on.

* Taint scores. The more PC's screw up, the greater their connection with the "world of shadow" becomes. (essentially a -1 to WIS for every point of Taint; side effects vary)

* Loss of wealth, freedom, magic, and resources are the most common ways to torture PC's.

 

[Lanefan]

Level drain. Most players *despise* losing levels.

And do it old-school...none of this negative level now and roll later to see if you really lose it stuff; the levels are *gone*. period.

Have fun!

Lanefan

 

[KrazyHades]

Deformities could be useful. Not the willing deformities presented in the Book of Vile Darkness, but ones that only give penalties. Maybe a disease ruptures large parts of the character's face, giving -2 to all social skills. Or perhaps a group of cultists captures the PCs and gouges holes in their skull, giving -2 wisdom. Anything like that works well, and can often be used in situations where the character would otherwise have been killed.

 

[Walt C]

Sorry if this has been discussed earlier, but I had trouble finding any old threads about it.

In my campaign PCs only die if their player decides that they should. Now I know that this can have a tendency to make players cocky because they don't fear PC death, but I am still not interested in killing my PCs. However, I do want to penalize PCs for making bad decisions. I know going after favorite NPCs, or perhaps the PC's inventory are ways to do it. My players are very into the story end of the campaign so fluff-type stuff is fair game. Do you have other ideas? General guidelines or cool stories would both be appreciated!

I usually penalize them by docking XP. This works best when you tell the players what the potential XP payout was and why they didn't get the full amount. In extreme cases, such as a TPK, I'll script an alternate ending and not award XP at all.

Walt

 

[Deadguy]

So long as you play out the consequences of their poor choices, simply failing can be a heavy punishment. If they are trying to rescue an ally from a mutual enemy, then they've lost an ally when they fail. That can gall players but also inspire them to make up for their actions.

Personally I find reputation when handled right can be the biggest penalty that a party can face. Failure breeds contempt from potential allies and closes doors to them which might have made their lives easier. No one enjoys being failure...

 

[Ruslanchik]

I agree with KrazyHades, but I would go with a variation on the Taint rules found in Heroes of Horror. Near death experiences produce some strange physical and mental issues for the characters.

The lists found in Heroes of Horror have a bunch of minor and major effects that have real RP and performance impacts. They can give your characters mild benefits (+2 to intimidate checks IIRC) as well and can be a lot of fun for the group.

 

[Glyfair]

There are basically two different directions you can take to remove involuntary death and substitute other drawbacks. The first is make the consequences direct. When the character would die, the immediate ramifications of that are the drawback. The second is to make the consequences unrelated. There are negative effects on the characters, but they are sort of "karmic."

In the first case, a lot depends on the circumstances. The most common "death" is dropping in combat. Usually you will have the PC go unconscious and that will have consequences. Maybe the PC is captured and has to have a ransom paid to go free (something that was very common in Runequest, after PCs surrendered). Maybe there are some long term effects. A spellcaster who takes a near mortal wound might lose use of some spell slots for the next month (or longer, or shorter). Maybe while unconscious they lose some key item.

In the second case, you just need to be creative. If a PC dies, maybe they later find out they have lost an ally. Maybe a relative is kidnapped. Perhaps their home kingdom is attacked by another nation.

In general, I prefer the first method. Of course, you can get quite creative in having the incident effect the character. Perhaps a serious loss causes their patron to loose faith in them. They either lose their patron, or the patron is less willing to reward them.

Don't be afraid to make the consequences minor. In a battle against some minor mooks where the opponent's got lucky, there is nothing wrong with having them drop unconscious be the only consequence.

On the other hand, the negative consequences can be major plot hooks. Maybe the PC is unconscious and dying indefinitely. The PCs have to arrange to get him to a healer before he can become conscious (especially good if the player is going to miss some sessions or has a second PC). Maybe the group is taken captive and is taken to be sold as slaves in a far-off land. With the right group the "death" consequences can be more interesting than lack of failure.

 

[baradtgnome]

I think folks have covered it pretty well. My favorites are:
- take their stuff
- mess with their reputation
- mess with their NPC friends
- create a recurring villian, and have that villian one up them

I know you said you don't kill characters, but I think you are missing an opportunity. I have not killed a character in years. My players are very attached to their characters, having strong back stories and relationships with other party members. However, my players KNOW that I will let them die if they play badly. I don't mean a few unlucky rolls either. In the last two adventures I had (different) characters get to -9 and saved at the last minute by a fellow party member (and they don't know how many neg hit points their friends have - but the hurt member does know!). It is a tough balance to walk, but I feel it keeps the adreniline pumping.