D&D 5E Perma-Death At Your Table: How Possible Is It?

[jgsugden]

Levels 1 and 2 - Very common. Levels 3 to 4, occasional. Levels 5 to 16, rare. Levels 17+ - it becomes more common as we include more permadeath abilities on threats, such as disintegration and sphere of annihilation. However, it can happen almost anytime when PCs make a bad call.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I have characters die occasionally, usually due to bad luck. My actual attitude, however, is, "Characters die all the time. It's a game, why all the fuss"? I expect it's from growing up with 1st ed. None of us took losing a character that hard.

 

[overgeeked]

I have characters die occasionally, usually due to bad luck. My actual attitude, however, is, "Characters die all the time. It's a game, why all the fuss"? I expect it's from growing up with 1st ed. None of us took losing a character that hard.

Right. It's a game. There are dice involved and lots of combat. Character death is always a possibility. Getting attached to a character is a mistake. The characters are trivially replaceable. You don't lose anything except the few minutes it takes the DM to bring in your new character. And that's what a band of hirelings or henchmen or frequent found prisoners are there for...to have quick and easy access to your new character after the old one dies. D&D 101: Always Have a Backup Character.

 

[TerraDave]

As much as I would like to brag otherwise, perma death due to a bad role or break has been very rare at my table.

The most dramatic was a high level wizard getting cast into a perma-maze by the Lady of Pain (yes, thats right). But this possibility was foreseen, and the player was glad to have just gotten that far.

Years earlier, there was the wizard who actually wasn't killed by a fireball rebound (ask an older player). That player decided to move on, so the character was dead.

But otherwise character death has been due to the player moving on from the character, either wanting to switch to a new one, or just leaving the game.

 

[Yaarel]

Also, future characters can resurrect past characters.

 

[James Gasik]

They could but...why would they? Unless of course you're Bob, brother of Bob, son of Bob, scion of a long line of identical Bobs because you've died so many times you've deluded yourself into thinking this is a game of Paranoia.

 

[Irlo]

Right. It's a game. There are dice involved and lots of combat. Character death is always a possibility. Getting attached to a character is a mistake. The characters are trivially replaceable. You don't lose anything except the few minutes it takes the DM to bring in your new character. And that's what a band of hirelings or henchmen or frequent found prisoners are there for...to have quick and easy access to your new character after the old one dies. D&D 101: Always Have a Backup Character.

Getting attached to a character isn't a mistake, as I see it. That makes the game worth while. It's okay if losing a character stings. Better than okay, actually -- the sting is preferabe to not caring.

 

[overgeeked]

Getting attached to a character isn't a mistake, as I see it. That makes the game worth while. It's okay if losing a character stings. Better than okay, actually -- the sting is preferabe to not caring.

Okay. Maybe "it's a mistake to be so attached to a character that you cannot accept the possibility of that character getting hurt or dying."

 

[Irlo]

Okay. Maybe "it's a mistake to be so attached to a character that you cannot accept the possibility of that character getting hurt or dying."

Yes, sorry, I probably should have known that’s what you meant.

 

[Unwise]

I selected: It happens, but not very often...usually because of bad luck.

But what I wanted to select is that is happens due to rampant stupidity, not bad luck. As GM I normally find away around PC death, except where they have done something really silly. If you plaster over stupidity, then it cheapens every 'win' in the game.

- One character died diving into the ocean and trying to grapple a merman underwater. He did not have water-breathing.

- One tried to pickpocket the Arch Duke, while facing him and without other distractions. Failed. Drew his weapon when the guards went to grab him. Then complained that the other PCs did not throw their lives away trying to kill everybody in the throneroom and escape. The guards were not even going to do much to him until he started stabbing.