Permanant Character Death

[Dire Wolf]

I am curious to hear how people handle this in their games. I have been running two different campaigns with the same players. We play one campaign for a few months and then switch to the other on and off. In one of the campaigns at a climax point a TPK occured. We were planning to switch to the other campaign soon anyway, so that is what we did.
I did not immediately say that the other characters were permanantly dead, I feel I am a fairly liberal DM and allow for things such as Raise Dead, Resurrections, even Deity miracles. In this case, due to no surviving party members I eventually decided that these characters would not be coming back (the bodies should have been eaten by a gelatinous cube).
Now I am finding out that at least one of my players (and rumor has it a few others as well) is bothered by the "permanant death" of their character.
I am unsure how to go on from here, as I am afraid of losing this and other players. Do I allow them to make up new PC's as a rescue party to claim the bodies or something along those lines? For the sake of some grit and realism do I just say that PC death is part of the game, and without that risk the game loses something (which is my opinion) and take a chance of losing a player(s)?
So, I am open to opinions and advice. Thanks!

 

[thedangerranger]

The threat of death won't lose bite if you allow them to come back. Just attach a fairly hefty price to it.
Example: A set of evil clerics will raise part of the party as long as they submit to a geas of the cleric's choice.
Most good party characters would not want that. So they have the option but it's difficult to take. Instead of evil clerics you could have a planetar offer basically the same deal. So the players are still losing something when they die, but you are giving them the opportunity to play the characters they love.

 

[Sixchan]

I follow the "Final Fantasy Rule" of character death; i.e., all characters can be raised unless their death is related to the plot.

So if a player were bothered about their character being permanently dead, it would have to be for a damn good plot reason. And if it was for a damn good plot reason, the player must like it or lump it.

 

[Dinkeldog]

If the old characters could start the new campaign, let them wake up in the temple of the god of your choice.

If they're only concerned that they might want to take up the characters at some point in the future, raise the characters and use them as at least temporary NPCs. Let the new PCs see the old PCs walking around town, doing guard duty, patrolling temple grounds or the like.

 

[wujenta]

I allow raise deads and resurrection, but sometimes permanent death is “permanent”.

Warning Spoilers about Rappan athuk:







In one of the temples dedicated to Orcus (I think that is the first one) the players are about 10 level and the bad guys are fighting to the death defending the place. You are fighting in a place with pools filled with Lava from an active volcano and the bad guys have orders to take the unconscious or held characters to them and throw them inside inside. Two PC were killed that way (I was the DM, of course) and has remained dead.

In the final encounter with Orcus, anyone hit by his wand is killed (fort DC 40 I think to avoid) and cannot be resurrected by any means short of divine intervention. Orcus killed that way 3 characters and they have been dead since then, but the other surviving PC’s are trying now to resurrect them. I let them know via powerful divination spells that the souls of his friends are not destroyed, they are being held in Orcus realm and now they are preparing to go. I will adapt “paladin in hell” to 3.5 to make the core of the story, modified to fit my campaign. The PC’s now are level 20 the lowest and 22 the higher. They have played Rappan Athuk, Bastion of the broken souls, and one homebrewed adventure.

Sometimes “permanent death” can lead into interesting adventures

 

[Bagpuss]

The player needs to grow up roll a new character and deal with the loss. It's not like his dog just died. Also with the rest of the party dead and the campaign over he isn't going to use that character again even if they did live!

 

[Kyramus]

I'd wake them up in a realm they don't know anything about.

Put them in a spirit world kind of thing and they have to find their way back to the living world. Now since the bodies are gone, wouldn't it be funny if their spirits escape the underworld and go into the nearest available bodies. Like say a sanitarium with catatonic people.

Make descriptions of men and women, what they look like. Allow the players to keep there IN, WIS and CHA, they assume the STR , DEX and CON of the invalids.

Have them randomly pick the people from a sheet of paper that you have, and then go from there. male in female body, NO problem. I guess they need to quest to find someway to either get their own bodies back, or have a very powerful wizard who is their ally polymorph other on their present bodies to match those of their old bodies. hehehehe

 

[Brekke]

There have been some good suggestions here. I agree find a way to raise them. The game rules allow for this so why is it such a big deal? It seems to be a trend lately that DMs want a more gritty feel so they make death permanet.

As a player I won't play in a DnD game that the DM insists on playing that way. If you put a lot of work into a character and it dies and it is final then you take the fun out of the game. And is that not the point of playing fun? I think the threat of death is needed. It makes the game more exiciting. Make that savings throw or die can make your palms a little sweaty. But going into every encounter knowing that if your character dies that's it takes a lot of fun out of the game.

As for the players who use raise dead to have their characters do dumb things make raise dead cost more than gold, have them lose a favorite magic item. Make them do major service to the diety who raised them. Take the chaotic neutral and have him have to be lawful good or face the diety's wrath. There are a lot of creative ways to handle this.

 

[Fenes 2]

I don't kill off PCs as a rule, at least not without the consent of my players. PC death is no fun for us, so we don't do it. I'd not play at all in a campaign where PC death is permanent.

 

[Dire Wolf]

I haven't played in a while (DM duties) but doesn't it take something away from the game, especially at higher levels if you know that even if the whole party gets killed, that they can just come back somehow? That no matter what happens because it is a fantasy world they can always be brought back.
My players walked out of the session making comments like "Don't worry, we can always just bring them back, no big deal."
I think character death, should be a serious deal, something to actually be concerned about.