[Rant] Robbed of right to gloat at PC's death!

[Renaissance Man]

First of all, I am not a killer DM. Last night, one of the PC's unwisely tread into a room trapped with sliding, crushing walls... a trap he had just witnessed in action at that! After the game, the player remarked matter-of-factly that he had intended for his character to die...

ZUH???

On another occassion, when I advised my players to have a backup character waiting in the wings, "just in case", one of them unabashedly replied that his back-up was a carbon copy of his current character. Only the name had changed. Even the ability scores were the same... but we use a point-buy system, so I couldn't fault him for that.

Doesn't the death of a character mean anything anymore?!

 

[Kyramus]

Make him make a new character.
It is undoubtably that he would have the exact same equipment, and everyone would try a different mix and mash of feats especially if he knows what's up ahead.

 

[jdavis]

They are too cool to care if they die, make the back up characters be of a lower level than the rest of the party, instead of killing characters start using monsters that give negative levels, it's hard to say, " I meant for my character to devolve."

 

[Emiricol]

While I certainly do NOT mind a player killing off a PC he is no longer happy with, I do insist they talk to me ahead of time so I can try to make it a bit more meaningful than "I walk into the unneccesarily slow moving crushing mechanism."

As to the "carbon copy" problem, someone on these boards once posted an idea I like very much and have since hijacked. To paraphrase:

A new character must be different from the last character in TWO MAJOR WAYS.

Possible differences include race, class, primary stat, or a combination of Feats/Skills/Alignment/Deitiy changes.

Ta da.

 

[Tewligan]

Doesn't the death of a character mean anything anymore?!

Depends on what kind of a game you're playing, I think. If the style of play is mostly dungeon crawling with little or no character development, then the players probably just want to jump back into the fray with as little preparation as possible. Campaigns that are more character driven and have more of a "big picture" that connects the adventures would, I imagine, get more response from a player when his character takes the dirt sleep. Of course, this also depends on the players you have - if they're bored unless they're rolling to hit, then you probably can't expect too much emotional commitment from them.

 

[Shadow64]

Doesn't the death of a character mean anything anymore?!

Well, while I don't like my characters taking a dirt nap, I don't flinch too much when it happens. I always have a few other character ideas waiting in the wings. I have "resureccted" a few old characters when i switched campaigns (read: moved to a different state) to keep playing them because i enjoyed them and thought they died to early of a death. But - one died, and the other is a walking magnent for death and disease. Oh well.

And I never kill a character for no purpose. I may retire them, but running them into a trap, leaping into a monster pit, etc. just wouldn't do them service. May sound odd - but that's how i feel. Now, if the character was a psycho and charging two ancient wyrms with a stick was a known habit for him, then that would be ok.

 

[Aeolius]

...his back-up was a carbon copy of his current character. Only the name had changed. Even the ability scores were the same... but we use a point-buy system, so I couldn't fault him for that.

Doesn't the death of a character mean anything anymore?!

Sounds like he was expecting the campaign to run like a video game; i.e. you have three lives to complete your goal. D&D games do not have RESET buttons.

If I had been DM, I would have assumed control of the dead PC, since the player didn't care for him anymore. Dead PCs make great "ingredients" for undead beasties, flesh golems, etc.

 

[Turlogh]

Re: Re: [Rant] Robbed of right to gloat at PC's death!

Now, if the character was a psycho and charging two ancient wyrms with a stick was a known habit for him, then that would be ok.

Now how could this possibly be habit forming?!!??

 

[med stud]

Hm, if I was in that situation, I would go with the players instead of against them. Accept their doings, and make something of it. I dont think it's possible to force them playing something they dont want.

 

[Fenes 2]

Hm, if I was in that situation, I would go with the players instead of against them. Accept their doings, and make something of it. I dont think it's possible to force them playing something they dont want.

Aye. I would not play in a game anyway where the DM wanted to gloat at a PC's death. Heck, if I put hours of work into a PC, with background and sketch and a couple of NPCs (family, friends, enemies), then I expect to be able to play that PC until I decide to retire it, not until I roll 2 instead of 3 at a save.

Rememer, the point of the game is to have fun. If you don't have fun you're doing something wrong, no matter if it concerns PC death or the vileness level.