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Message: <blockquote data-quote="tardigrade" data-source="post: 7047509" data-attributes="member: 6874311">Rather than a straightforward Groundhog Day approach, what about using the plot of Algis Budrys' <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogue_Moon" target="_blank">Rogue Moon</a> for inspiration: essentially every time the PCs 'die' a back-up clone is teleported in (not quite how it works in the book, but you don't want to rerun the same bits a hundred times). Possibly they don't even realise what's happening at first, but then start encountering piles of their own corpses, maybe even multiple active copies of themselves. In principle a great opportunity for roleplaying horror, identity crises etc - in practice, it'll depend on your players.You could also check out "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamond_Dogs,_Turquoise_Days#Diamond_Dogs" target="_blank">Diamond Dogs</a>" by Alastair Reynolds, which has a very similar plot (I think it's explicitly inspired by Rogue Moon, but I can't find the reference for that) which adds the idea that the explorers get incrementally modified each time they die in order to face the traps better - so they accumulate water-breathing, natural armour, etc. Maybe make this an explicit player choice; when they die, they hear a voice offering them an 'upgrade'. At first it seems great, but each change involves a trade-off and they gradually realise that unless they do something, what will complete the dungeon won't be humanoid any more. So you switch the fear of death with the fear of loss of humanity, and the real enemy turns out to be not the lich, but the obsessive, body-modifying quest giver they met in the tavern...</blockquote>

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