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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Barastrondo" data-source="post: 5604202" data-attributes="member: 3820">A lot of different opinions on this one. If a character dies at level 17, did levels 1-16 matter? And if you bring in a replacement level 17 character, does this character's unplayed levels 1-16 somehow matter? I don't think there's a correct communal answer. For my opinion, I figure that the only thing that makes any level "matter" is what you do with it: if the players have had an effect on their environment, both in successes and in failures, then death has nothing to do with whether or not their investments have paid off.I'd guess that the answer always has to do with immersion in the world, or at least in the sense of plausibility. If a castle falls, or a ship is lost, or a useful ally at court falls to an assassin's knife, it should seem that this is a logical consequence of events in the campaign. That may require the PC actions to produce a loss, or it may require foreshadowing of another sort. If the players react to news of an assassination with "What? It's the Turgeyevs, it has to be. I can't believe they've gotten this bold!" then it won't seem arbitrary. Rather, it seems a natural consequence.</blockquote>