D&D 5E The Dying Conundrum

[iserith]

What do you do when a player's character dies?

I do a victory lap around the table.

Specifically, if you allow them a new character, what do you do if their first character is raised?

That doesn't happen in practice for me. It's very rare that a character is raised in my games (outside of something like revivify). The players always have backup characters ready to tap in when a PC dies, so they just move forward with that character.

 

[HermanTheWize]

I'd let them choose to make 1 a PC and then play the other.

Sent from my SM-G930V using EN World mobile app

 

[Oofta]

I'm pretty lenient when it comes to people choosing what they want to play. Whether that means swapping out a PC (irregardless of the situation) or choosing to no longer play a character that died it is totally up to them.

My only rule is that if you can only have one PC and that the abandoned PC becomes an NPC under my control, and may or may not have further interactions with the group.

 

[Cyan Wisp]

As a player, I'd like the choice. I might be over it and want to try a new concept, or I might still be eager to continue with my "ol' faithful". I'd hate to play two characters.

As a DM, they'd have to choose one and the other retires or the dead one's soul refuses and wants eternal rest. I also like the idea that a new PC is a different race and class than the old one, to prevent "Monty the Dwarf Bladelock, twin brother of the original Jonty the Dwarf Bladelock". I don't like players having two characters at all.

 

[ccs]

What do you do when a player's character dies??

Smile & add a tally mark to the campaign binder.

Specifically, if you allow them a new character, what do you do if their first character is raised?

I can't give you a solid answer to this because it depends upon both the campaign & the player.

 

[Croesus]

What do you do when a player's character dies?
Specifically, if you allow them a new character, what do you do if their first character is raised?

Since I started in the hobby (1976) my groups have always used "troupe play", meaning each player can have as many characters as they want, but only plays one at any given time. If players want to swap out characters between sessions, I'll find a way to make that happen. If a PC dies, the player should always have one or more other characters they can choose from. If they have no other characters, then they typically play an NPC the rest of the session, then create a new PC for the next. With troupe play, if the earlier character is later raised, then the player just has one more character to choose from at the start of a session.

BTW, I used to require all new PCs to start at 1st level, but levels one and two go by so fast in 5E, I now let them start at 3rd.

 

[aco175]

I had a situation come up where a PC died and the player wanted to have him raised but there was a quest they needed to complete before the NPC would raise him. I had the player make another PC to use on the quest so that he would still play while waiting for the original PC to be raised. The player had so much fun with the character he thought would be a one-off that he wanted to keep him after the quest was completed. The original one went into retirement, but also became a NPC that aided them when they came to town.

 

[Sunseeker]

Depends.

When a character "dies" there is usually time for them to be raised. Assuming that time has passed and they can noy only be brought back via a god/wish or in some form of undeath, it's really not that hard to just say "this doesn't happen".

I'm not sure what you mean by "if" I allow them a new character. Typically players whose characters die are similarly put to death for failing to "win" at D&D. /sarcasm

Since I usually like the people I'm playing with, I usually allow them a new character. Their old character can only get raised if their new character dies or I decide to use their old character as an NPC (zombie version of themselves, ect...). If for some reason their old character and new character are both alive and both looking to be party members, I ask the player to choose which one they want to play, and they can temporarily "retire" the other character.

 

[guachi]

I do a victory lap around the table.

In my current campaign, I have yet to kill a character. No matter how dangerous I think the encounter is, no one dies.

The closest I got was getting them to flee. Dwarf used the potion of invisibility. Elf used the potion of gaseous form. Druid shape changed into a crocodile and jumped into a convenient nearby river. And the monk ran away because he's super fast. The other elf used long strider.

I "celebrate" in the sense that, when I do drop one of them to zero i compliment the players that they are hard to knock unconscious.

 

[Psikerlord#]

No raise dead. No problem.