Nowadays I far more often see folks rally around the idea that PCs shouldn't ever be in danger of dying. At least not without express player permission.
I have articulated my stance on death many times here, but it's possible you have not previously seen it.
I am opposed to deaths that are
all three of:
- Random: Caused by factors completely beyond player control or accounting, e.g. random orc mook #7 got a lucky crit and rolled max value the turn immediately before Pat the Cleric was going to heal, doing just enough damage to kill the character instantly.
- Irrevocable: The party cannot raise the character, whether with their own efforts or with someone else's aid, for so long that the character is, for all intents and purposes, Dead Forever.
- Permanent: The death will not reverse on its own, nor will any effect outside of the party's actions permit them to return to life.
Any death which removes even a single one of these characteristics is an acceptable death. So, for example, a character being suicidally reckless, with reasonable warning against their actions? Yeah that character is gonna die sooner or later, and that's not
random, it is a natural consequence of the player's actions. Likewise, a character willingly making a meaningful sacrifice would be non-random, or a character facing off against their greatest foe, etc.
Revocable deaths are quite common, especially in 5e since
revivify comes online so early. If the party can restore the character to life, then death is on the table always. Similarly, if the party has helpers or allies (or "allies") that can raise the dead PC (perhaps for a cost--even a steep one), then that, too, is just fine. Likewise, if the party has the option, they just...elect not to, then that's still a revocable death, the party just decided not to do it. (I'd feel bad for a player subject to such a response though!)
Finally, if all else fails, there may be reasons why this character died but doesn't
stay dead. Perhaps they've been protected by a god, but need to go on a quest to return to life, or need to learn something from the realm of the dead before they can come back. There are a lot of neat things that can be done with this--some of them even quite devious.
If, however, the player specifically
wants their character to die, then the character is dead. I won't force anyone to play a character they aren't interested in playing further.
So...yeah. If the death is
all three of random, AND irrevocable, AND permanent, the player and I will work something out. Generally, by making one of those three things not true--almost always either revocable or impermanent.
