What is the preferrable option after a PC death?
- Thread starter Quasqueton
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AbeTheGnome
First Post
I'm against cheese. Raise 'em if the party can convince a high-level priest that the character's heroism benefits the cause of their deity. Otherwise, let 'em stay dead. Introduce a new character if the character and the introduction make sense. I try to have enough interesting NPC's around that players can take up the reigns playing one of them when their PC's die.
Heroes die all the time. That's part of being a hero. If they were immortal, their actions wouldn't be so heroic.
Heroes die all the time. That's part of being a hero. If they were immortal, their actions wouldn't be so heroic.
Really, it's always going to be dependent on the PC and the circumstances of their death. Some D&D religions frown on resurrection; if my character follows one of them, they won't want to be raised except in extraordinary circumstances. Sometimes a character's been in a game a long time, and the player really likes playing them, and the plot is wrapped around them, and so it's much easier to bring them back than to reset. Sometimes a character is kind of boring to play, and the player wants to bring someone new in. Sometimes a character was disintegrated or had his brain eaten, and so can't be raised easily.
ivocaliban
Explorer
Burial. Assuming there's a corpse.
Unless I'm doing dungeon crawls, which I rarely do, the heroes of my campaigns cannot simply be replaced by another character. The story and the characters become so closely bound that the end of one pretty much means the end of the other.
However, I'm not above "resurrection," as long as it works within the storyline. For instance, the Aasimar character in my campaign was raised by his grandfather, a human. He had never known either of his parents, but he was aware that his mother was deceased. He had inherited a silver ring engraved with angelic wings. While he believed this ring belonged to his mother, it had actually been passed down from generation to generation as a connection, however tenuous, to the strain of celestial blood in his mother's side of the family.
When, during a battle with an ogre mage, the PC was slain...I made an on-the-spot decision to have the ring "resurrect" the character. The ring then crumbled into dust. The character had never suspected the ring was magical. It was actually just a signet ring at character creation. However, when dealing with a character bound in prophecy and with a certain destiny, this seemed a more appropriate step than having him wake up days later in a temple.
It should also be said that he's the only PC in the campaign. Obviously, if there were other players I would have taken a different approach, but when you only have one player you are limited in what you can and cannot do. As I've mentioned in previous posts, this character is not going to die a random death after a five year campaign. Although he may indeed need to die before he can accomplish his destiny.
Unless I'm doing dungeon crawls, which I rarely do, the heroes of my campaigns cannot simply be replaced by another character. The story and the characters become so closely bound that the end of one pretty much means the end of the other.
However, I'm not above "resurrection," as long as it works within the storyline. For instance, the Aasimar character in my campaign was raised by his grandfather, a human. He had never known either of his parents, but he was aware that his mother was deceased. He had inherited a silver ring engraved with angelic wings. While he believed this ring belonged to his mother, it had actually been passed down from generation to generation as a connection, however tenuous, to the strain of celestial blood in his mother's side of the family.
When, during a battle with an ogre mage, the PC was slain...I made an on-the-spot decision to have the ring "resurrect" the character. The ring then crumbled into dust. The character had never suspected the ring was magical. It was actually just a signet ring at character creation. However, when dealing with a character bound in prophecy and with a certain destiny, this seemed a more appropriate step than having him wake up days later in a temple.
It should also be said that he's the only PC in the campaign. Obviously, if there were other players I would have taken a different approach, but when you only have one player you are limited in what you can and cannot do. As I've mentioned in previous posts, this character is not going to die a random death after a five year campaign. Although he may indeed need to die before he can accomplish his destiny.
STARP_Social_Officer
First Post
Next time my PC dies, I want to ask my DM if I can come back as a ghost. I've always wanted to play one.
FreeTheSlaves
Adventurer
Yeah. Our characters got smashed recently and we had some pretty dramatic character developments. Two characters were killed and the party was broken into two groups.
The self absorbed sorceress heroically risked herself to retrieve the corpse of the dead warrior-priest and then activated a scroll of teleport just before she was overwhelmed. When the warrior-priest was restored he was pretty grateful to her specifically... and she's loving it.
The knight and scout fled on horseback about 300miles with the knight's dead sister tied to one of the backup mounts. To escape pursuit they rode all but three horses to death. The suspicious knight simply had to trust the scout because exhaustion forced him to sleep. They're pretty cool now, especially as the scout has found St Cuthbert...
When the sister was raised, she quit the quest and her necromancy - something to do with her afterlife experience.
It was disruptive yes, but also a great opportunity for developments. Now the party is back together after a year and every character has changed more or less.
Yep, raising the dead gets 2 thumbs up from me.
The self absorbed sorceress heroically risked herself to retrieve the corpse of the dead warrior-priest and then activated a scroll of teleport just before she was overwhelmed. When the warrior-priest was restored he was pretty grateful to her specifically... and she's loving it.
The knight and scout fled on horseback about 300miles with the knight's dead sister tied to one of the backup mounts. To escape pursuit they rode all but three horses to death. The suspicious knight simply had to trust the scout because exhaustion forced him to sleep. They're pretty cool now, especially as the scout has found St Cuthbert...
When the sister was raised, she quit the quest and her necromancy - something to do with her afterlife experience.It was disruptive yes, but also a great opportunity for developments. Now the party is back together after a year and every character has changed more or less.
Yep, raising the dead gets 2 thumbs up from me.
airwalkrr
Adventurer
I voted other for both occassions. The preferrable option after a PC death is what makes the most sense in character. If the character loved life and had unfinished business (besides just being part of an adventuring party), then the character should be resurrected. I don't prefer excuses for resurrections when they are not in the best interest of the character. I mean, if my elf mage is frolicking in Arborea with Corellon and picking dandelions with Sehanine, why on Oerth would he want to return to the Prime unless there was some specific dire need?
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