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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pming" data-source="post: 7438301" data-attributes="member: 45197">Hiya!To the OP, [MENTION=6807408]Klaudius Rex[/MENTION], TPK's are RPG's way of saying "...PLOT TWIST!". <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />Like others have stated, when I get a TPK (and I get more than my fair share, to be sure!) I smile, sit back a bit, then chat about the encounter that just killed them. I usually give out some "DM info", like how many HP's the bad guy(s) had or had left, explain any reason for ineffectual attacks or other odd things that were going on, etc. Usually after about 10 minutes of everyone going over what happened and what they could have possibly done different, we take a vote. We vote to either roll up new characters, or switch it up to a different game system.Of special note, from what I'm reading of your posts, am I correct in saying that when you say "roll up new PC's and have them continue"...are you letting them roll up characters of the same level? If so...STOP! Bad DM! Bad! Ok, now that my initial grognardian curmudgeonitis is saited, the reason why I believe new PC's should be 1st level (or REAL close; I use "average PC level of group, rounding down, -2 with a maximum starting level of 3rd)...is because the ONLY penalty for failure in the game is death. And even this is potentially mitigated. If a DM simply allows new PC's to be the same as the last one...what's the point? Just let the player play the same character and keep going. Hell, don't even use "death" as a thing; equate all "death" results to "defeated". To me, however, in a fantasy setting at lest, not having actual death of PC's lessens the enjoyment rather drastically.Anyway...I'm with others: When a TPK happens, the bad guy wins. Whatever he/she/they/it was trying to accomplish is successful to some degree. If I need to I'll roll 1d100+50% to see just how successful (yes, the least successful is 51% and the most is 150%; bad guys can 'get lucky' too!). Usually this means a town is messed up, maybe a country, perhaps even a large section of the world. I never have "world ending" events, however, because they would be an impossibility in a world where actual gods exist. Also, if I ever DO want to have an apocalypse...I'll get to use my old "Apocalypse" box set from Role Aids. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> (look it up...cool stuff Role Aids use the make...).So...have the bad guy 'win'. Let the players start new 1st level PC's. Describe what happened from the new PC's perspective. Start with "So, what do you do now?". Keep playing.There is NO SUCH THING as "ending a campaign" with one single exception: when the DM says "We're done with this world/game. Lets play X now". If the DM ever goes back to that 'world/game', then it simply didn't end; just keep playing from where you left off (as a DM you should have a fairly accurate timeline and know the exact date the last PC's adventured/died).Bottom Line: Enjoy your victory. Let them make new 1st level PC's. Describe what those new PC's have experienced in the last X amount of time (since the bad guy won, after all).^_^Paul L. Ming</blockquote>

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