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Message: <blockquote data-quote="karlindel" data-source="post: 5302393" data-attributes="member: 27103">I voted when I'm the player whose PC died, but none of these options differentiate what makes a PC death bother me.  As others have mentioned, PC deaths are worst when the death has no real meaning, such as being due merely to random bad luck or to a random encounter.  If a PC falls holding off a monster so that the party can escape, that doesn't bother me, and that is an awesome way to die.  Being killed fighting the BBEG also doesn't bother me.  Getting killed by a random encounter sucks, getting killed by a crit from a random mook in a random encounter is even worse.  PC death is made worse the more time and effort has been put into the PC.  Death of a PC in a one-off adventure isn't a big deal.  The death of a mid or high level PC in a multi-year campaign is worse.  The death of a PC with minimal back story that got thrown together quickly to start a campaign isn't a big deal.  The death of a PC with a detailed back story and strong ties to the campaign world and storyline is much worse.And, of course, another consideration is the cost of dying.  PC death is less of a problem when Raise Dead and the like are affordable.  PC death is worse the higher the cost of being brought back to life (in monetary and game mechanical penalties such as lost levels) and how difficult it is to be brought back to life (if it is even possible).</blockquote>