Which is better: Character death or item destruction?

[ThirdWizard]

This is an in general question not dealing with specific situations.

Really it can't be general because magical items are so varied. Lose your feather token? Sure! Lose your +5 evil outsider bane, lawful outsider bane, chaotic outsider bane, holy sword? Kill me now!

 

[Sejs]

This is an in general question not dealing with specific situations.

Well in that case it depends.

 

[Nifft]

Both are totally awesome!!!

Cheers, -- N

PS: What? I'm a DM.

 

[blargney the second]

I'd much rather lose a magic item than a character.
-blarg

 

[Slife]

This is an in general question not dealing with specific situations.

I honestly believe the the question cannot be answered correctly. There are far too many variables. Give me a range of levels, a class, current equipment, all applicable houserules, and the situation, and then I'll be able to begin to answer.

At level 1 I'll go with magical item destruction because I don't have any magical items.



So, in short:
Which is better, an airplane or a computer?

 

[Crothian]

I honestly believe the the question cannot be answered correctly.

There is no correct answer, I'm just asking people's opinions.

So, in short:
Which is better, an airplane or a computer?

Computer

 

[ThirdWizard]

The question is sort of like which is better to lose: money or a posession. It's impossible to answer because either could be worth more than the other without any further information. The money could be a thousand dollars and the possession a pencil, or the money could be a dollar and the possession an SUV.

In the case of the poll, magic items range from 50 gp to 200,000+ gp. Being raised from the dead can cost anywhere from 1,000 gp to 25,000 gp depending on the circumstances. This is a huge variability that you are ignoring.

 

[Nadaka]

A characters death can be a heroic and significant part of a campain with tons of RP potential. Sometimes you get to say "Run, Fools! before delaying a balor, sometimes its less dramatic. But none the less an important point. Would I rather have a character die a heroic and dramatic death? than be placed as a liability to my party and effectively forced to either drag them down with me or retire? I choose a heroic death.

 

[scourger]

I would much rather lose one or all items. But, a game I was once in nearly died when a couple of players lost their stuff. I couldn't understand it then, and I really still don't now despite their explanations. Ironically, my character died in the same scene but his stuff survived.

EDIT: What I learned is that different players derive fun from different aspects of the game.

 

[jefgorbach]

In general, I'd say item loss (especially at high level) unless its an artifact/near-artifact since the PC should/would be able to replace nearly any item; although some highly powerful and/or customized items might require some effort...providing further adventuring options.