Who Kills Your PCs?

[kigmatzomat]

I assume you have to do that b/c your players aren't capable of RPing a radical change in alignment/status without trying to game the system. As long as the players can handle the situation, I see no reason to take them out of the game. Point of fact, most of the players I have gamed with have *enjoyed* being able to run their character in a PvP fashion for a brief period of time.

 

[sniffles]

0% of our PCs are killed by other PCs. We just don't engage in that type of behavior. The only time a PC has ever attacked another PC, both PCs were under the influence of a magical effect.

Our PCs just don't die. They're pretty much immortal. If a PC did drop another PC to -10 HP deliberately, the GM would probably house-rule some way to keep the PC from actually dying.

 

[werk]

I assume you have to do that b/c your players aren't capable of RPing a radical change in alignment/status without trying to game the system.....

Yep, you assume that. It's not correct, but that's ok, that's not stopping you.

I'll drop it there.

 

[Agent Oracle]

As a PC, i have seen a grand total of ONE PC on PC death. I caused it. I was playing a questing knight searching for a magical beast (Backstory) I joined the party and explained my backstory to the party.

The wizard (played by a 13 year old) said "There's no such monster!"

I intoned, "Indeed there is! I've seen it with my own eyes!"

The wizard said "No, you're wrong! I cast Magic Missile!"

The GM looked dumbstruck.

I did something awful, i hijacked the DM's power and said "Are you sure you, a low-level wizard, want to attack a friendly knight in heavy armor with a great big axe while within an arm's reach?"

he said "Yes! and i do..." (roll) "4 points of damage!"

"Alright. I step back five feet, draw my axe, and challenge the Wizard to a duel. I tell him to arm himself."

The DM is still shocked. I explain to the player "I'm a knight, i have a code of honor that means i have to fight fairly, now, I'm giving your wizard a chance to arm himself before I attack him. Oh, and roll a will save please. It's not a big deal, but if you fail, it activates my special ability."

The player rolls, and pases his will save. And then casts another magic missile at me for five points of damage. I'm hurting, so I do what comes naturally. I step forward, and hit him with my axe... and roll a natural 20. 3d8 + strength damage later, the wizard is very, very, very dead. and his player is pissed at me for having killed him.

The GM has an NPC step up and resurrect the wizard. I slapped the wizard in manacles and explained that the guard of the next city would deal with him.

 

[Jeff Wilder]

While working through Sons of Gruumsh, my PCs were captured and one was killed. The player created a rebellious half-orc shaman working against the Bad Guys from within, which was a perfect hook to, one, spring the PCs from their cells, and two, provide them with a glut of potions of cure wounds to get them back and their feet and help sustain them through the (very tough) finale.

So I gave the new PC a case of 12 potions, created by one of the Bad Guys and intended for troops in the keep.

For some reason that I'll never understand, the player doled out the potions with extreme stinginess, and as a result the party was wiped out. It's not like the player was being deliberately greedy or deceptive ... it's as if it just never occurred to him that it would be safer and wiser to distribute the potions among the group.

Dunno if this is what you're looking for, but it's all I've got. I don't allow Evil alignments for PCs, and I draw the line at party conflict that turns lethal, so player versus player action just doesn't happen. We of course use the ol' fireball the rogue with Evasion trick, but we're as careful with it as in-character knowledge allows.

 

[Darth K'Trava]

That's easy, I don't allow evil characters either. They immediately switch to an NPC, just as they would if they were charmed, dominated, mind controlled, or what have you.

How about just subduing them and letting the charm work off or dispelling it?

 

[Lanefan]

Our PCs just don't die. They're pretty much immortal.

Doesn't that take much of the edge-of-the-seat challenge out of the game, if you know you can't die?

Lanefan

 

[Kularian]

Eh...heh....

Well, I thought that my group of party members were of the normal, but by reading this thread...*cough* Right.

It's a rule for players to have three character sheets made per session. Yes, that many PC on PC character deaths occur. For us, it's just another part of the fun. One ticks off another, and as long as it's justified anger, I let it play out. Now, that's not to say that we don't have games where the PC's don't kill one another, but from time to time, a game will come along and well...*shrug*

They are getting better though, mainly because they're getting more mature, (The youngest of us almost 18.) But there are still sessions where the majority of the time is settling disputes about who-got-what and how-much-gold, and any number of other silly things. It's grand fun for all involved, so I don't mind in the least. Besides, keeps me from having to work on the plot for my campaign,

EDIT: I should mention one wise member of the party who never participates in such battles, and is normally several levels higher than the rest of the PC's, and thus is not attacked because of this. Well, except when they try and all fight him at once, but a 14th level Wizard is nothing to sneeze at.

 

[werk]

How about just subduing them and letting the charm work off or dispelling it?

I, as DM, play them while they are controlled, and return them back to the player when it wears off or is removed. I don't just take away the character forever.

 

[KarinsDad]

While working through Sons of Gruumsh, my PCs were captured and one was killed. The player created a rebellious half-orc shaman working against the Bad Guys from within, which was a perfect hook to, one, spring the PCs from their cells, and two, provide them with a glut of potions of cure wounds to get them back and their feet and help sustain them through the (very tough) finale.

So I gave the new PC a case of 12 potions, created by one of the Bad Guys and intended for troops in the keep.

For some reason that I'll never understand, the player doled out the potions with extreme stinginess, and as a result the party was wiped out. It's not like the player was being deliberately greedy or deceptive ... it's as if it just never occurred to him that it would be safer and wiser to distribute the potions among the group.

Dunno if this is what you're looking for, but it's all I've got. I don't allow Evil alignments for PCs, and I draw the line at party conflict that turns lethal, so player versus player action just doesn't happen. We of course use the ol' fireball the rogue with Evasion trick, but we're as careful with it as in-character knowledge allows.

Actually, I do not think the Orc Shaman played especially out of character. Potions of Cure Wounds are pricey items. One should not just hand them out like candy until they are gone. From the Orc Shaman's POV, the potions were always there, just waiting to be stolen. They were not there to heal other newly met creatures with. That is a perspective of the DM, not of the PC.


Too many players and DMs play characters with "PC" or "NPC" labeled on their foreheads. I found it refreshing that your player did not do that.


One thing I noticed with this poll is that it looks like many people ignored my first post. This was not just a poll of Player versus Player. It was a poll of PC deaths caused by PCs. This does include PC stupidity and I suspect the vast majority of people who selected 0% in reality do have PC deaths caused by the stupidity of PCs in their games. That percentage is unusually high and I suspect it is due to people thinking PvP only for the poll. Either that or PCs just do not die in many of those campaigns.