Why dont you kill PCs?

[Tinker Gnome]

Okay, well do you as a Dm ever hold back on killing PCs for some reason? My main one is because I often have plots dealing with a PC and killing them would naturally ruin it. That, and I would rather play DnD that have to take time out for the player to make a new character.

 

[Hussar]

I'm rather proud that in the last year I have killed 11 PC's permanently and four more semi-permanently. I used to worry about that kind of thing. Now, my game plots don't center on the characters. The game plot centers on what the bad guys are doing and it's up to the PC's to stop them.

 

[Thomas Percy]

Because some players has his PC concept and death/resurection can destroy it. But from the other side effects of resurection (e.g. returning with some fobia or piece of not-his-own spirit) can inspire many new adventures.

 

[GQuail]

In my current campaign there have been two times where I've actively fudged to not kill a PC. I have, however, freely let them hit negative numbers all the time, and they've certainly thoguht they were ABOUT to die a couple of times.

Once was at level 4, and the expert/cleric stumbled into a pit trap. He messed up his reflex save and the dice for the spikes came up maximum, which would have dropped him in one hit. I decided that it wouldn't be much fun to be slain not byut he big fights up ahead but by a trap, so I simply dropped him to -4 or something, which forced the other PCs to heal him up and tread a bit more warilly.

A few sessions ago, a level 9 Druid was involved in my "Alternate Plane = Evil Version Of Party" adventure, and tried to use a Flaming Sphere to attack an evil version of the party rogue. Alas, all that fire tripped the Necklace of Fireballs the Rogue was wearing, and after taking a sneak attack it was really likely that the Druid would have been slain. I thought about it for a second, and thought that since it was an evil version of his own ally, he should have realised that if one wore a necklace of fireballs the other's similar looking necklace was the same thing: this was my fault for not giving the right information, and so I told him to instead take a move action to get away from him before firing.

I'm not against killing PCs in general, but in both those cases it was going to be a bit of a flat event if it had: so I decided to cut them some slack. However, my group is level 10 now and that means they're high enough that Death is no longer such a big issue. A player death is theoretically fixable with spells they themselves can cast, so if the Ogre bashes their head in or the half-dragon's ice breath stops their heart, the campaign is not over. I've certainly not pulled my punches in every fight, and have intentionally given them soem quite rough fights which have brought a few people dangerously close to seeing a tunnel with a light at the end.

The next time someone in my campaign suffers a "will die for stupid reason" problem, I'll probably let it happen. Three strikes and all that.

 

[wmasters]

It's rare that I'll kill a PC, but I'm not adverse to doing so. I don't hide my dice rolls so there's no fudging on my part. PCs drop to negative hp often enough. That said, I tend to DM for low level groups, so often damage is less than 10, and people fall unconcious rather than dying.

 

[Mr Jack]

The only time I fudge to spare the PCs is if I discover I've badly misjudged a fight so that they didn't stand a fair chance, otherwise they just live or die by the fate of the dice. Fortunately, with D&D it's very easy to balance fights so it happens rarely.

 

[Herobizkit]

I run a solo campaign. Killing my player's character means my campaign is pretty much over.

That aside, I reserve deaths for dramatic points in my story; I run a heavy RP/rules light game that revolves entirely around the PC and his exploits.

 

[Lee's Fortune]

My DM is great at DMing, and often tailors the campaign around the PCs (which is probably normal and perfectly fine, especially if you've got a sweet PC build.) Though sometimes I wouldn't mind seeing a PC kick the bucket, just to add a touch of realism.

 

[Zelda Themelin]

My pc:s rarely die, if they act wisely. I don't do encounters, that are unbeatable. If players choose to go somewhere where they know they have bad odds of winning, death or more humilating fate awaits them, quite likely, unless they are very very lucky.

Resurrections are available. They often come with a twist.

My twin crowns campaing gives every one 5 lives. Sort of, in most situations of deaths.

My Oathbound game has only one life and resurrections with price.

I prefer to run games to min-maxed characters. They are harder to kill accidently, because I love tought fights.

When my game has character based plot make sure that permanent death is rare. I don't tweak dice, but I make raising an opition.
And fights are pretty easy to balance, so it's not often a problem. There are bad luck cases, rushing into fight cases, and stupidity cases and when I make a mistake.

And real deaths happen where I feel they are cool. In major fights with baddies. Those plot turning points. Where it's really heroic and where winning or loosing matters most.

Two permanent deaths this far. I personally like rare death, but I feel it's sort of my right for my char to die. I personally like dying when fighting big monsters.
The thrill, I guess. Winning means less if I can't loose. But if loosing and dying is recular, it's just boring.

Well, then I am only one in my gaming group who actually like my own plot central chars death. Last time it happened (evil divane-bloodish spider-thing crushed my char), I was very happy. It fitted the situation so well, and cured me of constant funding under long lasting campaing under another dm.

So I think lesson is, if you need to fudge rolls, don't let players know. Or make chars legally immortal if you are bad at keeping a secret.

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

Okay, well do you as a Dm ever hold back on killing PCs for some reason?

I prefer to avoid killing the PCs, because Death is an end to all suffering.

No, to really torture the PCs, they must be kept alive as long as possible. And they must retain some measure of Hope, the greatest of all gifts, that will let them foolishly believe that things cannot get any worse...