I kill my players regularly. But in my campaigns, death is easier to deal with because I still want my players to have fun. When you roll a character, you stick with that character IMC.
Here are my rules concerning death: I use Resurrection Shrines which are somewhat akin to checkpoints:
On Death and Dying
Once your character level surpasses level ten, their negative HP limit is the negative value of their character level.
If the entire party dies, they will be restored at the last Resurrection Shrine discovered for which the entire party is eligible to use and take an exp hit of 10% of their current exp-to-next-level, with no other penalties. I may respawn battles at my descretion when you are restored in this manner.
Resurrection Shrines are attuned to alignments and are considered artifacts. Forging a Resurrection Shrine is a process lost to the ages. To be eligible to use a shrine, the target's alignment descriptors must match any allowed by the shrine.
The Resurrection spells are changed as follows:
Reincarnate not available. Replaced instead with a Dru4 entry on the Raise Dead spell itself.
Raise Dead
Conjuration (Healing)
Level: Clr 5, Dru4
Components: V, S, DF
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Touch
Target: Dead creature touched
Duration: 1 round/level
Saving Throw: None; see text
Spell Resistance: Yes (harmless)
You restore life to a deceased creature to aid you for a very limited duration. You can raise a creature that has been dead for no longer than one day per caster level. In addition, the subject’s soul must be free and willing to return. If the subject’s soul is not willing to return, the spell does not work; therefore, a subject that wants to return receives no saving throw.
A druid who casts Raise Dead can only raise creatures that are resting in a bed of natural vegetation. The vegetation must be alive and have not been disturbed by heavy activity (such as transplanting, uprooting, or any combat taking place directly upon) within the last twenty-four hours. A successful casting of the spell does not harm the plant life in any manner, however, the affected plant life will be considered afterward to have sustained heavy activity as the life energy was borrowed to reanimate the dead creature.
A raised creature suffers no stat losses.
A raised creature has a number of hit points equal to its current Hit Dice. Any ability scores damaged to 0 are raised to 1. Normal poison and normal disease are cured in the process of raising the subject, but magical diseases and curses are not undone. While the spell closes mortal wounds and repairs lethal damage of most kinds, the body of the creature to be raised must be whole. Otherwise, missing parts are still missing when the creature is brought back to life. None of the dead creature’s equipment or possessions are affected in any way by this spell.
A creature who has been turned into an undead creature or killed by a death effect can’t be raised by this spell. Constructs, elementals, outsiders, and undead creatures can’t be raised. The spell cannot bring back a creature that has died of old age.
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Resurrection
Conjuration (Healing)
Level: Clr 7
Casting Time: 10 minutes
Duration: Special (See Text). Dismissable (D)
This spell functions like raise dead, except that you are able to restore life and complete strength to any deceased creature.
The condition of the remains is not a factor. So long as some small portion of the creature’s body still exists, it can be resurrected, but the portion receiving the spell must have been part of the creature’s body at the time of death. (The remains of a creature hit by a disintegrate spell count as a small portion of its body.) The creature can have been dead no longer than 10 years per caster level.
Upon completion of the spell, the creature is immediately restored to full hit points, vigor, and health, with no loss of prepared spells.
You can resurrect someone killed by a death effect or someone who has been turned into an undead creature and then destroyed. You cannot resurrect someone who has died of old age. Constructs, elementals, outsiders, and undead creatures can’t be resurrected.
The resurrected creature will remain alive until the cleric's normal prayer time next arrives, regardless of whether the cleric chooses to or not to pray at that time. At that time, the resurrected creature falls lifeless once again.
A resurrected creature knows that their life is borrowed for the duration of the spell and indeed how long remains until they will once again depart their body. Their disposition toward the situation is not magically altered by the spell. Some characters would be noble in their opportunity to assist their comrades. Some characters would fear their lingering re-death. Other emotions are also normal, depending on the character's outlook and value on life.
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True Resurrection
Conjuration (Healing)
Level: Clr 9
Casting Time: 10 minutes
Duration: Instant
This spell functions like raise dead, except that you can resurrect a creature that has been dead for as long as 10 years per caster level. This spell can even bring back creatures whose bodies have been destroyed, provided that you unambiguously identify the deceased in some fashion (reciting the deceased’s time and place of birth or death is the most common method).
Upon completion of the spell, the creature is immediately restored to full hit points, vigor, and health, with no loss of level (or Constitution points) or prepared spells.
You can revive someone killed by a death effect or someone who has been turned into an undead creature and then destroyed. This spell can also resurrect elementals or outsiders, but it can’t resurrect constructs or undead creatures.
Even true resurrection can’t restore to life a creature who has died of old age.
Material Component: An offering unto the cleric's god worth 1,000 gp per character level of the raised creature. At a resurrection shrine, such an offering is not required if the resurrected creature elects instead to take an experience cut of 10% of their earned experience toward the next level. A resurrection that happens by resurrection shrine can happen if the deceased's body is returned to within ten feet of the shrine or after twenty four hours since death occurred if the deceased wishes to be raised in this manner. A deceased creature has only forty eight hours to will themselves to life once they become eligible. After that time, it requires a casting of this spell by a cleric to receive the benefit of True Resurrection.
