Why dont you kill PCs?

[The Thayan Menace]

TPKillah! (x2)

I'm rather proud that in the last year I have killed 11 PC's permanently and four more semi-permanently.

Right on! You don't play with veterans, do you?

-Samir

 

[lukelightning]

I know many people are fiercly against raise dead etc. but I have no problem with it; if a player really likes a character I'd rather have him bring the dead dude back to life than make a new character that could be exactly like the previous one (possibly more finely tuned/optimized to avoid croaking), and having to figure out how this new character is going to be brought into the party and what to do with the dead person's belongings (do we keep them in the party? If so, then that's like free loot! Do we meta-game and give them to the new character that is mysteriously bereft of items (and might not be able to use the previous character's junk), etc.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

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.

That seems like something out of a MMORPG. "Respawn a battle?" That is like hitting the reset button to me. How in the game world do you explain the enemies that just defeated the party being reset?

Not insulting the way you play, if you are having fun that is the important point. Just commenting.

 

[The Shaman]

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...

Hmm. Your ideas are intriguing to me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.



There is no "story protection" for player characters in my games - if a character dies, s/he dies, and if this derails the players' plans, then it derails the players' plans. Adventuring's hard. Stuff happens. Here's a fresh character sheet.

 

[Mallus]

I'll try and keep this simple. I'm averse to permanently killing PC's because my strong suit as DM are campaigns with long, involved storylines that change as the PC's interact with and 'push against' the world. The PC's history of actions and interaction with the NPC's --ideally-- shape the whole campaign. I'm not talking backstories here, I mean what they've done in play. Not to mention PC connection to the various metaplots I scatter about.

Frequent PC death puts a big 'ole wrench in that. Fresh PC's can't, by definition, have an extensive play history. Its makes them orhpans, of a sort. Disconnected. And backstory, while I'm fond of it, can't hold a candle to real, played-out personal history. It's the difference between masturbation and sex, I suppose. And I also digress.

Also, I prefer to challenge players at the level of their character's plots, plans, and so forth. So I replace character death with the lomming threat of failure. That just works better for me. Its breeds more story, rather than grinding it to halt.

Its not that I won't kill PC's. I surely will. But I like to play to my strengths, and I'm convinced a more lethal game would only expose my flaws, without bringing anything else to the table.

 

[Rothe]

No player protection. But getting raised is not much of a problem if you can get the body back, have the gold and are in good standing with the temple you go to.

IMC no story or plot to protect, actually the story is what happens when the players try to fulfill their plans, not mine, and by not predetermining it the players make the story not me. I don't know how it will unfold and I love the twists and turns it can take.

 

[lukelightning]

Another reason I don't kill PCs is that my dice hate me and like to roll 1's and 2's for the BBEGs' saves.

 

[Dracorat]

That seems like something out of a MMORPG.

Probably a fair comparison, but the players love it.

"Respawn a battle?" That is like hitting the reset button to me. How in the game world do you explain the enemies that just defeated the party being reset?

If players can resurrect, so can the evil guys. And sometimes, they do just that, even after they have been defeated. The shrines for evil guys happen to only be in the rooms of BBEGs however, and inidividual monsters do not resurrect there without the BBEG getting angry usually. I reserve this only for the large, gandiose fights. In essence, I stop the shrines from becoming player-cheese when it is important.

Not insulting the way you play, if you are having fun that is the important point. Just commenting.

No worries. I know the concept will seem foreign to a lot of people.

 

[Gundark]

Age of worms 3 faces of evil......TPK 5 players....temple of Hextor...

My first one. I'll probably "reset" the dungeon and have the group go again as they all got ganked in the 2nd room (skeletons with bells)

 

[the Jester]

I have a large group and run a high-fatality game. Also, I have a long waiting list of players. So obviously, killing the pcs doesn't deter all gamers all the time.