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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Pbartender" data-source="post: 5635570" data-attributes="member: 7533">Many years ago, I played in a 3rd Edition campaign run by a DM who used a similar rule...  In fact, it had been standard practice for our group that new characters would join the group at one level lower than the party's average level (or something very similar).  At any rate, because this particular DM's play-style (a very rules-gotcha, out-to-get-the-PCs, adversarial sort of DM) and the adventure we were playing through (Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil), we ended up playing for nearly a year (weekly 4-hour sessions) but our average party level never increased in all that time, because of the number of levels effectively lost to character deaths.  In the end, we rebelled against the DM and ended the campaign early...  The encounters and threats kept increasing in power, but our characters collectively couldn't keep up with them.So, ever since then, I've had new characters introduced at the average party level (unless the details of the campaign dictate otherwise).  If the PC died for in-game reasons, then there is no reason to penalize the player.  If the PC died because the player was being stupid in some way, then that's better addressed out-of-game with the player.Therefore, I no longer believe in penalizing a character in-game for dying, and for similar reasons I no longer believe in in-game penalties for player absences.</blockquote>