So let's say a party member dies, and the party can't revive them because either the healer was the one who died, or the party never had a healer at all. What I see a lot of DMs online, in comics or shows do is either:
A) run a long sidequest to get the party member revived, distracting from the main quest and basically rendering a player unable to play until the sidequest is completed. B) deus-ex machina the dead player back to life, which takes urgency away from the campaign and players cuz now they see you as a weaker dm he would never let anything happen to their precious pcs. C) let the player get revived at a church or hospital or something without any problems at all once the fight ends, which again, makes death in-game more meaningless.
So, here's what I did when my players' party paladin died: DM: (after the fight ended and the players return to town) "You brought your friend's body to the local church to be revived. The clerics ask you to wait outside the medical tent while they 'work their magic'." Players: *proceed to wait for several minutes outside* DM: "The head priest approaches you from the tent, and delivers the good news:" Priest: "Your friend has been brought back. Our service will cost you 2,000 gp." Players: "Uh... we don't have that much money." (DM NOTE: The priest is heavily overcharging the players, cuz a revivify spell normally costs only 300 gp worth of diamonds in material to perform.) Player who Died: *emerges from the tent, alive* "Hi guys! Did the win the fight against-" Priest: *clamps metal collar around revived player's neck* "Until you pay off your debt to the church, this magical collar will prevent you from leaving the city (and continuing the quest)."
Now we have solved some problems! Player has been brought back into the game quickly, but the party still loses time from the main storyline, so the death still has a penalty of some kind. Also, worldbuilding was since now the party knows the town church in this area is corrupt. AND the party has an interesting sidequest with a simple objective: "make enough money", and the players+DM have complete creative freedom for figuring out how they can accomplish this!
oh, thanks, lol. I need to read more. Though I guess you could say they cast Resurrection instead, which costs 1,000 gp worth of diamonds so they r still over-pricing the pcs.
oh, thanks, lol. I need to read more. Though I guess you could say they cast Resurrection instead, which costs 1,000 gp worth of diamonds so they r still over-pricing the pcs.
FWIW: Most mechanics charge you well above the cost of the parts.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Teller of tales, dreamer of dreams"
* Sundays 7pm EDT: Ravenloft 1921 / Alt. Tuesdays 5pm EDT: CoHost of Happy Hour at the Old Timer Tavern * Wednesdays 7pm EDT: The Convergence - Homebrew 5E / Saturdays 8am EDT: The Bitter Victory - Pirate Homebrew 5E **Streams hosted at at twitch.tv/LaternNoir Join the table at: Start Playing Games
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
So let's say a party member dies, and the party can't revive them because either the healer was the one who died, or the party never had a healer at all. What I see a lot of DMs online, in comics or shows do is either:
A) run a long sidequest to get the party member revived, distracting from the main quest and basically rendering a player unable to play until the sidequest is completed.
B) deus-ex machina the dead player back to life, which takes urgency away from the campaign and players cuz now they see you as a weaker dm he would never let anything happen to their precious pcs.
C) let the player get revived at a church or hospital or something without any problems at all once the fight ends, which again, makes death in-game more meaningless.
So, here's what I did when my players' party paladin died:
DM: (after the fight ended and the players return to town) "You brought your friend's body to the local church to be revived. The clerics ask you to wait outside the medical tent while they 'work their magic'."
Players: *proceed to wait for several minutes outside*
DM: "The head priest approaches you from the tent, and delivers the good news:"
Priest: "Your friend has been brought back. Our service will cost you 2,000 gp."
Players: "Uh... we don't have that much money."
(DM NOTE: The priest is heavily overcharging the players, cuz a revivify spell normally costs only 300 gp worth of diamonds in material to perform.)
Player who Died: *emerges from the tent, alive* "Hi guys! Did the win the fight against-"
Priest: *clamps metal collar around revived player's neck* "Until you pay off your debt to the church, this magical collar will prevent you from leaving the city (and continuing the quest)."
Now we have solved some problems!
Player has been brought back into the game quickly, but the party still loses time from the main storyline, so the death still has a penalty of some kind. Also, worldbuilding was since now the party knows the town church in this area is corrupt. AND the party has an interesting sidequest with a simple objective: "make enough money", and the players+DM have complete creative freedom for figuring out how they can accomplish this!
Opinions? Feedback? Plz lemme know!
Neat, although Revivify only works for PCs that died less than a minute before the spell is cast
oh, thanks, lol. I need to read more. Though I guess you could say they cast Resurrection instead, which costs 1,000 gp worth of diamonds so they r still over-pricing the pcs.
FWIW: Most mechanics charge you well above the cost of the parts.
"Teller of tales, dreamer of dreams"
* Sundays 7pm EDT: Ravenloft 1921 / Alt. Tuesdays 5pm EDT: CoHost of Happy Hour at the Old Timer Tavern
* Wednesdays 7pm EDT: The Convergence - Homebrew 5E / Saturdays 8am EDT: The Bitter Victory - Pirate Homebrew 5E
**Streams hosted at at twitch.tv/LaternNoir
Join the table at: Start Playing Games