So some members of my current group are leaving for a variety of reasons. But, of course, I need to have their PCs leave. So I was thinking about just having them die off, or leave in an epic goodbye or be captured and they escape and are never seen again. But are there better ways to do this. We've had some really epic moments in the campaign and I want to give the players a sendoff that reflects that

Ask the players how they'd envision their characters going out (provided you're still on good terms with them). If they're leaving, you can tell them a little more about your world and overall story and they can work with you to write and ending, or at least a compelling "to be continued..." for their character. 

I'm not keen on killing them off. Just on the off chance that they can play again.

Like above I would ask them how they would like to go out and maybe allow them to role it.

I agree with both above, don't kill them, and ask the players if they have ideas for how they should go.

Then ask the players if they mind their character showing up from time to time as an NPC. Either a friendly one, or have one of them do a heel turn and become a bad guy. If the player is open to it, having them leave while betraying the party can be pretty cool. LIke the character steals back the macguffin the party just acquired, and then runs off with it. Technically, you don't need the player's permission, but it is nice as a courtesy.

You don't necessarily have to kill them. If the players have unfinished business, and there isn't enough time to wrap it up satisfactorily, perhaps something prompts them to go take care of that which means they have to leave the party.

Never ever kill a PC without talking to the player first. No matter how thematic it seems. It will look bad. Ask your player how they want to go out. That's honestly your best option. But if you want the ways you could wave them off temporarily. The went on a journey of personal discovery, turn what happened during into part of the story. Have them fall into a different dimension, perhaps something is now chasing them. Or crazy thought don't even mention there absence, maybe they were temporarily erased out of time by your BBEG. All of this is to say you can do whatever you want really if it fits your world. But the best endings are those worked out together. How you set up their exit might encourage them to come back too. "Did you want to have your character die in a blaze of glory?" "No, maybe they just travel on their own for awhile." I like returning players, let's me know I'm doing something right lol. Best of luck, but if you like these players don't kill them without their consent.

Ways to remove characters from the campaign:

1)  Love - Character meets someone and settles down.  Adventuring is dangerous work, and when you're going to be a parent, maybe you don't want to run around and risk life and limb, when you could earn a fair living just fixing bows and fletching arrows.  Could be to pursue a love interest, or it could be a love interest from the past who finds the character.  There is also the somewhat more shocking but workable:  You have a child you didn't know.  A nun and a young child just appear at the inn where the party is staying.  The nun says that the child's other parent has died, and she's been looking for the character to pass of parentage.  Yes, she'll take the child back to the orphanage but they really wanted the PC to have the chance to take custody.  

1a) To add a NEW character in - new character was hired by the church to deliever the child to the other character.  They were paid in advance so now that the child is handed off, they're free to join the party.  As they did the job after being paid in advance, without just pocketing the money, the party already has a reason to trust the new character.

2)  Battle wounds - They've just had enough for now.  One good fight, one good wound, one lost hand.  Whatever it is, they're just reaching the point where they need to stop.  

3)  Business opportunity - A local merchant recognizes something in the character and offers to cut them in on the business.  Maybe the merchant doesn't have any adult children in the area and wants to retire so he offers a stake in the business if the adventurer is interested in it.

Now if you want to kill off the characters, or they want to be killed off, my recommendation is to take it OUT of the dice and into narration.  Create the stakes with the dice and monsters but then let the players have some fun just narrating the end so that the character can have a dramatic send off, either dying in the arms of a comrade after the fight, or in holding the door while the rest of the party escapes.  

Lastly, any fight can be someone's last.  Even if they don't die with the dice, but you want them to go down, you can just RP that ending.  Maybe it's the more dramatic Roy Fokker death, where the character is injured but no one notices.  He knows it's mortal and he's bleeding out, but he forces himself to hide it so he can have a few final good moments before he goes down for good.  Bonus points if you can get the cleric to run out of spell slots or separate them from the party first.  

Lacking the ability to do any of the great ideas above.  Disease/illness etc. can be a quick way to remove them.   The party leaves the obviously sick PC in care of an NPC, and the party moves on.

Dysentery. Works everytime

• Maybe they get a new destiny. Your Ranger or Druid decides to stay behind and be the protector for a great tree in the forest you just fought in.
• They're called home to visit their sick mother or mentor. 
• Your Paladin or Cleric gets a promotion in their order, to take command of some important location
• Your wizard gets an appointment as a professor

Death is always an option but you can have epic moments that end in some new, separate responsibility.

I always kill off characters that leave - if possible in the most gory, gruesome and heroic fashion possible. Of course, if the player wants their character to survive and retire peacefully, I do that, though I hate to miss the opportunity for a heroic last stand. Surrounded by piles of the fallen, knee-deep in blood and gore, Falzgûr the Unrepentant held the hordes at bay long enough for the rest of you to escape the Pit of Unmitigated Dread and save the world. His name and sacrifice shall stand forever as testament of his deeds.

Thanks guys for all the advice. Most of the players are leaving and probably won't come back due to life and jobs being the reason for leaving. I have contacted them and they do not really care for how they go out. Since they are unlikely to return and don't care, I plan on having two characters sacrifice themselves mid battle and one just disappearing, since they are the most likely to return of the four who left (one of the leaving players never actually attended a session/they didn't have a prepared character sheet, so since they never really were a part of the campaign, they just fade into nothingness). Once again, thank you for the advice, it is appreciated.

Quote from davidchlove55927 >>

Never ever kill a PC without talking to the player first. No matter how thematic it seems. It will look bad. Ask your player how they want to go out. That's honestly your best option. But if you want the ways you could wave them off temporarily. The went on a journey of personal discovery, turn what happened during into part of the story. Have them fall into a different dimension, perhaps something is now chasing them. Or crazy thought don't even mention there absence, maybe they were temporarily erased out of time by your BBEG. All of this is to say you can do whatever you want really if it fits your world. But the best endings are those worked out together. How you set up their exit might encourage them to come back too. "Did you want to have your character die in a blaze of glory?" "No, maybe they just travel on their own for awhile." I like returning players, let's me know I'm doing something right lol. Best of luck, but if you like these players don't kill them without their consent.

 This is a quantum shift from old school play.  Personally, I prefer the idea that any fight could be my characters last.  If there is no chance of character death there’s no tension and the stakes are lower.  If it suits your group, fine.  I absolutely disagree with that for my tables.  That said, which approach is used needs to be communicated. 

Quote from ArmorStorm >>

Quote from davidchlove55927 >>

Never ever kill a PC without talking to the player first. No matter how thematic it seems. It will look bad. Ask your player how they want to go out. That's honestly your best option. But if you want the ways you could wave them off temporarily. The went on a journey of personal discovery, turn what happened during into part of the story. Have them fall into a different dimension, perhaps something is now chasing them. Or crazy thought don't even mention there absence, maybe they were temporarily erased out of time by your BBEG. All of this is to say you can do whatever you want really if it fits your world. But the best endings are those worked out together. How you set up their exit might encourage them to come back too. "Did you want to have your character die in a blaze of glory?" "No, maybe they just travel on their own for awhile." I like returning players, let's me know I'm doing something right lol. Best of luck, but if you like these players don't kill them without their consent.

 This is a quantum shift from old school play.  Personally, I prefer the idea that any fight could be my characters last.  If there is no chance of character death there’s no tension and the stakes are lower.  If it suits your group, fine.  I absolutely disagree with that for my tables.  That said, which approach is used needs to be communicated. 

 I get where you’re coming from but there’s also a difference between dying in combat because you made a bad mistake or rolled badly and the DM going into the session knowing your character is going to die that time. The first is a topic to bring up at Session Zero and the other requires a separate conversation and agreement before it happens 

That's just way too general. You can easily remove any character from any story, but it always depends on the story itself. Like if you write about a school, or workplace, the character can just leave because they graduate, get into an exchange student program, finds a better job, etc. But the same thing doesn't work for example in periodic piece set in the medieval times. There you can create a barbarian attack that destroys the village, and the survivors have to scatter around finding a new place to live in the surrounding areas. Which makes sense in that setting, but in modern times, not so much https://100001****/  https://1921681254.mx/ .

You could make them be tricked by the BBEG to joining their side or have them get kidnapped by the BBEG

I totally agree with this! 

I had the bad luck of the player that left was one that wanted to be part of the group because they wanted to be invited, but didn't want to put the effort in.

I killed his character off by having him resuce the other PCs. We were doing the Stormwreck Isle starter adventure, and in the caves, one of the players decided to throw a torch that then made the toxic fumes explode. Because he wasn't at the previous session, this players PC was standing guard. He got the party out with the help of a soon-to-be False Hydra victim. The only record the PCs have of this death is through the kobolds on the island, and the journal entry explaining how the party was rescued. 

He died trying to be a hero. He still talks with our group, but shows no regrets for leaving the party - the game just wasn't for him. If anything, he laughed when I told him how his PC died. 

Not all people will be like this, so if you can, talk to the player about how to have the PC leave. 

Quote from I_MAKE_UNBALANCED_HOMEBREW >>

Dysentery. Works everytime

 Funny, it is the way I would want my character to go if I left the party.