I'm a long time GM and I am always looking for better ways for my players to have more fun. But dealing with character death is still a strong taboo. Could you please help me filling and finding better ways to deal with character death?
I am an old school DM, dating back to 1977. Character death is always on the table in my games. I don't actively try to kill characters, but if it happens, it happens. I have seen many players get their characters killed by acting in ways that they should have seen would lead to a bad end. Attacking a nest of wyverns with no advance preparation. I guess they assumed that if a wyvern rookery was on the map they were supposed to be able to just. go in and clear it out. Sorry, that would be a no.
I don't like seeing characters die. I really don't and try to give the players plenty of warning signs of danger. But I feel that without risk victory is kind of hollow. I want my players to feel the thrill of triumph over difficult odds, that means they have to face danger and difficult odds.
I've played 'bad rolling and you're dead' games, and I've played in games where death was restricted to either the player being dumb or heroic and cool moments. Both are fine, to me it depends on the kind of game you're running.
For a long campaign where I'm trying to tell a story and I want the players' help, I want their characters to be part of this tale we're all telling. That kind of game, I don't want characters dying in random or unheroic or uncool ways. If they're trying to stop a demon invasion of their world, Fred the rogue falling to his death one night while trying to sneak back into the castle after going out to meet his underworld contacts isn't cool. And the plot lines the players and I have developed that involve Fred will suffer.
In that case, if Fred rolls poorly, then something else will happen. Fred is in a coma and they need a side adventure to find the cure or a more powerful priest. Or Fred survives the fall but is knocked out and captured by his enemies. Solutions like that.
Sometimes, however, a story is made better by a character death (almost typed 'player death, lol). So if a player is taking a known risk with their character for heroic/cool reasons--staying behind to slow down the dragon while the villagers all escape--I'm more willing to let the death happen as rolled.
Even in those kind of games, however, if a player does something stupid--and is warned that it's stupid, which I will do--I will have less sympathy, and often that stupid thing will make me want that character gone anyway :) But usually the players get that it's not that kind of campaign, and they listen to my "are you sure you want to do that?" clues.
Other games though, when it's expected that we'll let the dice fall where they may, then character death is fine, roll up a new character and move on. Often, that kind of campaign involves less in-depth roleplaying, so I tend to want to play the former sort of campaign. But I've enjoyed both.
There is no right way, or wrong way, to handle character death.
The important thing is that everyone knows how it's going to be handled in the game, and agrees to it ( or at least accepts it ). That's why "how we're handling character death" is a central question in a campaign's Session Zero.
Being of a similar vintage as DavetheLost( with large gaps in there, so I might not have the same amount of "time served" ), I run my campaigns as close as I can to a simulation of an alternate reality with different natural laws ( Magic, Gods, etc. ) in play than our own. I very much enjoy the Characters my Players have in my current campaign, and I'd hate to see any of them go - but if that's what happens as a byproduct of a plausible and impartial unfolding of events, then that what happens.
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
I generally play death is death. If you die you are dead. I really don't allow spells like revivify or revival from high-level clerics. Those options always seemed to trivialize death in games for me. Oh you died, no worries will just drag your body to a cleric and fork over a small portion of our funds and you'll be back in the fight.
I don't plan on my encounters on killing players unless its a boss type fight. My players also are told upfront what happens if they die. I will generally give the players time after the fight to do whatever they want with the player that died. This seems to work for me, it makes it so my players know if they die, they die and helps prevent some of the more reckless behavior.
I also add the small rule that if you roll a new character you are not allowed to be the same class. This was just a fun rule to force players to get out of the comfort zones, this has been useful to some and others kinda hated it because they really just wanted to play only barbarians or something like that. That part has probably got more of my players upset than them actually losing the character.
I generally DM long-running campaigns (4+ years) and character death is something I announce at the beginning of a campaign as a significant reality - not that I am going to try to kill characters out of spite or as my "job" as a DM, but just because I tend to run grittier, more realistic campaigns. I try not to let the dice kill characters, but instead the storyline or stupid choices.
My biggest, and only, piece of advice is to make death an event. When a character dies in one of my games, that player gets an entire session to themselves. I have spent quite some time developing "dream/death sequences" to help move the story along and to reveal major story elements. A player always has the option to not come back if a resurrection is attempted, but they tend to want to come back because of the new, twisted and interesting plot elements that only they are privy to.
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
It happens and sometimes the players get a bit upset over it. I try not to kill my players but I will toss some real dangers at them and if they dont think things out it could be bad for a character. You could even let them act in some way as a ghost to help the players restore themselves to their body. Basically a side quest. Or just let them make another character to jump into the game.
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Please help me
I'm a long time GM and I am always looking for better ways for my players to have more fun. But dealing with character death is still a strong taboo. Could you please help me filling and finding better ways to deal with character death?
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeJc7Y_TBb78nfEF3KcfIGZDnQfNaX1cWaMuS2xlPk3P_Um4w/viewform?usp=sf_link
I am an old school DM, dating back to 1977. Character death is always on the table in my games. I don't actively try to kill characters, but if it happens, it happens. I have seen many players get their characters killed by acting in ways that they should have seen would lead to a bad end. Attacking a nest of wyverns with no advance preparation. I guess they assumed that if a wyvern rookery was on the map they were supposed to be able to just. go in and clear it out. Sorry, that would be a no.
I don't like seeing characters die. I really don't and try to give the players plenty of warning signs of danger. But I feel that without risk victory is kind of hollow. I want my players to feel the thrill of triumph over difficult odds, that means they have to face danger and difficult odds.
I've played 'bad rolling and you're dead' games, and I've played in games where death was restricted to either the player being dumb or heroic and cool moments. Both are fine, to me it depends on the kind of game you're running.
For a long campaign where I'm trying to tell a story and I want the players' help, I want their characters to be part of this tale we're all telling. That kind of game, I don't want characters dying in random or unheroic or uncool ways. If they're trying to stop a demon invasion of their world, Fred the rogue falling to his death one night while trying to sneak back into the castle after going out to meet his underworld contacts isn't cool. And the plot lines the players and I have developed that involve Fred will suffer.
In that case, if Fred rolls poorly, then something else will happen. Fred is in a coma and they need a side adventure to find the cure or a more powerful priest. Or Fred survives the fall but is knocked out and captured by his enemies. Solutions like that.
Sometimes, however, a story is made better by a character death (almost typed 'player death, lol). So if a player is taking a known risk with their character for heroic/cool reasons--staying behind to slow down the dragon while the villagers all escape--I'm more willing to let the death happen as rolled.
Even in those kind of games, however, if a player does something stupid--and is warned that it's stupid, which I will do--I will have less sympathy, and often that stupid thing will make me want that character gone anyway :) But usually the players get that it's not that kind of campaign, and they listen to my "are you sure you want to do that?" clues.
Other games though, when it's expected that we'll let the dice fall where they may, then character death is fine, roll up a new character and move on. Often, that kind of campaign involves less in-depth roleplaying, so I tend to want to play the former sort of campaign. But I've enjoyed both.
Looking for new subclasses, spells, magic items, feats, and races? Opinions welcome :)
There is no right way, or wrong way, to handle character death.
The important thing is that everyone knows how it's going to be handled in the game, and agrees to it ( or at least accepts it ). That's why "how we're handling character death" is a central question in a campaign's Session Zero.
Being of a similar vintage as DavetheLost ( with large gaps in there, so I might not have the same amount of "time served" ), I run my campaigns as close as I can to a simulation of an alternate reality with different natural laws ( Magic, Gods, etc. ) in play than our own. I very much enjoy the Characters my Players have in my current campaign, and I'd hate to see any of them go - but if that's what happens as a byproduct of a plausible and impartial unfolding of events, then that what happens.
I made that clear when we started this campaign.
My DM Philosophy, as summed up by other people: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rN5w4-azTq3Kbn0Yvk9nfqQhwQ1R5by1/view
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
Awakened Undead was on Reddit - or so I've heard.
I saw it as part of the D20 Steampunk Compendium on Homebrewery.
My DM Philosophy, as summed up by other people: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rN5w4-azTq3Kbn0Yvk9nfqQhwQ1R5by1/view
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
I generally play death is death. If you die you are dead. I really don't allow spells like revivify or revival from high-level clerics. Those options always seemed to trivialize death in games for me. Oh you died, no worries will just drag your body to a cleric and fork over a small portion of our funds and you'll be back in the fight.
I don't plan on my encounters on killing players unless its a boss type fight. My players also are told upfront what happens if they die. I will generally give the players time after the fight to do whatever they want with the player that died. This seems to work for me, it makes it so my players know if they die, they die and helps prevent some of the more reckless behavior.
I also add the small rule that if you roll a new character you are not allowed to be the same class. This was just a fun rule to force players to get out of the comfort zones, this has been useful to some and others kinda hated it because they really just wanted to play only barbarians or something like that. That part has probably got more of my players upset than them actually losing the character.
I generally DM long-running campaigns (4+ years) and character death is something I announce at the beginning of a campaign as a significant reality - not that I am going to try to kill characters out of spite or as my "job" as a DM, but just because I tend to run grittier, more realistic campaigns. I try not to let the dice kill characters, but instead the storyline or stupid choices.
My biggest, and only, piece of advice is to make death an event. When a character dies in one of my games, that player gets an entire session to themselves. I have spent quite some time developing "dream/death sequences" to help move the story along and to reveal major story elements. A player always has the option to not come back if a resurrection is attempted, but they tend to want to come back because of the new, twisted and interesting plot elements that only they are privy to.
I think that's good advice: if Character death happens, don't make it trivial.
Either make it a heroic and meaningful death, or use it to set up the Villain in a really significant way, and focus the Party hatred.
Spoiler-y Critical Role example
I'm thinking of Lorenzo killing Mollymauk Tealeaf in campaign 2 of Critical Role, as an example of the latter.
Edit: Woohoo! Post #800! :D
My DM Philosophy, as summed up by other people: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rN5w4-azTq3Kbn0Yvk9nfqQhwQ1R5by1/view
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
It happens and sometimes the players get a bit upset over it. I try not to kill my players but I will toss some real dangers at them and if they dont think things out it could be bad for a character. You could even let them act in some way as a ghost to help the players restore themselves to their body. Basically a side quest. Or just let them make another character to jump into the game.