My players really liked this one NPC a Gazer named Timothy who had been with them for a couple sessions now they were fighting a cult and I rolled horribly on all my rolls then the cult fanatic rushed to attack Timothy since he viewed it as a lesser imitation of it's great one (It's a Beholder cult) it was gonna miss the inflict wounds but since I'd missed basically everything else I let it hit then I realized the damage that Inflict Wounds does and it leaves the gazer down with two failed saves off the bat the party had no healers and no healing potions so Timothy died It was a really sad moment that defined the session but after the session I realized I fudged the roll and felt horrible for manufacturing the driving emotional bit of the story I have no idea what to do I want Timothy's death to stay sad so I kinda don't wanna revive him but also we all really liked him and I feel horrible for killing him off like that Anyone got any tips for what to do I'm lost

My tip is this: Let it stand.

You have said it was a sad moment. That it defined the session. That it was a driving emotional part of the story. None of those things are changed by the fact that the die rolls were fudged. Only you know the roll was fudged. Also, only the roll was faked, not the emotional or dramatic part of the scene. Scenes like this are the whole point of playing an RPG.

Timothy is an NPC, not a PC. NPCs are there to serve the story you and the players are telling. They are the pawns in your chessgame. Don't fall too much in love with them. If their death makes for a better story, so be it.

And don't worry about fudging a die roll. Lost of -- I would bet most -- DMs do it, and often for much poorer reasons than you had to do what you did.

So. The key here... I know it was sad but did the players have fun? Will they be talking about this moment for weeks to come? Will they be doing things like crying "For Timothy!" in the future to avenge him? If yes, then you're golden. Don't worry about the fudge.

But... if this kind of thing is going to bother you in the future, I would say make a private rule for yourself, as DM, not to fudge anymore.

Twinothy to the rescue!

Yes, it turns out that Timothy had a twin brother!  He's just like Timothy, but alive!!  He's Twinothy!!  

But on a serious not, I would let it stay as is and just take it as a lesson of why you should be careful and purposeful when fudging rolls.  I am not against it when it helps the plot or such, but you don't wanna do it willy nilly...

If your players really have no healer or even potions then you've actually done them a real kindness with this. It's a valuable lesson that their characters are mortal, and taking the most basic of precautions to avoid dying to an unlucky crit is a necessity. Now when one of the players' characters falls over the others will hopefully be able to do something except stand there, watching him bleed to death through their neglect.

As for what to do next:

1. Party stumbles upon small tribe of other gazers.
2. "Adventurers! You must have seen the world - did you perhaps bump into one of our kind on your travels? About yea high? With this many eyes?"
3. A set of the tiniest gazers listen intently, and begin weeping from every eye as your players shame-facedly explain what happened to their daddy.
4. Play pre-loaded childrencrying.wav file through speakers.

I like the idea but that doesn't fit with the story at all 

The players were transported to the Far Realm which is where they met Timothy as 4 dislocated eyes who followed them and when they escaped it turned into a Gazer

Quote from BioWizard >>

My tip is this: Let it stand.

You have said it was a sad moment. That it defined the session. That it was a driving emotional part of the story. None of those things are changed by the fact that the die rolls were fudged. Only you know the roll was fudged. Also, only the roll was faked, not the emotional or dramatic part of the scene. Scenes like this are the whole point of playing an RPG.

Timothy is an NPC, not a PC. NPCs are there to serve the story you and the players are telling. They are the pawns in your chessgame. Don't fall too much in love with them. If their death makes for a better story, so be it.

And don't worry about fudging a die roll. Lost of -- I would bet most -- DMs do it, and often for much poorer reasons than you had to do what you did.

So. The key here... I know it was sad but did the players have fun? Will they be talking about this moment for weeks to come? Will they be doing things like crying "For Timothy!" in the future to avenge him? If yes, then you're golden. Don't worry about the fudge.

But... if this kind of thing is going to bother you in the future, I would say make a private rule for yourself, as DM, not to fudge anymore.

 THIS!  I wouldn't cheapen a great session by fudging again to bring it back.  You inadvertently made them see that there /are/ consequences.

If you /really/ must bring him back, let the cultist have stolen his soul and shoved it into an amulet or something.  Maybe allow him to manifest like a star wars force ghost 1/day or whatever.

Sometimes a DM makes a mistake, but you just gotta roll with it *Pun intended*. A character death can be very important to a story and help drive it. If it got emotional for the players that's fantastic because it gets them invested and adds to the story. You can incorporate this death in future plots by reminding the party of the tragedy in future events. Let the party know that death is real and to be afraid.

Wondering if I should let them revive him similar to a PC with like a cleric with Raise Dead It could make for a cool adventure having to seek one out while also getting the funds (They're level 2) 

Sure they can. However, keep in mind, that Revivify and Raise Dead have some severe time limits for returning creatures back to the living.

yeah after they beat this time sensitive plotline they'll only have around 3 days to find the cleric and the gold could be a cool adventure going through dangerous but fast tunnels to get to the Cleric and then the cleric makes them take a loan with interest so they have to do a cool raid

Could also be an interesting little quest in itself, to persuade a Cleric to cast something as powerful as Raise Dead on the carcass of an aberrant creature. He will probably question the motivation of the PCs to the extreme.

Quote from Kaemgen >>

Twinothy to the rescue!

Yes, it turns out that Timothy had a twin brother!  He's just like Timothy, but alive!!  He's Twinothy!!  

 

But on a serious not, I would let it stay as is and just take it as a lesson of why you should be careful and purposeful when fudging rolls.  I am not against it when it helps the plot or such, but you don't wanna do it willy nilly...

 Beerfest with Landfill and his brother Gil? Hilarity ensues.

NPC's die.  That's what the raise dead type spells are for.  Just be sure to use a Gentle Repose to keep him in good shape till he can be revived.

Also, have the cleric that does it sell them some healing spells.  "Really, what WERE you thinking?"

Mog-Dracov waddya mean what was I thinking the players chose their characters not me also none of the PCs can learn Gentle Repose

The cleric would tell your player's characters "what were you thinking" because if they're out there with no ability to heal - one of them is going to die. It's going to happen. They NEED a way to heal themselves.

You can get away without a healer, but...*cringe* I certainly wouldn't want to.