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?
* RESEARCH RESULT: HOW TO DEAL WITH THE DEATH OF A CHARACTER IN RPG?* Specifically in cases of unplanned death by bad luck and rules.
First of all, I thank all of the more than 275 participants who collaborated with the survey.
The question is difficult because it leads to taboos and preconceptions that we all have, and in the end the goal is to understand how to keep the fun after death at the table. That's why I did a questionnaire with questions on how people cope with death, how long they played, how their fun was after the death of the character and how the roleplay changed after.
More than 275 people have responded. Among them are players who died, GMs who killed and others who were in the party and had to deal with the result.
The survey is still open and I'll put the link at the end.
81% had their characters killed in unplanned situations (randomness in the dice and game mechanics) 8.6% decided to respond as GMs who have killed characters in unplanned situations 7.6% never saw the death of a char in play or all the deaths were heroic sacrifices (player choice) 2.8% decided to respond as players who have witnessed unplanned deaths of other chars
* ABOUT THE FUN *
The vast majority (88.5%) of the players who suffered with the unplanned death (due to bad luck and rule mechanics) answered that they did not stop having fun.
But that death was the cause for some to stop having fun. Of those who stopped having fun (11.5%), and who gave a written response: most explain that the GM was playing against the players or that was because the group did not help. Only some really felt that death was to blame. They felt the weight of all the emotional investment in the character disappearing and could not continue.
This means that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Unplanned death does not necessarily mean the end of the fun in the game.
And to break a taboo: the fun of the player does not vary if he/she is either new to the game or already a veteran. Players with less than one year playing and suffered with the death gave similar responses to players who have played for 2, 4, 6 or more than 10 years.
* ABOUT THE MASTER SAVING THE CHARACTERS BY FUDGING DICE ROLLS CHANGING THE MECHANICS/RULES *
Asking the players who had unplanned death if they believe that the master should fudge the dice results or the rule mechanics to avoid these scenarios: a large majority (79.6%) is against having the GM altering the outcome or "difficulty" about the game.
Of those who responded that the master should change the outcome: most justified that it should be done in cases of players who are new to the game because that could end their fun. Ironically, new players with less than 1 year of play do not think the GM should steal (86.67% majority), and in addition, the previous answers did not indicate they would have less fun with the campaign if the character died.
The difference is in the players who stopped having fun: 46.15% of the players who died and stopped having fun believe that the master should change the results, versus 16.75% of the players who died but continued to enjoy themselves. This possibly indicates some form of enduring trauma in the group that stopped having fun.
As for the GMs, 29.2% say that they do not fudge dice rolls, 54.2 states that they fudge rarely, 16.7% said they fudge sometimes. Neither responded that fudge the dice often (whenever they want).
* THE IMPACT ON THE REST OF THE CAMPAIGN *
Most of the rest of the party players (100%) as well as the GMs (91.7%) responded that the party continued to have fun in the campaign.
The possibility of death also has extremely positive results for roleplay and story that may only have been investigated. (Please, do not kill your players in a planned way... I am talking about in-game mechanics of unplanned death)
From the GMs that have already killed char and players who saw another char being killed at the table only 9.3% believe that the roleplay worsened, 34.3% thought nothing has changed, and 56.4% thought that there were improvements in the roleplay in several different aspects (mainly decision making and party growth).
In addition, there is a strong perception (taken from the written responses) that changing the outcome by the masters could be a strong blow against roleplay. In the long run it would not be sustainable and/or give the perception to players who are immortal. We also got answers from players who felt patronized and stopped having fun when they noticed their GMs changing the results in favor of the players themselves.
* CONCLUSION: WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO DEAL WITH DEATH? *
Gathering most of the answers from players whose characters were killed in the game we were able to compile some insights of what was done so that the player kept having fun.
First of all: We found that even though death hurts, there is still light at the end of the tunnel. If GM works the subject in a good way the roleplay can grow and above all the player who has suffered can continue having fun.
I will put our learning and our suggestions below, out of order of importance.
1- Do not be a bad GM. You're not playing against the players, but co-creating a story with them. Always give them options to either escape, surrender, etc... A bad GM was the main cause of the players to stop having fun with the campaign.
2- Do not change (or avoid to the maximum changing) results in favor of the players. Let the mechanics of the game flow as it should. In some cases the players realized that the GM was playing for them and they lost respect. In one spec the GM suggested restarting the scene from zero after the death of a char, which the player said "I quit the game, specially because, immediately after the roll that confirmed the death, the GM offered to roll the entire scene back. It was ridiculous.".
3- Make it clear that death is in the rules, it is part of the dynamics of the game. Emphasize that it is important for characters to make good decisions and to help each other as a group. Even a group where some do not necessarily like others needs to help themselves in combat hours to avoid death. Watch each others back. Games where characters die because they do not help each other contributes to the lack of fun.
4. Do not rush past the death of the character. Let other players tell you how their characters react to such a situation. If possible let the dying character take one last action or speak his last words. This has helped several players cope.
5- Let the party make a funeral for the character who died, let the player know the results of their actions and his/her legacy. This has helped the players feel that their time and emotional investment has not been lost.
6 - What contributes most to cope with death (according to the general majority of players and opinions of GMs) is to make a new character ASAP. And the GMs should put the new character ASAP in the adventure.
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
* RESEARCH RESULT: HOW TO DEAL WITH THE DEATH OF A CHARACTER IN RPG?*
Specifically in cases of unplanned death by bad luck and rules.
First of all, I thank all of the more than 275 participants who collaborated with the survey.
The question is difficult because it leads to taboos and preconceptions that we all have, and in the end the goal is to understand how to keep the fun after death at the table. That's why I did a questionnaire with questions on how people cope with death, how long they played, how their fun was after the death of the character and how the roleplay changed after.
More than 275 people have responded. Among them are players who died, GMs who killed and others who were in the party and had to deal with the result.
The survey is still open and I'll put the link at the end.
81% had their characters killed in unplanned situations (randomness in the dice and game mechanics)
8.6% decided to respond as GMs who have killed characters in unplanned situations
7.6% never saw the death of a char in play or all the deaths were heroic sacrifices (player choice)
2.8% decided to respond as players who have witnessed unplanned deaths of other chars
* ABOUT THE FUN *
The vast majority (88.5%) of the players who suffered with the unplanned death (due to bad luck and rule mechanics) answered that they did not stop having fun.
But that death was the cause for some to stop having fun. Of those who stopped having fun (11.5%), and who gave a written response: most explain that the GM was playing against the players or that was because the group did not help. Only some really felt that death was to blame. They felt the weight of all the emotional investment in the character disappearing and could not continue.
This means that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Unplanned death does not necessarily mean the end of the fun in the game.
And to break a taboo: the fun of the player does not vary if he/she is either new to the game or already a veteran. Players with less than one year playing and suffered with the death gave similar responses to players who have played for 2, 4, 6 or more than 10 years.
* ABOUT THE MASTER SAVING THE CHARACTERS BY FUDGING DICE ROLLS CHANGING THE MECHANICS/RULES *
Asking the players who had unplanned death if they believe that the master should fudge the dice results or the rule mechanics to avoid these scenarios: a large majority (79.6%) is against having the GM altering the outcome or "difficulty" about the game.
Of those who responded that the master should change the outcome: most justified that it should be done in cases of players who are new to the game because that could end their fun. Ironically, new players with less than 1 year of play do not think the GM should steal (86.67% majority), and in addition, the previous answers did not indicate they would have less fun with the campaign if the character died.
The difference is in the players who stopped having fun:
46.15% of the players who died and stopped having fun believe that the master should change the results, versus 16.75% of the players who died but continued to enjoy themselves. This possibly indicates some form of enduring trauma in the group that stopped having fun.
As for the GMs, 29.2% say that they do not fudge dice rolls, 54.2 states that they fudge rarely, 16.7% said they fudge sometimes. Neither responded that fudge the dice often (whenever they want).
* THE IMPACT ON THE REST OF THE CAMPAIGN *
Most of the rest of the party players (100%) as well as the GMs (91.7%) responded that the party continued to have fun in the campaign.
The possibility of death also has extremely positive results for roleplay and story that may only have been investigated. (Please, do not kill your players in a planned way... I am talking about in-game mechanics of unplanned death)
From the GMs that have already killed char and players who saw another char being killed at the table only 9.3% believe that the roleplay worsened, 34.3% thought nothing has changed, and 56.4% thought that there were improvements in the roleplay in several different aspects (mainly decision making and party growth).
In addition, there is a strong perception (taken from the written responses) that changing the outcome by the masters could be a strong blow against roleplay. In the long run it would not be sustainable and/or give the perception to players who are immortal. We also got answers from players who felt patronized and stopped having fun when they noticed their GMs changing the results in favor of the players themselves.
* CONCLUSION: WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO DEAL WITH DEATH? *
Gathering most of the answers from players whose characters were killed in the game we were able to compile some insights of what was done so that the player kept having fun.
First of all: We found that even though death hurts, there is still light at the end of the tunnel. If GM works the subject in a good way the roleplay can grow and above all the player who has suffered can continue having fun.
I will put our learning and our suggestions below, out of order of importance.
1- Do not be a bad GM. You're not playing against the players, but co-creating a story with them. Always give them options to either escape, surrender, etc... A bad GM was the main cause of the players to stop having fun with the campaign.
2- Do not change (or avoid to the maximum changing) results in favor of the players. Let the mechanics of the game flow as it should. In some cases the players realized that the GM was playing for them and they lost respect. In one spec the GM suggested restarting the scene from zero after the death of a char, which the player said "I quit the game, specially because, immediately after the roll that confirmed the death, the GM offered to roll the entire scene back. It was ridiculous.".
3- Make it clear that death is in the rules, it is part of the dynamics of the game. Emphasize that it is important for characters to make good decisions and to help each other as a group. Even a group where some do not necessarily like others needs to help themselves in combat hours to avoid death. Watch each others back. Games where characters die because they do not help each other contributes to the lack of fun.
4. Do not rush past the death of the character. Let other players tell you how their characters react to such a situation. If possible let the dying character take one last action or speak his last words. This has helped several players cope.
5- Let the party make a funeral for the character who died, let the player know the results of their actions and his/her legacy. This has helped the players feel that their time and emotional investment has not been lost.
6 - What contributes most to cope with death (according to the general majority of players and opinions of GMs) is to make a new character ASAP. And the GMs should put the new character ASAP in the adventure.
I hope this helps you the same way you helped me!
Form, in case you want to contribute with your opinion:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeJc7Y_TBb78nfEF3KcfIGZDnQfNaX1cWaMuS2xlPk3P_Um4w/viewform?usp=sf_link
Search results:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1aMnLbMRGNSI1qR1H_NfKWnOOde7AmAxTCxj8_cWr4_c/edit?usp=sharing