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View Full Version : Dealing with death (DND 3.5)



Egiam
2009-01-09, 10:48 PM
As a DM, how do you handle the stats of character deaths in game ? The only time i've had a death was when 75% of the party died and all of there equipment was destroyed. I had them make new characters of the same XP count, but equipment as if they had started at the beggining of their current level. I'm not concerned with fluff, just statistics.

P.S. The way it was done in Expedition to Castle Ravenloft doesn't fit the feel of my campaign. For those of you who are not familiar with it, the rules are that the player makes a new character at minimum XP to attain the previous level. I find this too harsh for my game.

Llama231
2009-01-09, 11:09 PM
DM fudge.
I try not to kill off characters, and let them hang in there and have a chance.
If they do something REALLY stupid, I take advantage of it.

I someone still DOES die, I usually bring them back quickly with little loss (usually in money), or use it as a plot device.

Eldariel
2009-01-09, 11:10 PM
Seeing that a paid reanimation (unless it's the 25k gp version in True Resurrection) costs a level, non-paid new character needs to cost at least the same. That said, as long as you can trust your players not to take death lightly, go ahead and either provide a Deux Ex Machina to reanimate them or let them come back at the minimum XP required for this level (or if they just got a new level, half-way to this level), or some other mellower form of reincarnation.

Of course, a TPK generally leads to the end of an adventure (and trying again with a new group if the players still want it, with tales of the horrible fate of the last group lurking nigh'). Generally you can explain the players just hiring new members for their party after character death and the new-whatever-character showing up and getting hired in place of the deceased members (when they can't afford reanimations of any kind at any rate; Reincarnation in particular does all sorts of wonky stuff that can really make the game interesting).

Jack_Simth
2009-01-09, 11:19 PM
I generally have new and replacement characters come in at lowest surviving XP, lowest wealth of survivors. This has, on occasion, caused someone to die and go up a level.

Lappy9000
2009-01-09, 11:32 PM
Always, always make sure that the players earn the respect (or debt) of a local good-aligned church in their earlier levels (prefereably a larger one that can be accessed in most cities across the world). This way, they can show up at the front door of some chapel, flash the holy symbol, and get at least a Raise Dead for their fallen companion(s).

Maerok
2009-01-09, 11:38 PM
I like what the HoH proposes for resurrection with a price: each time you come back, you're not quite 'all there'. I'd expand this into something more (an area where you easily become revived but eventually you just wear away into a manic husk, for example) for a future game.

Prometheus
2009-01-10, 12:23 AM
I go with what Eldariel said about rerolling new characters in the event of a character death that the party has RP reasons not to revive. Of course, it should be said that if someone decides they want to switch out their character I provide a means that is easier than dying and doing so.

I've had a variety of different creative reasons why important NPCs are dead for good. One NPC, for example, perpetually used the Clone spell to come back from the dead but each time it did it aged him considerably until it was that he would die for good. Another NPC got possessed by a ghost who used the opportunity to use a magic item that commanded his army of spiders to attack himself - if he ever got raised he would immediately be re-devoured. A vampire NPC gained enough independence from his evil self to commit suicide with a stake which subsequently grew into a tree and fused with his body (it was in a magical forest). An NPC with the power to know plans sacrificed himself so that another NPC with the power to know secrets could use her power - if she ever used them, the NPC would know and therefore it wouldn't be a secret. One was a mob boss who was paranoid of being assassinated by rivals so he never got close enough to anyone to have someone to resurrect him when the PCs offed him. Another the PCs desecrated, scattered and hid his body enough that he would never be found again. Still another drew the "Void" card from the deck of many things. A last one had a vow never to return from the grave (it was a shameful thing in his culture).

Saph
2009-01-10, 06:20 AM
The DMs I've played under usually had a rule that new characters of any sort started at one level below the average party level. So if the party is three level 4s and one level 5, you come in at level 3.

I'm a little easier; I say that new characters have their XP set to the lowest in the party. But then, given the death rate in my campaigns . . .

I also encourage players to handle death and resurrection in-game. If they have a Druid along (which we usually do) bringing back a character can be quite cheap, as long as you don't mind the side effects.

- Saph

Samakain
2009-01-10, 07:21 AM
The most interesting way i've seen it handled was with a Church of the God of Merchants and Trade, you could basically pay for a form of life insurance, meaning that if your life was damaged or ended in some way you could be brought back, there was a monthly fee, premiums, the whole bit :P it also included neg level restoration and cures for any aliments. However they did not cover deaths by ACT OF GOD/S as they believed this caused a conflict of interests XD

in my campaigns i normally let the character re-roll with the same experiance as before, but with limited special equipment. Providing at least they no one in the party has the ability to res the dead.

LibraryOgre
2009-01-10, 12:28 PM
Spit the bullet out and roll up a new character. We'll work you in when we can.

Morandir Nailo
2009-01-10, 10:44 PM
You roll a new character at the same level as the rest of the group, with the minimum wealth for that level (with the caveat that no more than 25% can be spent on a single item).

Mor

arguskos
2009-01-10, 11:52 PM
Spit the bullet out and roll up a new character. We'll work you in when we can.
^^^this. So this.

Also, I tend to discourage players taking courses of action that will lead to highly probable death (like jumping off zeppelins, wrestling with pit fiends, playing with the Deck of Many Things, etc). It bogs things down.

Rei_Jin
2009-01-11, 12:01 AM
Generally, it depends on WHY the PC died.

If its due to the stupidity of their player and the chosen actions, then they take the full hit. That generally means that they lose a level. But rather than have them go back to half way between the previous level and their current one, I make them lose the experience it would have taken them to achieve their current level from the previous one (as an example, to go from level 10 to 11 is 10,000xp. Thus, if a level 11 PC died, they lose 10,000xp)

If its due to bad die rolls, I'll bring them back at the start of the level they are currently on. That can mean more or less, depending on how far through the level you are, but at least you don't need to worry about rewriting your entire character sheet.

If its due to RPing reasons (character IC couldn't justify abandoning the post to escape and live, choosing rather to die in a way that brings glory to their faith), then I RP something with a representative of their faith. Depending on how they go, they may not even lose experience, rather, they'll be given a quest to go on. Of course, if they screw the RP up, then they come back at the start of the level.

I don't want to penalise players for good RP, that would just be counter-productive.

There's an understanding in the group that doing stupid things has its own cost, so they tend to not die due to stupidity.

Waspinator
2009-01-11, 01:31 AM
One way to consider, though I'd only bust it out for very specific situations, is to let them die but stay around. The book "Ghostwalk" has rules for dealing with player character ghosts that could let them remain a part of the group. I'd probably only let them do that for a very strong reason, however (like finishing some sworn quest or something).

Satyr
2009-01-11, 05:59 AM
When I master a game, I normally try to not kill the characters. But if they die (which does normally only happens out of player's choice or great stupidity), I strongly prefer death to be final. The whole coming back to live stuff seriously cheapens death which is tremendously counter-suspenseful. If the character absolutely have to come back, they should take the full hit, including a step towards madness and personality disorder. The difficult ressurection rules in Heroes of Horror should be obligatory, and while I found most of the results too weak, it is a good start. Nonetheless, no character ahould ever be revived more than once.

In my default campaign, there is no revification at all; dead characters can be brought back - but only as undead creatures. I think this is vastly preferable, as it does not cheapens death into a minor inconvenience.

AslanCross
2009-01-11, 07:50 AM
In general I avoid allowing the players to die. As of now the ranger in my party has almost died around twice. The first time was the result of direct exposure to a black dragon's breath. (She'd just woken up from almost drowning c/o a Drowned's aura and was at 1 HP). I just ruled that she was dying. The party was in the middle of nowhere and having them get another member out of the blue was just too troublesome.

Second was just last Thursday. The party was raiding a castle, and the ranger was cornered by the hobgoblins on the wall. A massive AOO from an ogre's ranseur took her down to single digits, and a hobgoblin warblade was about to instantly kill her with a Rabid Wolf Strike. The Wizard's quick thinking (celerity+glitterdust) and a lot of luck (I rolled exactly 50 after ruling that the warblade would hit her at 51%), she survived.

If she'd really died, though (the party was feeling a bit too cocky and was moving very slowly up the wall, leaving her exposed to the defenders alone), I'd have just let her die and let her get a new character of the same level.

bosssmiley
2009-01-11, 11:05 AM
Spit the bullet out and roll up a new character. We'll work you in when we can.

Old school. :smallcool:

Low level: we either promote new PCs from among the multiple squires, acolytes, cronies and/or apprentices we drag along to do our dirty work, or write in vengeful next-of-kin as new characters.

High level: death is a speedbump in RAW D&D. It's just another status effect that the Cleric can cure at the end of the fight. :smallwink:

I'm thinking of using Justin's rules on death (no rezzes after 24 hours) sometime.

Curmudgeon
2009-01-11, 11:58 AM
For those of you who are not familiar with it, the rules are that the player makes a new character at minimum XP to attain the previous level. I find this too harsh for my game. I disagree. As long as the party cooperates, the shared XP will bring a lower-level character up close to the rest of the party rather quickly. And it's helpful to be forced to learn from your mistakes by being penalized a bit.

Yahzi
2009-01-11, 05:24 PM
we either promote new PCs from among the multiple squires, acolytes, cronies and/or apprentices we drag along to do our dirty work, or write in vengeful next-of-kin as new characters.
Exactly what I do. I've warned my party that if they get themselves killed in a way they can't get themselves ressed, they will have to take over their heirs - their NPC servants and soldiers.