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View Full Version : When someone else's character dies/ is about to, what do you do?



RPGaddict28
2013-12-11, 10:02 PM
Usually I start joking about what kind of character they want to play, but the last time it happened, I started dividing up his loot, before he died.

What happened was that our rogue decided to go on his own, in a maze, with a Minotaur. Predictably, the Minotaur attacked the rogue, bringing him down to half health. What I did, was the second the Minotaur attacked, grabbed his sheet, and started checking out his loot, asking what he would give me, etc. Too bad our party was really good, because we killed the Minotaur before he made rogue stew.

Vizzerdrix
2013-12-11, 11:59 PM
If I get along with the player, I use a tiny bit of my opt-fu to help them make something more butt kickingly awesome unless they want the character back, then I find a way to afford a res.

If I don't get along with a player, I divvy up their belongings and chuck the body in a hole. Unless I have a use for the body. I can generally find a use for a body.

Jay R
2013-12-12, 12:03 AM
I think the real answer is "Go to the tavern to find a new party member who just happens to be there."

GrayGriffin
2013-12-12, 12:14 AM
Well, in our PTU campaign, so far none of our party members have died. The one who ends up in the most perilous situations has taken Endure, which generally lets him take hits with confidence. However, in the second session after I joined, our party got hit with an Earthquake and one of our members' Arons was knocked into the death zone. Even so, the GM was kind to us, and let him survive severely injured, meaning that he's been recuperating from that session onwards.

Of course, eventually the answer will be "use my awesome feature to bring them back to life." Of course, it's a feature that will only have six uses total, so I'm just saying, we'd better be conservative with it. Hopefully, we won't need to use up all these uses, since most of our party members are taking up defensive moves/abilities now.

starwoof
2013-12-12, 12:16 AM
If it is within my power, I save them; if it is beyond my power, I resurrect them. I am the cleric.

Rhynn
2013-12-12, 02:34 AM
I think the real answer is "Go to the tavern to find a new party member who just happens to be there."

The true old-school answer is "Promote a henchman to PC status," though... :smallbiggrin:

ACKS has some of the best support for bringing in new characters, between inheritances (from B/X D&D), XP reserve (gold spent on booze, orgies, funeral pyres, temple donations, monuments, etc. becomes XP for your next new character at a 90% rate), and henchmen.

Slipperychicken
2013-12-12, 02:43 AM
Last time the party got nearly-TPK'd, my PC would have looted the bodies, but my character was OHKO'd, and his mount carried his unconscious body away from the fight.

If the PC is in the negatives but not dead yet, I try to heal the PC, and get it to safety when I can't heal it. This obviously depends on circumstances, though.

This reminds me -I need to write a will for my current PC. He gets KO'd almost every combat (hooray for 12 Con and rolling a 1 on the hit die), and I fear it's only a matter of time before he kicks the bucket. I'd much rather have his stuff go to his family than the band of unrepentant murderhobos he hangs out with.

Rhynn
2013-12-12, 02:50 AM
Wills are even more important than adventuring party charters. :smallcool:

aldeayeah
2013-12-12, 05:23 AM
same as always, i.e. "What would my character do?"

SethoMarkus
2013-12-12, 09:09 AM
Really depends on the situation, but generally my group tries to find a way to afford a resurrection or some-such. Last game we had a mid-level Druid in the party so Resurrection was an option...

I find it a bit in poor taste to talk about dividing up a character's loot, even after death. In the past, when bringing the character back was out of the question, my group has laid the character to rest, taking any key pieces of equipment (major magic items, artifacts tied to the story), but leaving the vast majority of their possessions in their tomb/grave.

When we play more hack-and-slash heavy campaigns, when death isn't only common but expected, we tend to leave the items behind as well, since often times we're actively running away from whatever killed the first (or second, or third...) character.

Amaril
2013-12-12, 11:13 AM
Wow, I never even really thought about having my character write a will...that's a good idea, though. I'd trust most of my group not to desecrate my corpse and steal my stuff, but that goblin rogue of ours I'm just not sure about :smalltongue:

BWR
2013-12-12, 11:22 AM
About to die: if possible, my characters almost always try to prevent death. I rarely play ********s that leave comrades to die (unless there is some pressing reason to do so)

With the corpse: Depends on the character and the setting.
I've played characters who would advocate burning or burying a fallen team mate, even one he didn't like, with full honors and with their gear as a sign of respect (usually the other players vehemently protested against throwing away loot like this).
I've played those who just shrug their shoulders and start looting the corpse.
I've played those who wail and gnash their teeth while looting the corpse.
I've played those who will grab something significant (like a samurai's daisho in Rokugan) to return to the family while leaving a small fortune in gold and other gear because he isn't a corpse robber.

Bringing in a new one: depends. Nearest tavern, finding someone in the same area you are, introduced by common friends, even spontaneously appearing due to the will of the gods.

Evo_Kaer
2013-12-12, 11:32 AM
Funny,... kinda,... maybe not so much.

I couldn't tell, because usually I'm the one who dies. There have been incidents where other party members died, but even then I either died before, right afterwards or with them. Sometimes more than one of those is true.

Once played with a fanatic murder druid. I was a bounty hunter. At least that was my cahracter idea. Never got anywhere near hunting someone down though. Anyway, the druid: I was walking through the forest and got assaulted by her lackey (another player) and all her animal friends. Since the DM didn't seemed to like me or my ideas, he wouldn't let me flee so I had to join them.
Long story short: It all ended with the druid killing me while I was unconscious and me rolling up a new character. That new character killed the druid afterwards and got himself killed by the druids lackey thanks to the DM not acknowledging my feats. Eeyup. Died twice within an hour. Try to beat that ^^

Anyway. Considering what my party usually does depends on the player that died (ME). If he wants the char back there is usually some way to resurrect him. Or the whole of the party wants him (ME) to stay dead. Had that too.

Icewraith
2013-12-12, 07:51 PM
The group I joined had its first character death (4e) while I was present. Paladin got eaten by a purple worm, body unrecoverable. We ended up burning the character sheet while someone pulled up "taps" on their smartphone and played it.

CoffeeIncluded
2013-12-12, 08:07 PM
Raise the hell out of them, selling some of my own gear if necessary. And I'm playing a rogue. And yes, this has happened; my character sold several of her secondary items to cover the cost. They paid her back though!

Honest Tiefling
2013-12-12, 08:16 PM
I was in a party that had every member of the charter draw up a will for their character's possession's on their death. Maybe we should have specified to raise the other members first...

Erth16
2013-12-12, 10:59 PM
I tend to think about my character's relationship to the other character and their world view. For example, if say my Vampire Warlock in Pathfinder were travelling and his partner would be dying, he would put at least a bit of effort in trying to help him, if he could still be useful, but if his daughter or sister (both player characters) were dying, he would do whatever he could, even sacrifice himself, to save them.

Remmirath
2013-12-13, 01:23 PM
React in character, which depends wildly upon what character or characters I'm playing at the time and what other character is dying. Could be anything from being quite torn up and trying to save them at all costs to standing there and laughing while they die. Both have happened, as have many other reactions in between those extremes.

As a DM, I simply let things take their course. Any NPCs present (including the ones doing the killing, of course) react appropriately. Talk of the next character can come after the old one is dead.

mucat
2013-12-13, 02:14 PM
This reminds me -I need to write a will for my current PC. He gets KO'd almost every combat (hooray for 12 Con and rolling a 1 on the hit die), and I fear it's only a matter of time before he kicks the bucket. I'd much rather have his stuff go to his family than the band of unrepentant murderhobos he hangs out with.

Yeah, I'm surprised to hear so many players framing the choice between "We steal the dead guy's stuff" and "We bury it with him as a mark of honor." Unless the character is a rootless orphan, presumably there is someone who should inherit their possessions, and who would like to have the body back for burial if circumstances allow.

Even if my PC didn't like his/her fallen comrade, I've rarely played someone who could say "Hey Molly, your husband got cut in half, so we looted him and threw him in two separate ditches. It was hell getting the bloodstains out of his...I mean my new cloak."

It's awkward enough dealing with the fact that (at least part of) the dead person's family probably hated the lunatics who dragged their loved one off on all these dangerous jobs...and now you have to face them and tell them their worst fears came true.

Ravens_cry
2013-12-13, 02:37 PM
If they are about to die? Do everything in my power to avert it. If they do die, unless they have on them Plot Item of Baddie Destruction and Plot Solving, I'd hold out on raiding their corpse until after combat as a general rule.
Depending on the character, I might (or might not) care about giving them a proper burial or cremation if raising them is untenable.

Slipperychicken
2013-12-13, 03:26 PM
It's awkward enough dealing with the fact that (at least part of) the dead person's family probably hated the lunatics who dragged their loved one off on all these dangerous jobs...and now you have to face them and tell them their worst fears came true.

Most adventurers probably wouldn't take the time to face them, assuming they had the integrity not to swipe the guy's wallet and call it a day. They'd probably just mail the body to the loved ones along with a poorly-written letter, highly offensive letter.

On second thought, maybe the will should specify that the other PCs not write the letter, or even go within a 3 mile radius of the family, since they'd likely just try to shake the family down for a reward.

mucat
2013-12-13, 04:30 PM
Most adventurers probably wouldn't take the time to face them, assuming they had the integrity not to swipe the guy's wallet and call it a day. They'd probably just mail the body to the loved ones along with a poorly-written letter, highly offensive letter.
Ha! Then they're giving up one of the most terrifying encounters in the game. If you're a Dresden files fan, it's no question which would scare Harry more: the latest Horrible Thing from Beyond Reality, or the wrath of Charity Carpenter...

In all seriousness, I remember playing an old (but not high-level) druid who had known the families of the other adventurers in my party his whole life. One of the worst moments of his career was having to bring the body of the farm kid who got killed back to his family...my druid was supposed to be the grown-up who would keep these young idiots alive. The rest of the party didn't feel a hell of a lot better. I can't imagine any of them saying "let's take his stuff first; they'll never know."

Amaril
2013-12-13, 04:53 PM
Ha! Then they're giving up one of the most terrifying encounters in the game. If you're a Dresden files fan, it's no question which would scare Harry more: the latest Horrible Thing from Beyond Reality, or the wrath of Charity Carpenter...

Ah, Charity...I can totally understand why you act the way you do, but that does absolutely nothing to prevent you from being the most annoying character in the entire series.

I think the issue of responding to a comrade's death really has to be handled entirely in-character, just the same way you'd do it in real life. For my part, if the deceased had a will, I'd do everything in my power to follow it, both in letter and in spirit. If they had no will, but still had living family or loved ones, I'd return their body and possessions to them if possible, and defer to their judgement afterwards. If they had neither of the above, I'd probably try and see about getting them a burial service myself, taking into consideration anything I knew about their religion and other beliefs. I most certainly would not steal their equipment, unless I had their express permission to take it, or it was given to me by their family.

Rhynn
2013-12-13, 05:09 PM
Most adventurers probably wouldn't take the time to face them, assuming they had the integrity not to swipe the guy's wallet and call it a day. They'd probably just mail the body to the loved ones along with a poorly-written letter, highly offensive letter.

I actually really like settings where the PCs' (extended) families are important: it's one of the reasons I love running Glorantha in Sartar, because the clan and bloodline are such powerful elements in play. Not just the PCs' families, either, but NPCs' families: blood-feuds are awesome.

Nevermind explaining to some stranger's family how they died, try explaining to your aunt (who maybe happens to be a powerful priestess) how her only son died because you didn't notice the bandit sneaking up on him...

CoffeeIncluded
2013-12-13, 05:09 PM
Why does nobody here want to raise the character or have their character raised?

Slipperychicken
2013-12-13, 05:13 PM
who would keep these young idiots alive. "

This reminds me of something people would say in Dwarf Fortress adventure mode when you ask them for quests: "Death will find you soon enough".

Adventuring is probably one of the most lethal jobs in D&D (after serving in a goblin tribe's war party, of course), and it's hard to imagine someone doing it who isn't either desperate or crazy. It explains both PCs' insanity, and also how they manage such preposterous rewards -it's the only way the work would be worth it.


Why does nobody here want to raise the character or have their character raised?

A lot of groups like to ignore it so they can maintain the finality of death. Also, a lot of deaths happen at low levels, long before anyone has the cash for a rez.

EDIT: Additionally, many PCs would rather save themselves 5k, loot the body, and just pick up a new party member at the nearest inn.

mucat
2013-12-13, 05:55 PM
Why does nobody here want to raise the character or have their character raised?
I think a lot of us are assuming it's either a low-magic world, or a gritty enough one that the average person has no access to death-reversing magic.

When Raise Dead is available, a dead character isn't really dead at all. They've just got a serious medical condition, where they stop breathing and start to rot instead. "You really ought to get that looked at, Frank." :smalleek:

But as you mentioned earlier, Coffee, the middle ground can be interesting, where you could save the person but at great effort. Then you find out what the characters really mean to one another!


A character I'm playing now is an alchemist/surgeon in a low-magic Pathfinder campaign following Steampunk/Victorian scifi genre conventions. In this world, reviving the dead is the province of blasphemous mad doctors who invariably meet grisly fates...so he hasn't told most of the party that he's kept his wife's brain on alchemical life support for years now, determined to succeed where all those other mad doctors failed.

If one of his comrades were mortally wounded, his first reaction would be "As your Surgical Officer, I have not given you permission to die." But if he can't save them, his next thought would be to get their brain on life support, preserve various tissue samples, and distract his crewmates from the fact that there are now two mysterious canisters in the lab, not one. Any month now, he'll figure out why those cloned lab animals always turn out wrong, and then DEATH SHALL BE A MEMORY!

Slipperychicken
2013-12-13, 06:31 PM
If one of his comrades were mortally wounded, his first reaction would be "As your Surgical Officer, I have not given you permission to die." But if he can't save them, his next thought would be to get their brain on life support, preserve various tissue samples, and distract his crewmates from the fact that there are now two mysterious canisters in the lab, not one. Any month now, he'll figure out why those cloned lab animals always turn out wrong, and then DEATH SHALL BE A MEMORY!

This song (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHEJrXPvU5s) may be of your interest.


The first few measures (after all the clicking) remind me of the opening to Talking Heads' "Psycho Killer".

mucat
2013-12-13, 07:54 PM
This song (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHEJrXPvU5s) may be of your interest. [/COLOR]
...wow.

That is an excellent and utterly horrifying song. And yes, it's damn near perfect for this character...

(I have no idea whether our DM will give the Doctor and his wife a shot at a happy ending, or if the traditional genre conventions for mortals who trespass in the realm of the gods are in effect...)


Now I have to go listen to Shoggoth on the Roof (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJAoaCHdTJY) for a lighter take on the subject...

Slipperychicken
2013-12-13, 08:50 PM
(I have no idea whether our DM will give the Doctor and his wife a shot at a happy ending, or if the traditional genre conventions for mortals who trespass in the realm of the gods are in effect...)


A happy ending would ruin it IMO. Trying to reverse mortality should result in tragedy. Awesome, tear-jerking tragedy. Like Fullmetal Alchemist kind of **** where even the most blasphemous unspeakable rituals cost you a literal arm and a leg, and all you get for your trouble is a grotesque mass of organs which resembles your loved one but quickly collapses after giving you a deep, pained glance.


I mean, there should be some tiny chance of partial victory* to give you hope, but once you hit the brain-in-a-jar stage, you're really fighting a losing battle.

*(like building your wife into a robot who lives in crippling pain, begging for death for a few hours/days before dying for real)

Remmirath
2013-12-13, 10:52 PM
Why does nobody here want to raise the character or have their character raised?

I assumed that the question concerned what you would do when someone else's character dies or is about to die in a manner from which they cannot be brought back, probably because I am used to playing in campaigns where this is quite common.

In my main D&D game, we have house rules such that there are cutoff points for being able to be raised, being able to be resurrected, and being able to be brought back through use of a miracle -- without those, at the level which we play at, death becomes extremely cheap and we find that dissatisfying. In the other game I play in most often, resurrection is not even a possibility.

Now, there was a recent D&D campaign in which there was a magical device which could be used to bring back to life even the most destroyed of characters, albeit at great personal cost for the character attempting to bring back the deceased (cost including the risk of themself being destroyed). Several of my characters did this. So, for many of my current D&D characters, they would go to great lengths to bring back people that they cared about -- it just is usually either quite easy to do (a small chunk of cash, a spell, sympathise about the con or level hit, done), or impossible to do. For my other current batch of characters, resurrection isn't an option.

In a different, low level D&D campaign, I suppose some of my characters would try to raise funds to bring the deceased back -- but some of them also certainly wouldn't.

mucat
2013-12-14, 01:16 AM
A happy ending would ruin it IMO. Trying to reverse mortality should result in tragedy. Awesome, tear-jerking tragedy.
Yeah, the great stories tend to end that way. But in a game, suspecting that the GM might intend to allow a chance at victory adds a lot of tension. Every fleeting success or failure in his research feels deadly important...

If the doctor ever reaches the point of placing his wife's brain into a (cloned, manufactured, or possibly stolen) body and wiring up the nerves and blood supply, then that Profession (Surgeon) check will be the frikkin' scariest d20 roll I ever expect to make. (And of course, even if it goes brilliantly, there is no way to know: is there still anyone in that brain? Has she been oblivious to time all these years, or dreaming, or thinking, or in pain and slowly going mad? What will it be like for her to open her eyes again?)


I mean, there should be some tiny chance of partial victory* to give you hope, but once you hit the brain-in-a-jar stage, you're really fighting a losing battle.
*(like building your wife into a robot who lives in crippling pain, begging for death for a few hours/days before dying for real)
Ah, man. The alchemical golem (http://i948.photobucket.com/albums/ad326/mucow50/Alchemical_Golem.jpg). My GM showed me that picture and cackled. I'm hoping my Mad Doctor never goes that mad.

A less devastating partial victory could be "she lives, but you don't." The doctor is already developing an addiction to brain-boosting alchemy to speed his research along. If it comes down to the wire and Leah is not gonna make it, letting her husband lethally overclock his own brain for one last shot at saving her could be an awesome way for the character to go out...

Leah is a damned good scientist in her own right, but a tag-team, "OK, now I'm gonna bring him back!" dynamic might ruin the gravitas...

The Oni
2013-12-14, 12:23 PM
A happy ending would ruin it IMO. Trying to reverse mortality should result in tragedy. Awesome, tear-jerking tragedy. Like Fullmetal Alchemist kind of **** where even the most blasphemous unspeakable rituals cost you a literal arm and a leg, and all you get for your trouble is a grotesque mass of organs which resembles your loved one but quickly collapses after giving you a deep, pained glance.

Funny thing, the campaign I'm running actually features a character who managed to do just this for the woman he loves - she's now a brain in a robot, and married him. She's mostly her former self, although not quite (mental stat damage while the brain was out of commission). Trouble is, the resident Goddess of Endings doesn't take kindly to an affordable, non-soul-destroying theoretically permanent solution to death, and her agents are hunting him down mercilessly.

mucat
2013-12-16, 03:25 AM
Funny thing, the campaign I'm running actually features a character who managed to do just this for the woman he loves - she's now a brain in a robot, and married him. She's mostly her former self, although not quite (mental stat damage while the brain was out of commission).
Doktor Krauss pokes his head around the Fourth Wall and into this other campaign.

"Might I offer a copy of my notes on neuroregenerative compounds, in exchange for the schematics of that robot?"

Leah would be far more at home in an organic body, of course, but with so much at stake, one must have contingency plans. Anything less would be madness!

illyahr
2013-12-16, 10:54 AM
Depends on my character.

My last one: avoid being killed myself, then harvest their eyes and create a mobile scrying device with them and some spare ectoplasm (killed by a wraith) after I implant one into my own eye socket. :smallamused:

Brookshw
2013-12-16, 11:58 AM
Laugh maniacally and consider my job as the DM fulfilled. Fear puny mortals, your life is but a spec of dust! I am the DM of Doom! I like my coffee black and my player characters dead!

On to the actual answer, as a DM consider if the encounter was fair and balanced, how tactics effected the situation, and to what extent it was a matter of the dice gods give, the dice gods take. Watching my players the general pattern is something to the effect of; 1) do everything in your power to prevent the death including but not limited to putting themselves in harms way, 2) raise the person and grumble about the cost of the diamonds, 3) check with player and disregard 2 if they'd prefer to roll up a new character (rare but occasionally crops up).

NickChaisson
2013-12-17, 12:33 AM
I would try to save them, but my motivation for doing so would be based on my current character. if I was good, it would be to save them. If I was leaning more towards neutral/evil I would expect a reward or use it as leverage in a future situation.

In one of my first campaigns I played in, our party mage got OHKO'D by an ogre mage, we made it run. But the party argued for the rest of the session about how to bury his corpse. (my barbarian turned it into a puppet while everyone argued)