Consequences of a low level death

[Kryx]

I'd like to establish a social contract with my players about how death is handled. Death in 5e is more common at early levels than in previous editions and that has my players worried.

Do you let players reroll the exact same character if it dies before it gets to "fully experience the concept"?

The social contract in my eyes has always been that death should be real (as defined by the game terms - easier to avoid at high level). If players simply make the exact same character then they're basically ignoring the death that happened. However their argument of "but I never got to really play it" is also valid.

How do you handle low level death and rerolling?

[Forum Explorer]

Randomize stats. They can keep the same character, and keep the backstory similar, but if you randomize stats every death, then there is notable change and risk. (And that's just the minimal, in case of I got critted and died in the first fight).

For longer lived characters I'd expect the much more differences, such as a different race, and backstory. (Or different class and backstory.)

[TheDeadlyShoe]

well first off you should just ignore insta death rules for the first couple of levels. noone wants to put hours into making a concept and getting ganked by one bad roll. Work with your players to craft a narrative, and fudge rolls if you have to if a PC death does not fit your narrative at this stage.

another thing you can do is bring that character back as a literal true miracle. or is it? there's a lot of potential for plot hooks here.

or, a player could be 'almost dead' - and stolen away by NPCs for some purpose.

IMO death should be notable and important, and not just the result of random chance at low levels- despite this being a dice game.

[Kryx]

Fudging rolls is not something I'm interested in.
Story concepts based on the idea of removing character narrative "he was raised, but is he the same guy!?" are forced imo.

I'm not looking for a dues ex system that brings people back. Death should be real.
I'm looking for ways to soften the blow for early levels without ignoring the death.

[S_Dalsgaard]

I don't think my players would be interested in doing so. They see a character death as an opportunity to try something different with their next character. Most of them always have a handful of ideas for interesting PCs ready. As a DM I would encourage them to try something different, even if that weren't the case.

IMO making (more or less) the same character once again, detracts from the uniqueness of their character and background, leading to cookie-cutter PCs.

This is especially true for 5e, where character creation is very fast.

[Kryx]

I don't think my players would be interested in doing so. They see a character death as an opportunity to try something different with their next character. Most of them always have a handful of ideas for interesting PCs ready. As a DM I would encourage them to try something different, even if that weren't the case.

IMO making (more or less) the same character once again, detracts from the uniqueness of their character and background, leading to cookie-cutter PCs.

This is especially true for 5e, where character creation is very fast.
I agree entirely that it should be an opportunity to try something new. However that is uninteresting to my players. They don't feel that the current option was "sufficiently explored". They would prefer to build one character and keep it forever if they could.

If I were to enforce the "full reroll on death" rule then they'd simply either leave or make stock characters until 3.
So I need to meet them halfway with their desires.

[Oneris]

Allow the character to live, but with a debilitating injury or scar that's either permanent or removable only at later levels. No so debilitating as to guarantee a second 'death' immediately, mind.

[S_Dalsgaard]

Well, the PHB states that when you damage someone so they fall to 0 hp, you have the option of making the last hit do non-lethal damage, and the opponent just falls unconscious. Maybe the opponents sometimes do the same (because live slaves are more valuable than dead meat), so the characters don't actually die when they drop to zero. That way only a TPK is bad, as that means the opponents have captured them (or at least stolen all their stuff), but otherwise, the PCs are fairly easy to revive with healing etc.

[PrincessCupcake]

I would say allow them to only keep one major aspect of their character -personality, background, race, or class- the same on a re-roll. (Background being the thing they pick out of the PHB, not their specific backstory.) Building something similar is fine, but the new character has to be distinct from the old one and stay that way.

Alternatively, you could have someone bargain for the dead PCs return from death. If it's the party, they have to convince either a rich benefactor or a church leader to bring their dead friend back via magic. If it's the dead PC themselves, maybe they have to complete a task for the god of death (or another powerful entity) in exchange for their return. This result is best as a one time deal. If the character dies again, no coming back. And if it was the party on the hook for the raise dead, they still have to complete whatever was set out for them.

[archaeo]

Honestly, this is all just a matter of taste, table, and campaign. It's something best discussed before the game even gets started, as there are as many opinions about this kind of thing as there are players. There's nothing easier than stocking a campaign setting with plenty of good, consequence-laden ways to cheat death in the early levels if that's what players want to do, and that seems like a much better way to handle things than simply letting players cross out the name at the top of the character sheet and just bring in a carbon copy.

[Kryx]

Honestly, this is all just a matter of taste, table, and campaign. It's something best discussed before the game even gets started, as there are as many opinions about this kind of thing as there are players. There's nothing easier than stocking a campaign setting with plenty of good, consequence-laden ways to cheat death in the early levels if that's what players want to do, and that seems like a much better way to handle things than simply letting players cross out the name at the top of the character sheet and just bring in a carbon copy.
Ya, we're starting next week so I'm hoping to come up with some form of agreement before then. Something along the lines of what was suggested earlier: First death before lvl 3 would incur a -2 to all attacks until they hit 3.

[Safety Sword]

Ya, we're starting next week so I'm hoping to come up with some form of agreement before then. Something along the lines of what was suggested earlier: First death before lvl 3 would incur a -2 to all attacks until they hit 3.

In a system with bounded accuracy, -2 is a big slug. I know it has to be meaningful but you still have to be able to have an effective character too.

I don't know if there is a perfect answer for you. It's pretty specific to your group so I think you'd be best to hammer it out with them before they have their first drink at the tavern, so to speak.

[archaeo]

Ya, we're starting next week so I'm hoping to come up with some form of agreement before then. Something along the lines of what was suggested earlier: First death before lvl 3 would incur a -2 to all attacks until they hit 3.


In a system with bounded accuracy, -2 is a big slug. I know it has to be meaningful but you still have to be able to have an effective character too.

I don't there is a perfect answer for you. It's pretty specific to your group so I think you'd be best to hammer it out with them before they have their first drink at the tavern, so to speak.

Yeah, personally, I'd be more inclined to give a story-based "penalty," if any at all. Something like "the party is now in debt to the Church" or "you gain a nasty scar" or "while you were 'dead,' a fiend tortured you for information." A -2 penalty really will just make it that much harder for the entire party, which probably isn't the effect you really want to have.

But like Safety Sword says, this will just be group-by-group, and yours will have different ideas about what they want. Some tables really want death to count for something.

(A third way: simply ratchet down the difficulty of early encounters. If you aim for the low end of the XP budget between easy and medium and pull a few tactical punches, you'll be far more likely to give the players room to grow.)

[Kryx]

Well we're playing LMoP as a "test the waters" campaign for 5e. We're mainly 3.5/PF players.

Perhaps what would be best is to allow 1 pseudo death before level 3. Psuedo death = wakes up after a long rest with no penalties besides a big scar.

The time penalty for LMoP should be enough.

[Valefor Rathan]

well first off you should just ignore insta death rules for the first couple of levels. noone wants to put hours into making a concept and getting ganked by one bad roll. Work with your players to craft a narrative, and fudge rolls if you have to if a PC death does not fit your narrative at this stage.

another thing you can do is bring that character back as a literal true miracle. or is it? there's a lot of potential for plot hooks here.

or, a player could be 'almost dead' - and stolen away by NPCs for some purpose.

IMO death should be notable and important, and not just the result of random chance at low levels- despite this being a dice game.

The first part of this is the easiest (the fudging rolls) if you've got a DM screen or are using a dice roller app on your phone. Since you said you aren't interested in the fudging though, make it so Dead is Dead - if they die, new character creation starts then. Anyone who survives can recruit new members at the next opportunity.

If everyone dies in the same encounter - then start over or make new characters as the situation dictates. If the whole group died because it was unavoidable, that's on them and new characters. If it was just non-stop poor rolls, have it be a "Vision of a Possible Future" a player had. Think of it as a tutorial.

[archaeo]

Well we're playing LMoP as a "test the waters" campaign for 5e. We're mainly 3.5/PF players.

Perhaps what would be best is to allow 1 pseudo death before level 3. Psuedo death = wakes up after a long rest with no penalties besides a big scar.

The time penalty for LMoP should be enough.

Oh! Frankly, I'd just let it ride with LMoP, treating death extremely likely. If y'all are just "testing" the system, kicking the tires so to speak, you may as well play fast and loose with death and dying. Just approach it as a learning experience; that way, if you guys do end up enjoying 5e, you can have a way better idea of what kind of expectations you've got regarding the lethality of low level combat and how you want to handle it.

Both of the introductory adventures in 5e can be tough at low levels for a party of 4 or 5 PCs, and while giving them "psuedo death" is reasonable, I think the Starter Set offers advice on the subject specific to that adventure, while HotDQ's organized play rules put resurrections for low level characters in the guidelines (which you can find on WotC's website).

[WickerNipple]

First death before lvl 3 would incur a -2 to all attacks until they hit 3.

"Oh, I guess I'll just reroll a new char, then."

[Kryx]

Oh! Frankly, I'd just let it ride with LMoP, treating death extremely likely. If y'all are just "testing" the system, kicking the tires so to speak, you may as well play fast and loose with death and dying. Just approach it as a learning experience; that way, if you guys do end up enjoying 5e, you can have a way better idea of what kind of expectations you've got regarding the lethality of low level combat and how you want to handle it.

Both of the introductory adventures in 5e can be tough at low levels for a party of 4 or 5 PCs, and while giving them "psuedo death" is reasonable, I think the Starter Set offers advice on the subject specific to that adventure, while HotDQ's organized play rules put resurrections for low level characters in the guidelines (which you can find on WotC's website).
I know they can be tough - I've watched many videos.

However some of my players disagree with the death system and I don't want a lighter view on death to carry over to a potential real campaign.




"Oh, I guess I'll just reroll a new char, then."
This is what they're trying to avoid - I'd happily let them reroll. However -2 is harsh like mentioned above so I won't go with that.

[Nargrakhan]

Just a totally random idea that popped in my head, so it may be stupid in reality, but seemed cool when it popped in there. :smalltongue:

How about every time you as a GM have to "fudge" the roll to prevent a character from dying at early levels, you as the GM get to put a d20 in a bowl. Call it Karma Dice or whatever. The GM can use those "saved" dice for whenever a villain needs to "fudge" their own rolls. Maybe add that d20 result to whatever they got so they can stay alive, avoid a save or die spell, or whatever. To make it somewhat reasonable, a villain can only use one extra d20 per turn or something.

It's like all the good luck the players got in the beginning, can start to haunt them towards end game. If the players rather not let you have that slight advantage when the big bads become serious threats, they can willingly take the death blow and roll new characters. So basically, death isn't cheap... it's just the interest doesn't take effect right away.

[Valefor Rathan]

Just a totally random idea that popped in my head, so it may be stupid in reality, but seemed cool when it popped in there. :smalltongue:

How about every time you as a GM have to "fudge" the roll to prevent a character from dying at early levels, you as the GM get to put a d20 in a bowl. Call it Karma Dice or whatever. The GM can use those "saved" dice for whenever a villain needs to "fudge" their own rolls. Maybe add that d20 result to whatever they got so they can stay alive, avoid a save or die spell, or whatever. To make it somewhat reasonable, a villain can only use one extra d20 per turn or something.

It's like all the good luck the players got in the beginning, can start to haunt them towards end game. If the players rather not let you have that slight advantage when the big bads become serious threats, they can willingly take the death blow and roll new characters. So basically, death isn't cheap... it's just the interest doesn't take effect right away.

This is terrifyingly awesome.

A buddy of mine has an emoticon die he rolls when "the players fumble". Things go sideways real fast.

Your idea is much more my style.

[WickerNipple]

Just a totally random idea that popped in my head, so it may be stupid in reality, but seemed cool when it popped in there. :smalltongue:

I rather like it!

[Demonic Spoon]

Just a totally random idea that popped in my head, so it may be stupid in reality, but seemed cool when it popped in there. :smalltongue:

How about every time you as a GM have to "fudge" the roll to prevent a character from dying at early levels, you as the GM get to put a d20 in a bowl. Call it Karma Dice or whatever. The GM can use those "saved" dice for whenever a villain needs to "fudge" their own rolls. Maybe add that d20 result to whatever they got so they can stay alive, avoid a save or die spell, or whatever. To make it somewhat reasonable, a villain can only use one extra d20 per turn or something.

It's like all the good luck the players got in the beginning, can start to haunt them towards end game. If the players rather not let you have that slight advantage when the big bads become serious threats, they can willingly take the death blow and roll new characters. So basically, death isn't cheap... it's just the interest doesn't take effect right away.

This is awesome. I may take this. I have the problem that I prefer more 'deadly' games involving lots of risk (consequently, I play a lot of roguelike games), whereas some of my players get very much attached to their characters and don't ever want to lose them.

[Galen]

I'm not looking for a dues ex system that brings people back. Death should be real.
I'm looking for ways to soften the blow for early levels without ignoring the death.
If you let them reroll the exact same character, death is not real. With a swing of a sword, Twimble the halfling Rogue is transformed into Thrinkle the halfling Rogue. What's real about this? Why can't this be ignored? YMMV, but if I knew I could get exactly the same guy if I die, it would be very difficult for me to take the game seriously.


First death before lvl 3 would incur a -2 to all attacks until they hit 3. Seems very gamist, and, again, hard for me to take seriously.

I like the idea of the Karma Bowl though.

[Oneris]

On the other hand, if you know the 5 page character motivation and background you put a week's worry into will be invalidated within an hour's game time, you stop putting any thought into your PC as a character until your sure it won't die. Instead of building a characters as people, your just making a dozen sets of stats and tossing them at the GM to see who survives.

[silveralen]

Just a totally random idea that popped in my head, so it may be stupid in reality, but seemed cool when it popped in there. :smalltongue:

Ooh I like it. I may use that in my next campaign where I imagine at least one player won't take a hint that retreating is a good idea.

It reminds of a really loose rules game I played a couple years back (stay awake or something like that) that basically had the GM and players pass dice and tokens back and forth to trigger effects. It's an interesting sort of mechanic to have in play.

[Valefor Rathan]

On the other hand, if you know the 5 page character motivation and background you put a week's worry into will be invalidated within an hour's game time, you stop putting any thought into your PC as a character until your sure it won't die. Instead of building a characters as people, your just making a dozen sets of stats and tossing them at the GM to see who survives.

This was how the group of d6 SW I joined started. They'd play the same stat groups together and just kind of rotate through the line up until somebody lived as each "class".

I'm a big fan of "story trumps rules" so the Bowl'o Dice seems like the best way to go.

[Galen]

On the other hand, if you know the 5 page character motivation and background you put a week's worry into will be invalidated within an hour's game time, you stop putting any thought into your PC as a character until your sure it won't die. Instead of building a characters as people, your just making a dozen sets of stats and tossing them at the GM to see who survives.Well, that was overly dramatic. Just because you can't make the same character, in effect turning death into non-death, doesn't mean your character will be "invalidated within an hour's game time" ...

For the record, I'm firmly on the "death is supposed to be meaningful" side, and I don't kill characters much. So that's a false dichotomy.

[Demonic Spoon]

On the other hand, if you know the 5 page character motivation and background you put a week's worry into will be invalidated within an hour's game time, you stop putting any thought into your PC as a character until your sure it won't die. Instead of building a characters as people, your just making a dozen sets of stats and tossing them at the GM to see who survives.


Which is why no one advocated hyper-deadly games where characters are expected to die in 1-2 sessions, but instead advocated the much more moderate position that characters, given the right circumstances, could die once in awhile.

[MaxWilson]

Which is why no one advocated hyper-deadly games where characters are expected to die in 1-2 sessions, but instead advocated the much more moderate position that characters, given the right circumstances, could die once in awhile.

I think hyper-deadly, Gygaxian games sound like fun. Especially for 1st level characters. A true Gygaxian game would be arbitrarily deadly to 20th level characters as well (Sphere of Annihilation traps, etc.) and that would not be so much fun, but first level characters are so fragile that "run away or die" should happen quite a lot, IMHO.

[INDYSTAR188]

I think your best course of action is probably to express your feelings upfront. Tell the players something to the effect of, "5E is deadly at lower levels and there is a decent chance that at least one of you will have to roll a new character. I'm not outright trying to kill you but its possible."

I think if it makes sense for an enemy to capture players rather than kill them than that's the best course of action. There's a lot of support for vanquished enemies turned into slaves or thralls. That gives you a chance to extend the story in an interesting way that makes sense. Of course if they're fighting an ooze it wouldn't be realistic but if they're fighting Orcs or barbarians...

[Thrudd]

I'd like to establish a social contract with my players about how death is handled. Death in 5e is more common at early levels than in previous editions and that has my players worried.

Do you let players reroll the exact same character if it dies before it gets to "fully experience the concept"?

The social contract in my eyes has always been that death should be real (as defined by the game terms - easier to avoid at high level). If players simply make the exact same character then they're basically ignoring the death that happened. However their argument of "but I never got to really play it" is also valid.

How do you handle low level death and rerolling?

Make sure the players know that character death is a real possibility, and encourage them not to spend a long time making their 1st level character or thinking about future builds and concepts. They need to understand that this is not the same game as 3.5, where apparently they are accustomed to being able to reliably plan out a character's life from lvl 1-20.

I would use random ability scores, so even if they want the same character class as their last, the new one won't be exactly the same. Other than that, let them do whatever type of character they want. If the first ranger died and they roll up another, let them explain where the new ranger came from. A childhood friend of the first guy, a brother, whatever. Yes, it gets silly if one player has a string of nearly identical characters, but really they shouldn't be dying all that often, even at low levels. That is, if they play smart and don't assume they have plot armor, they should not experience too much death.

[McBars]

On the other hand, if you know the 5 page character motivation and background you put a week's worry into will be invalidated within an hour's game time, you stop putting any thought into your PC as a character until your sure it won't die. Instead of building a characters as people, your just making a dozen sets of stats and tossing them at the GM to see who survives.

Or perhaps spend less time cooking up motivation and background before the campaign begins, and allow your character's personality to develop organically over the course of many sessions. Less work and worry for the players, and less to get so attached to in the event of death.

You don't need to have a five page background and hours of pre-campaign work to make a character with flavor, depth, and an interesting personality.

[cobaltstarfire]

My current DM decided that each player (not character) gets a finite number of "fate points" (I think only 1-2) That way we have at least a little bit of control of our characters stories.

I typically make a backup character that is somehow or another related to my first, that way if my character dies I have something new and different, which can also pick up the threads of the original character.

[Galen]

In other news, this is 5th edition, not 3.5. Inspiration is a thing. Roleplay well, you'll get Inspiration. A critical hit is scored against you? Use Inpiration to turn it into a regular hit. Not RAW, of course, but a practical solution that I think most DMs wouldn't object to.

[MaxWilson]

I would use random ability scores, so even if they want the same character class as their last, the new one won't be exactly the same. Other than that, let them do whatever type of character they want. If the first ranger died and they roll up another, let them explain where the new ranger came from. A childhood friend of the first guy, a brother, whatever. Yes, it gets silly if one player has a string of nearly identical characters, but really they shouldn't be dying all that often, even at low levels. That is, if they play smart and don't assume they have plot armor, they should not experience too much death.

Another factor to consider, if you use random ability scores and frown on character repeats, a player may choose to "save" a good character idea for a later PC with better stat rolls. Personally I dislike character repeats on aesthetic grounds, but it does have its up side in terms of disincentivizing character concept hoarding.

[Baptor]

I agree with those here who've said that ultimately you just need to decide what you want as far as death and dying and sit down with the players and make sure they understand and have reasonable expectations.

That said, in my games, I try to make death less trivial. For me its all about the story, rather than the simulation. My villains will knock out players more than kill them and usually the penalty at low levels for "dying" is that the bad guys drag you off, take all your stuff and throw you naked in a pit. Then we have fun with a story about how they are going to get out of the pit, steal a sword or something and escape.

Of course, at higher levels there are powers that outright kill or destroy, but by this time there are spells to bring them back from the dead.

Very rarely I will let death take its course. Usually its reserved for one of two extremes. One, the player is acting foolish and reckless and even after being warned charges into the Illithid stronghold without fear of death. That guy is dead meat. Two, the player is a great role player and the death fits the story and the player is OK with a dramatic death scene.

But that's me, you may prefer gritty realism and of course you wouldn't want to adopt my ideas in such a case.

As far as rolling stats are concerned, I've never liked it. Mainly because of what was mentioned earlier. If a player rolled a bad character, they'd usually just mess around until they died and then re-rolled. Rolling stats is exciting for some people but for me and my group we felt it just arbitrarily punished players for no reason.

[Sartharina]

I haven't read through this... but from what I've heard in earlier editions, the proper procedure is:
1. Erase the name on the character sheet.
2. Write in a new name - it may be similar to the previous one. (So "Luke Skywalker" becomes "Duke Barhopper")
3. Asign any 'undiscovered' plot hooks to the new character, and retroactively decide the previous character was only what you actually played/voiced.

[Selkirk]

low level pc deaths are problematic. to have an interesting campaign you want player investment in their chars (and if a character is liked the party will often miss them more than the player playing that char :D). and this edition encourages well thought out pc's with interesting backstories and perhaps even narrative ties/relationships to the campaign-it's tough to stomach then that this char is dead from goblin arrows :smallfurious:.

further, rerolling another character isn't that great of an option-chances are the original character filled a role in the party. if the magic user dies ...then guess what the party doesn't need another fighter they basically need a clone of the char that died ^^;. in a sense a tpk is better than a 4 person party losing one of their mainstays...that way at least everyone could start fresh and build a party that was balanced.

options...when starting your campaign have the character make 2-3 characters (but the problem of roles is still present...do we really need 2 bards? :D). upside to this is that it is likely that each player has 2 good ideas/classes they want to play...and if everyone survives you have a ready made low level party for another campaign.

now how has it played out in my campaign? we are all level 4 and everyone has been knocked out (brought to 0hp) numerous times but the party worked together and saved them. so no one has died yet :smallcool:. having a char at 0 hp rolling death saves is a very tense moment (you can really feel the relief when you stabilize/heal them). i like the deadly nature of the game it really introduces welcome tension and makes combats feel deadly. it also encourages our group members to all show up :smallbiggrin:-worst thing that could happen is they miss a session and their char gets killed :smalleek:...:D.

[INDYSTAR188]

In other news, this is 5th edition, not 3.5. Inspiration is a thing. Roleplay well, you'll get Inspiration. A critical hit is scored against you? Use Inpiration to turn it into a regular hit. Not RAW, of course, but a practical solution that I think most DMs wouldn't object to.

I could definitely get behind this. It's a good use of an established mechanic.

[Ghost Nappa]

Well we're playing LMoP as a "test the waters" campaign for 5e. We're mainly 3.5/PF players.

Perhaps what would be best is to allow 1 pseudo death before level 3. Psuedo death = wakes up after a long rest with no penalties besides a big scar.

The time penalty for LMoP should be enough.


Have the the first character's "death" trigger a chain of events where the group is treated back to health from near death but racks up a tremendously large amount of debt to a LN or LE contract-making sleazy doctor. Then make them repay the debt via protecting the the sleaxy doctor guy with some sort of magical protection (the party can't try to kill the doctor to remove the debt, etc.).

[AugustNights]

I like to let my players know that Character Death is a very real possibility in my campaigns, but it is never necessarily the end of a character.
When a player wants to change characters at death, I let them, otherwise I find a way to make their death and over-coming of it a part of the story.
When a character gets brought back I use a number of devices.
A mad gnomen alchemist that can resurrect them with a few spare parts (granting half-golemish benefits and drawbacks).
A Demon banished to the Abyss that can grant life to the mortal, in exchange for their ability to possess them at will (not always explicitly mentioned).
A Deity that grants life to the mortal with a powerful gaes placed upon them to do a very specific task
The soul remains on the material plane as a weakened ghost.
A weary druid animates the corpse as a badger.
The character gets placed in a soul-gem and becomes an animated sword.
And on and on and on...

[Greylind]

My rule for the current 5th edition campaign is that new characters come in at the lowest level for the party tier, whether it's a new player or a replacement character. The effect has been that the players use a lot more strategy and tactics to keep their characters alive, and they put effort into shielding the new player as he catches up.

[Alcino]

You're playing LMoP?

Easy solution: just start your players at level 2 outright! They'll survive the deadly first encounters way easier, they'll be "experiencing their character concpet" earlier and there will be negligible difference in the long term.

[JAL_1138]

I haven't read through this... but from what I've heard in earlier editions, the proper procedure is:
1. Erase the name on the character sheet.
2. Write in a new name - it may be similar to the previous one. (So "Luke Skywalker" becomes "Duke Barhopper")
3. Asign any 'undiscovered' plot hooks to the new character, and retroactively decide the previous character was only what you actually played/voiced.

Back in my day, a level one wizard had d4 hit points, one spell, no free cantrips ("Cantrip" was a level one spell), terrible THAC0, died at 0HP instantly, and could get killed in one round by the average housecat, barnyard goat, or a sufficient number of squirrels, and we liked it!

EDIT: I support the idea of starting at lvl. 2 if your players are skittish of being killed early. They aren't even likely to get overleveled for the end of LMoP; first level in 5e is basically for introductory purposes anyway and passes in a few encounters. The extra HD will give them some insurance that should be enough to get them through the early fights but still be in some real danger.

[Nargrakhan]

Back in my day, a level one wizard had d4 hit points, one spell, no free cantrips ("Cantrip" was a level one spell), terrible THAC0, died at 0HP instantly, and could get killed in one round by the average housecat, barnyard goat, or a sufficient number of squirrels, and we liked it!

LOL! That comment got me remembering the original Dark Sun, where PC's started at 3rd level because anything lower leveled was a death sentence. Or the whole point of Ravenloft, was praying The Mists took you back to your original world, cause staying there was like having a KILL ME NOW sign stuck to your back.

Good times... good times...

[MaxWilson]

LOL! That comment got me remembering the original Dark Sun, where PC's started at 3rd level because anything lower leveled was a death sentence.

Dark Sun had another interesting mechanism called the "character tree," where each player had a stable of three or four PCs at any given time, and would choose one per adventure. If your PC died on an adventure, the DM could arrange to have another PC from your character tree show up. Additionally, any time your PC levelled up due to XP, another character in your character tree of lower level could gain a level simultaneously. It was a way of cushioning players from loss in a deadly environment. I never got a chance to use this mechanism but it sure was interesting on paper. I'd like to revive it for 5E.

[Hytheter]

Dark Sun had another interesting mechanism called the "character tree," where each player had a stable of three or four PCs at any given time, and would choose one per adventure. If your PC died on an adventure, the DM could arrange to have another PC from your character tree show up. Additionally, any time your PC levelled up due to XP, another character in your character tree of lower level could gain a level simultaneously. It was a way of cushioning players from loss in a deadly environment. I never got a chance to use this mechanism but it sure was interesting on paper. I'd like to revive it for 5E.

This reminds me of an "character" concept idea I had once.
Basically, the idea was to play not a single character, but a succession of highly disposable mercenaries. The party or their benefactor would have a paid contract with a mercenary company. They'd send one of their guys to fight for you. And if he dies, they send a similarly powerful replacement.
Obviously this isn't intended for a serious game.
I also kind of envisioned it as a way to play a variety of different fighting styles; I originally came up with the idea when theorising Fighter builds for PF/3.5. I was kinda thinking how there are lot of ways to do one thing really well, but it's a shame there's no way to use more than one. But if you were to die, and another Fighter come to take your place...