How can I handle Player Character loss?

[CrackedChair]

Hi. I erm, got done creating bases for PC's for now, but I was thinking about how in-depth I have made the character, and how this would really bite if the PC I am using just get's offed.

I got plenty more characters to use, but if I really do a good job roleplaying this character, it will be a serious blow to others playing with me, myself included if they die. Well, considering nobody has a Resurrection spell. But what if they can't raise me back?

How can I handle the loss? Is it really simple, or is it a bit more than that?

[Theodoxus]

Kinda depends - if it's a pretty basic dungeon romp, then losing a character or two is kinda expected. There's not a lot of plot development and backstory to worry about when bringing in a new character.

However, if it's a plot heavy intrigue piece and your character knows a lot of sensitive information and has a close ties to the rest of the party, then bringing in a new character can be quite jarring - either the party simply accepts you as a 'reincarnation' of your old character, or they distrust the new you and party cohesion plummets...

So, what are you expecting from the game, in terms of plot?

[CrackedChair]

Well, I have not actually heard of a new game yet, or had any plans on joining in on one that will start soon. I made character sheets and fleshed out how I will play them out. For example, I have a fighter who uses archery who is kinda an airhead and very oblivious, a murderous fighter who specializes in mounted combat, and a Paladin who firmly believes in acts of heroism and justice.

So yeah, you can imagine it to be a big blow if they die if I flesh them out properly, tragic backstory for my murderous fighter even.

Dead raising spells in DND are common, and I know any local temple or town has some priest or cleric that can help out, but even then, if the whole party gets destroyed soon after she bites it, it will feel bad.

I look for roleplaying in games as well as good gameplay. I play out how I built my character story wise, and even if it might be a bad idea to drop a crucial stat or skill, if it helps me roleplay the character, I drop or take it. So I do like a lot of plot.

[Vaz]

Speak to your DM. Say you enjoy this character, and although you understand that character death is a possibility, that also per RAW, it's just a resource that costs 1250gp through raise dead (according to AL).

That way, you give the DM another plot point to work with also.

Alternatively, you can be the same characters identical twin. A DM shouldn't get in the way of you enjoying the game.

I mean, Matt Mercer has a special way of making his character RP the return to life even under Raise Dead/Revivify, but we've yet to actually see what happens when that character falls.

I give players the opportunity OOC (and secretly) if they wish to roll up a new character, or stick with the same one if there's no possibility of getting the character Phoenix Downed instantly.possibility. If they want to stay dead, then I let the rest of the party make an action. Either they attempt to revive; if the player wants to stay dead, they stay dead, the soul is unwilling, or wakes up and leaves the party, true death having shaken them or whatever. I work out the kinks with the dead player.

If the player wants to be revived, but the party doesn't, I let the party try to work it out (and encourage dead player to not tell the party - this way the party RP's the events as they want - i've had some parties even leave the dead behind, and then this allows me to give the individual a 'miracle' heal -passing Samaritan, or if the party was unable to beat the monster then maybe the monster had some ability to do so. I get to run some one and ones with the party member, because that gives some new dynamics.

I've actually done that with my TN Warlock who was more than willing to simply let the dead be dead, and later raise him as a Ghoul, while some of the rest would want him to be revived, but mr Lock was more pragmatic and would rather complete the mission.

It led to a 'Goldeneye' vibe between Bond and Trevalyan when he found out - 'always one to complete the mission'. However we had been playing for a few months together by this stage and known each other for years, maybe a **** thing to do to a random party.

[Dman]

I think Al is more lenient when it comes to character death, but for non Al games ive had and seen characters die be captured or just leave. in the case of being captured new characters where rolled and then eventually the old ones were rescued so players where playing 2 characters at once.

[CaptainSarathai]

Understand that character death is not all that common in D&D, even with harsher DMs. You have to fail your Death Saves, without first being stabilized by a party member or just passing enough to self-stabilize.
Once you have died, there are ways to be stood back up. There are revive abilities, and there are also chances to perhaps be revived at cost by a church. Some DMs (myself included) sometimes use this as a way to pop you a level of Warlock, offering you a deal with the devil (or archfey, outsider, nebulous light, etc) in exchange for your return to the living.

If you do go down and stay cold, then that's it. There's nothing you can do. If a DM rules that you have to stay on the floor, then the worst thing that you can do is whine or argue about it. This is worse that outright quitting the campaign, although that's obviously a pretty gutless thing to do as well.
Really, your only option is to accept it and move on. Start a fresh character. Usually, I don't pre-write my next character. If my primary dies, I make my next one fit into the campaign. If it floats with the DM, I will sometimes make them related to my previous character in some way - a family member, a friend, a business associate; whatever. It helps the party have a reason to accept them, and the new character's shared backstory might give them a reason to know things that my previous character was aware of.

[RazorChain]

Cry in your pillow. Gather your strength. Get back to the drawing board. Make a ubermunchkin character that wrecks all opposition.

Next time the pain will be a little less and after dozens of characters have died a single tear will run down your stony face.

After decades of playing my fellow players cry for me cause I have no more tears to shed

[Findulidas]

With few exceptions I never really mourned my characters that much. Building new ones is really fun.

[JAL_1138]

I'm only bothered if I feel like the death is unfair. DM getting a rule wrong, left out a crucial detail, DM power tripping, party got me killed by malice or incompetence, etc., etc., so on and so forth.

If it's fair (and even instant kills with no warning and no saving throw can be perfectly fair), I shrug and roll up a new one. Or laugh, if it was funny, like quite a few have been. I've not lost many in 5e; I went through stacks of character sheets in 2e though.

My most recent character death was the result of a situation that went about like this:

Thief: *finds a mysterious book* Huh, I can't read it.
Knowledge Cleric (me): Oh, hey, I speak that language, I'll translate. *opens book*
Knowledge Cleric (me): Let's see... my Draconic is a bit rusty... it says "Ex...plo...sive...Runes"... OH SHI—*BOOM*

Aaand I got instagibbed. I got a good laugh out of that one—it's such a classic way to die in D&D. :smalltongue: And no, I'm not being sarcastic; it's genuinely amusing to me.

[CrackedChair]

I really appreciate all this advice. Thanks everyone!

[jaappleton]

There's really two kinds of character loss:

Losing a character you enjoyed playing
Losing a character you didn't enjoy playing

I always enjoy D&D. But I've played characters I haven't enjoyed.

When you lose a character you enjoy, there's two ways to look at it:

1. How do I get this character back? Their story isn't done, and I want to finish their story!

2. Their story was cut short, but there's a new story to tell now. Let me tell that one. This is the story of...

[Honest Tiefling]

Kinda depends - if it's a pretty basic dungeon romp, then losing a character or two is kinda expected. There's not a lot of plot development and backstory to worry about when bringing in a new character.

However, if it's a plot heavy intrigue piece and your character knows a lot of sensitive information and has a close ties to the rest of the party, then bringing in a new character can be quite jarring - either the party simply accepts you as a 'reincarnation' of your old character, or they distrust the new you and party cohesion plummets...

So, what are you expecting from the game, in terms of plot?

I have to quote this, because I agree with this. I admit, I often avoid character death for precisely the reasons here. After all, a good DM can find a lot of ways to mess with a player character in a plot heavy campaign that don't involve the death of the character so the danger is still there.