Player Help

[Archangel Yuki]

Last night, during our D20 Modern game, one of my Pc's got killed. First one that entire campain, and considering we started at level 2 and are now level 9,thats quite a bit of surviving. I told him that he can't make the same character, as I dont want to just seem like he gets ressurected.

The problem I am having is that this guy has never had a characted perma die before. It's always been one of those "oh, good thing we have a cleric in the group" kinda deaths. He left quite angry yesterday, and from the way he is acting, I am afraid he might leave our group....

He is one of my better friends, so I really dont want this to happen. However, I dont want it to seem like the player ALWAYS get their way. =/

What should I do?

[Crow]

Get together with the group and when he rolls up a character, have the team reluctant to accept him. "You'd never stand up to ol' Chuck."

"Chuck would want you to prove yourself first."

Sure, Chuck's dead. But he left a lasting impression upon those close to him. Sometimes this can help a person get over their loved character's death. Once you just get the guy playing a new character the situation will resolve itself. He wants to play, and he'll get over his last character.

One our D20 Modern players had to get an arm amputated due to mummy rot. Boy was he bummed.

[Xefas]

Well, the *way* he died could have something to do with being angry. It might not even be the "rolling up a new character" bit.

I know I might be a little annoyed at the anticlimax of the party rushing into to some super ultimate battle, and then happening to roll a 1 on my save against the BBEG's save or die spell on the first round.

Death should have some sort of meaning or importance, in my opinion.

What exactly happened?

[VerdugoExplode]

Remind him that modern is significantly more deadly than D&D and that you aren't playing shadowrun where its possible to simply from a casually tossed piece of metal. Well, thats a bit of an exaggeration, shadowrun is a lot more fatality prone than modern when it comes to straight up fights though.

[Crow]

Remind him that modern is significantly more deadly than D&D and that you aren't playing shadowrun where its possible to simply from a casually tossed piece of metal. Well, thats a bit of an exaggeration, shadowrun is a lot more fatality prone than modern when it comes to straight up fights though.

One lucky shot and it's done! I love SR (3ed).

[Desaril]

Character death is always a tricky issue. Players get to like their characters and are loathe to lose them. Of course, if death doesn't include some loss, the game loses a sense of drama. Take it as a compliment that your player feels a sense of loss at losing his character.

I think there is an initial question you need to answer to develop your strategy. Is he upset about losing the character (storyline and personality) or the character sheet (stats, feats, skills, abilities, etc).

If he's upset about the character, then Crow's suggestion is a great. His character will contiue to "live" in the game. People will do things in his honor or the way he would do them. Depending on the setting his new PC could be a continuation of that original character (the spirit of the deceased possesses a new body; a future self that returns; a sibling/former partner with similar motivation/personality). This enables the player to continue the same story he was telling through his playing. If this is his primary motivation, then new stats and some story changes may not be important.

If he misses his character sheet, then it's harder since you don't want him to use the same stats. He may have been trying to develop a specific set of powers and now after 7 levels, he can't get it. So then the question is: Can he have a character with the same stats, but a different story/personality? Surely, that one PC was not the only person in the world with those abilities. Of course, if you use the same sheet with a new name, it's like he never died, because this sort of player may not care about story at all. At the same time, he may relish the opportunity to try a new build!

Conclusion: Permanent character death should happen, but find a way to give the player a chance to recreate their favorite elements of their character idea. I know I spend a lot of time/effort making a character and hate to see all that go to waste.

[VerdugoExplode]

Also, be wary if he comes back with a very familiar looking character sheet with a few eraser marks in the name section.

In all seriousness you need to explain that sometimes bad things happen, there's not much else to it and in modern there isn't much you can do about it. Start talking to him about other concepts he may want to try out, brainstorm other ideas until something piques his interest. With any luck he'll feel the desire to flesh it out and make a new, and I wish to put emphasis to avoid the aforementioned issue, reasonably different character. Also, how did he die? Was it in some epic gunfight full of explosions, bullets, screaming and death or was it something more anticlimactic. I know I would be irritated if my character, after having gunned down the yakuza boss accidentally choked to death on a hamburger.

[TheSteelRat]

Similar stats make sense, with a new name / personality. If your party was running good with Gun-guy / Mechanic-boy / Computer-girl, they're going to look for another one to replace them after their teammate bites the dust. Perma-death sucks, but it can lead to a lot more flavor.

[Archangel Yuki]

Well, the *way* he died could have something to do with being angry. It might not even be the "rolling up a new character" bit.

I know I might be a little annoyed at the anticlimax of the party rushing into to some super ultimate battle, and then happening to roll a 1 on my save against the BBEG's save or die spell on the first round.

Death should have some sort of meaning or importance, in my opinion.

What exactly happened?

No magic world.
The guy that died was the sniper (fast7/gunslinger1) of our group. My two other players (A fast8 and a tough5/strong1/soldier1) were moving up two parrallel building, and the sniper dedcided to move farther ahead of them. They knew there was an enemy behind one of the buildings. He moved too far and moved into clear view of the BBEG, who had prepared an action his last turn to guy the first person moving around the corner.
My BBEG was strong3/soldier5, and managed to get off a lucky shot, dealing 16pts of damage. this easily exceeded the snipers Con. The sniper then failed his fort save Vs. Massive dmg.
My friends have been telling me that he made a stupid move, and that that is what happens when you make a stupid move. I dont feel so guilty about his death anymore.
Thanks peoples :)

[shadow_archmagi]

Personally, I think I wouldn't want to make a similar char. I mean, being the party sniper might be fun and all, but its nice to be able to charge in and chaingun the crap out of everything.

See if you can interest him in the polar opposite of his character.. reverse alignment, totally strange stats, etc.