Questions tagged [character-death]
For questions about issues related to the in-game death, or threat/fear of death, of a player's character in an RPG.
315
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Memory After Death
A recent campaign started with the death of the party and reincarnation of the party with the premise of "we brought you back to find those who killed you". One player was concerned that these people ...
105
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answers
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How do I not cheapen death, while also respecting my players' time?
I DM for a group of very busy people, for whom the commitment of several hours a week is a real sacrifice: that’s a sizeable chunk of their free time for the week that I’m asking for.
Now,...
11
votes
1
answer
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Can you start your turn when you're dead?
In my epic game, I am playing a level 30 Keeper of the everflow.
Keepers have a level 24 feature:
Life Overflow (24th level): Once per day when you start your turn at 0 hit points or fewer, you ...
7
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1
answer
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Death odds in Deathwatch
We have played 3 games of Deathwatch now and are getting the hang of it. But my players seem to get hurt a lot.
An example of this is a PC that has 21 wounds received 18 wounds from one enemy ...
109
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18
answers
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How can I make my PCs flee?
My players never run away or avoid conflict. Ever. I throw them ridiculous encounters, they will stay and fight. If I tell them, "You know you're not gonna make it, just run," they stay and fight and ...
18
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How do I help my players figure out how to stay alive in a realistically-deadly sandbox campaign?
Related:
What to do when a player character does something that seems suicidal?
and
How can DMs effectively telegraph specific dangers in D&D?
I like playing sandbox-style RPGs (whether ...
61
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11
answers
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What to do when a player character does something that seems suicidal?
Every now and then a player character does something extremely risky because "it would be fun." What are some good ways to handle this as a GM, for the different styles of play? I like ...
53
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8
answers
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How can I quickly get a player back into a session after their character dies? [closed]
As a GM, what kind of techniques could I use to help a player re-join the gaming session after their character dies? I want to avoid any major interruptions to the flow of the adventure. I would also ...
21
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4
answers
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What happens to you after you die?
I'm playing an assassin-ish rogue in a 3.5 with Nerull (the god of death) as his deity and decided to build his essential character around the internal struggle of justifying his chosen profession to ...
15
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4
answers
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How do you handle an early death in Dread?
Starting prep for a game of Dread. I am wondering what is the best way to handle an early exit for a character in the game? I understand the ghost or doomed method of allowing the player to continue ...
28
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6
answers
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A PC dies every session - bad tactics or the normal outcome of adventuring?
In the campaign I'm currently playing in we have had a lot of character deaths occurring recently, almost (if not every) session. The party are 13th–14th level and are taking on significant opponents....
59
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Techniques for allowing character defeat without character death
Character death can be extremely disruptive to an ongoing RPG, particularly in a game where character agendas are the driving force behind the plot. However, for a good story with a sense of conflict ...
5
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3
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How should treasure parcels be adjusted to account for permanent character death in Dungeons and Dragons 4e?
In a D&D game I play, the party has had a 200% character turnover rate due to character death at low levels. Spawning at higher levels provides the incoming players with gear appropriate to their ...
25
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What about character death should be included in a social contract?
For a D&D (4e, primarily) game what about player-character death should be included in a group's social contract? What are some options for best reaching consensus about the possibility of death ...
165
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How can DMs effectively telegraph specific dangers in D&D?
There are some play-styles of D&D in which the spectre of player-character death is considered a feature of the game rather than a bug. For my own reasons (which aren't the point of the question), ...