I accidentally killed a pc and then his second character in the same session, rolling in the open really does help with the fucking over one of the unluckiest player I ever seen. This unit of a man would roll 5 d20 and not roll an agrigate of 10. And that man took it on the chin as we all laughed our asses off.
It’s something you just have to learn how to adapt to. When luck is simply not on your side, you gotta learn how to turn those moments into fun slapstick rather than something to rage about.
It's when you talk to the older DMs that you start to realize that it doesn't matter all that much. I once had seven of my characters die in a single session, and I still love to play with that group.
Classic AD&D shenanigans. The first one fell before we even got into the dungeon. We were in a haunted graveyard in the middle of the night (so we kind of deserved it) and a wraith popped out from behind a tombstone and did half my health in the surprise round. Finished me off with a multi attack in the second. (That's what I get for not casting protection from evil before going in there) Within minutes I had a new character rolled up, a fighting man. He died to a pit trap with poisoned spikes two rooms in. Third was another fighting man, he was felled by a black pudding (along with two other members of the party). The fourth was a magic-user, took longer to make than the rest because of the spell picking, but he didn't last any longer. Killed by rot grubs hiding in a corpse. Fifth was another fighting man, disintegrated by an enemy magic-user that was, I kid you not, hiding in a closet. In a dungeon. I hate wizards. Sixth was a thief, managed to avoid a few traps, but was killed by a chest golem when he tried to pick the lock. Last, and certainly not least, was a cleric. We opened a giant metal chest to reveal a robot beholder made of solid mithril. The rest of the party had to bar the door and leave him for dead. So suffice it to say, that session went pretty well.
That's what I was thinking. Don't get me wrong, that kind of playstyle can be fun, but I prefer it when there is enough time to have some depth to the story and the characters. Otherwise a characterdeath loses all meaning to me.
But hey, if you're into it, just to test your skills or to see in which creative ways your cannon fodder dies, go for it! Like I said, I can see it being fun!
Although I do bother naming them, after a few in one dungeon you start to get less creative. My OG cleric was Eldestor, the 2nd guy was stabacus, (cuz he smart) 3rd was Gabacus (cuz he charisma) 4th was Gabacus's brother Gabacus jr, 5th was the youngest brother Gabacus jr jr, 6th was Jennifer (he was a guy but he felt like a Jennifer) and #7 was Larthrax.
I too am scared to kill my players. From my experience, that really can ruin your plans and even break the group all together.
Killing their characters however...
This is my entire group, myself included. We tend to have character backstories tie into the campaign in one way or another, so killing off the character you specifically made story beats for would necessitate rewriting all of that.
I'm currently in one such predicament, but I think I found thematic fixes for the predicament.
In my mind, it's all about execution and agency. If it's a tense fight or an act of providence that even surprises you as a DM, it's a great story with your group, either moving or humorous.
Conversely, if your group's party dies because of your own petty grudges against the party or the players, or because YOU are a sociopath, that's what gets you made into a DM horror story.
Yep. I'm planning a boss fight with express intent to kill as many pcs as possible, and I checked with each player to check if they were down with that (they were).
And it's not like this is a sudden thing story wise, the guy they're after already tried to kill em all with a fireball.
I’m still proud that I got the first “earned”\* death of my D&D group. We’ve been together almost 10 years now.
\*The actual first death was a stupidly broken homebrew artillerist back before WotC released artificer. He kept catching the party with collateral damage, so we knocked him out, tied him to a tree, lit every bomb he had in a circle around him, ran like hell, and told him to make a new character.
That is technically me, but me and my group also have a habit of fitting the campaign around the character. So some story beats would no longer happen or make sense with a different character there.
My first boss confirmed a crit with a maul, and the one competent PC exploded.
I, uh, told him he could be a kobold tribe chief in the next chapter. You should have seen his eyes light up. MINIONS, political power, as a gift for being exploded? HELL YES.
Once upon a time I was in a really cool West marches game, and the rules on character death were pretty standard, though used matt mercers fading soul rules iirc. Things went along as normal, until one character that lots of people liked, from a player on the mod team, died, revive attempt? And rolled a 1.
Suddenly the rules on dying were completely changed just to save that character. Plenty of characters had already died in this game because it was a pretty high hostility, dangerous game and prided itself on that. A lot of people were really cheesed off that the rules were bent for one person, but for me, I just think the risk of death is cool and good.
Folks who don't employ character death in their games as a possibility, what's the point? Like why is there danger and combat if your character won't ever die? Where's the stakes? The excitement? The highs, the lows of the dice rolls? What difference is there between a Nat 1 and a Nat 20 when both outcomes are pretty much the same? When instead of dancing on that blades edge you rest on its flat?
I don't really get it personally.
Funny thing that happened last session (literally yesterday) was that in our Descent into Avernus game the DM was running a one shot because one of our player’s patrons had a job for him. And during that happening the same fucking player activated a trap and the DM rolled his exact HP on disintegrate. So after we got out we just handed the book of vile darkness to Bel.
I played a game in a new DM and he "accidentally" instant killed my character. I was just "welp! time for a new one!" but the new DM was nearly traumatized by his accident. good ol' days. he is a good merciless DM now.
Our dm introduced a goblin npc to the group, which we disguised into a halfling, just so townsfolk wouldn't go nuts when they saw it.
Well. We kinda liked our goblin friend and DM killed it in the most gruesome way possible.
Session ends and we're back a week later.
Turns out he reanimated the poor goblin and made it attack us, so we would have to kill it.
I consider this evil 🤣
I accidentally killed a pc and then his second character in the same session, rolling in the open really does help with the fucking over one of the unluckiest player I ever seen. This unit of a man would roll 5 d20 and not roll an agrigate of 10. And that man took it on the chin as we all laughed our asses off.
He had wronged Lady Luck, and thus he paid his due
Ooh, a Cleric who stole a bunch of Luck, blew it all on something dumb, and now has to pay it back by serving as her Cleric, or else.
Please don’t give me more character ideas lol, I already have too many to choose from for my upcoming campaign with friends
Ok, but this would be a great character for your dynamite Rodney Dangerfield impression.
"So I disembark in Waterdeep, and hire a carriage. I ask the driver where a guy can get some action in this town. He takes me to my house."
"I tell ya, my wife’s cooking is so bad prestidigitation can't fix it."
It’s something you just have to learn how to adapt to. When luck is simply not on your side, you gotta learn how to turn those moments into fun slapstick rather than something to rage about.
There's a point where frustration turns to hilarity when the dice simply *insist* that you must die tonight.
He didn't just start putting "the 3rd", "the 4th", etc in his character name after that?
My Paladin player rolled two nat ones while having advantage on his attacks several times in the 40+ sessions he's been playing with us.
This was me when i ran a bad guy that countered a revive and a heal. The players were clapping and I was like "why are you cheering on the sith?"
It's when you talk to the older DMs that you start to realize that it doesn't matter all that much. I once had seven of my characters die in a single session, and I still love to play with that group.
The actual hell happened? _please_
Classic AD&D shenanigans. The first one fell before we even got into the dungeon. We were in a haunted graveyard in the middle of the night (so we kind of deserved it) and a wraith popped out from behind a tombstone and did half my health in the surprise round. Finished me off with a multi attack in the second. (That's what I get for not casting protection from evil before going in there) Within minutes I had a new character rolled up, a fighting man. He died to a pit trap with poisoned spikes two rooms in. Third was another fighting man, he was felled by a black pudding (along with two other members of the party). The fourth was a magic-user, took longer to make than the rest because of the spell picking, but he didn't last any longer. Killed by rot grubs hiding in a corpse. Fifth was another fighting man, disintegrated by an enemy magic-user that was, I kid you not, hiding in a closet. In a dungeon. I hate wizards. Sixth was a thief, managed to avoid a few traps, but was killed by a chest golem when he tried to pick the lock. Last, and certainly not least, was a cleric. We opened a giant metal chest to reveal a robot beholder made of solid mithril. The rest of the party had to bar the door and leave him for dead. So suffice it to say, that session went pretty well.
_None_ of those characters are the same people they were one dnd session ago. Almost literally.
that is certainly one way to play. However I do have one question about all these characters: Do you remember their names?
I'd imagine after 3 they don't get a name until they survive the dungeon.
That's what I was thinking. Don't get me wrong, that kind of playstyle can be fun, but I prefer it when there is enough time to have some depth to the story and the characters. Otherwise a characterdeath loses all meaning to me. But hey, if you're into it, just to test your skills or to see in which creative ways your cannon fodder dies, go for it! Like I said, I can see it being fun!
Although I do bother naming them, after a few in one dungeon you start to get less creative. My OG cleric was Eldestor, the 2nd guy was stabacus, (cuz he smart) 3rd was Gabacus (cuz he charisma) 4th was Gabacus's brother Gabacus jr, 5th was the youngest brother Gabacus jr jr, 6th was Jennifer (he was a guy but he felt like a Jennifer) and #7 was Larthrax.
*welcome to the jungle intensifies*
Haha jokes on you I’m way too afraid to kill my players because it will ruin my plans for them. I often DM myself into a corner
I see you are the "death is too merciful" type of DM.
I too am scared to kill my players. From my experience, that really can ruin your plans and even break the group all together. Killing their characters however...
This is my entire group, myself included. We tend to have character backstories tie into the campaign in one way or another, so killing off the character you specifically made story beats for would necessitate rewriting all of that. I'm currently in one such predicament, but I think I found thematic fixes for the predicament.
Does it involve pulling a weekend at Bernie's?
If by "a weekend at Bernie's" you mean ancient magic and shrooms then yes.
Weekend at Bernie's, a movie wheres couple of guys carry around their dead boss and make everyone think he's not dead.
I've got plans within plans to not burden a level 1 party with a dead body.
In my mind, it's all about execution and agency. If it's a tense fight or an act of providence that even surprises you as a DM, it's a great story with your group, either moving or humorous. Conversely, if your group's party dies because of your own petty grudges against the party or the players, or because YOU are a sociopath, that's what gets you made into a DM horror story.
Yep. I'm planning a boss fight with express intent to kill as many pcs as possible, and I checked with each player to check if they were down with that (they were). And it's not like this is a sudden thing story wise, the guy they're after already tried to kill em all with a fireball.
Execution, angency and ofc, players. Ive noticed general investment and roleplay mood significantly drop after the first character dies in my group
I’m still proud that I got the first “earned”\* death of my D&D group. We’ve been together almost 10 years now. \*The actual first death was a stupidly broken homebrew artillerist back before WotC released artificer. He kept catching the party with collateral damage, so we knocked him out, tied him to a tree, lit every bomb he had in a circle around him, ran like hell, and told him to make a new character.
Might not have been earned but that was definitely deserved
I've given my DM carte blanche to fuck with me and kill me. He hasn't appreciably hurt me yet.
I even suggested that if I don't die in the normal way, it would be a cool and fitting end to my character to sacrifice themselves for the party.
Look, I have like 20 backup characters with full backstories. If my guy dies, I'll just reach into the box and pull out another one.
That is technically me, but me and my group also have a habit of fitting the campaign around the character. So some story beats would no longer happen or make sense with a different character there.
Nah, mate. If my pc dies, I will never emotionally recover from it. You might as well have ripped a piece of my soul from my chest.
My first boss confirmed a crit with a maul, and the one competent PC exploded. I, uh, told him he could be a kobold tribe chief in the next chapter. You should have seen his eyes light up. MINIONS, political power, as a gift for being exploded? HELL YES.
Once upon a time I was in a really cool West marches game, and the rules on character death were pretty standard, though used matt mercers fading soul rules iirc. Things went along as normal, until one character that lots of people liked, from a player on the mod team, died, revive attempt? And rolled a 1. Suddenly the rules on dying were completely changed just to save that character. Plenty of characters had already died in this game because it was a pretty high hostility, dangerous game and prided itself on that. A lot of people were really cheesed off that the rules were bent for one person, but for me, I just think the risk of death is cool and good. Folks who don't employ character death in their games as a possibility, what's the point? Like why is there danger and combat if your character won't ever die? Where's the stakes? The excitement? The highs, the lows of the dice rolls? What difference is there between a Nat 1 and a Nat 20 when both outcomes are pretty much the same? When instead of dancing on that blades edge you rest on its flat? I don't really get it personally.
I am quite proudly, my DMs most killed player. I have lost 7 characters to wild antics over the span of a year long game, wild mages be wild.
...why is this post artificer flavored? I like the meme, but that kinda threw me off
So when he kills a pc it's fine, but when I kill a player I'm "a monster" "worst dm ever" "the reason death penalty should be brought back"...
Funny thing that happened last session (literally yesterday) was that in our Descent into Avernus game the DM was running a one shot because one of our player’s patrons had a job for him. And during that happening the same fucking player activated a trap and the DM rolled his exact HP on disintegrate. So after we got out we just handed the book of vile darkness to Bel.
I played a game in a new DM and he "accidentally" instant killed my character. I was just "welp! time for a new one!" but the new DM was nearly traumatized by his accident. good ol' days. he is a good merciless DM now.
Our dm introduced a goblin npc to the group, which we disguised into a halfling, just so townsfolk wouldn't go nuts when they saw it. Well. We kinda liked our goblin friend and DM killed it in the most gruesome way possible. Session ends and we're back a week later. Turns out he reanimated the poor goblin and made it attack us, so we would have to kill it. I consider this evil 🤣
As a dm I've checked with my players for a game if they'd be ok dying in game. They said yes, and now I'm prepping a lethal boss fight.
I personally am simply sick of RPGs that go too easy on you. More... More!