RPT Newsletter #1,191 | d10 Things You Can Do With a Dead Character

[Stephan Hornick]

d10 Things You Can Do With a Dead Character
By JohnnFour | Published February 14, 2022

Roleplaying Tips Newsletter #1,191


It sucks when a character dies.
To avoid discomfort or upset players, many GMs end up supporting Mary Sue PCs.
Or we provide plot armor so thick we earn no drama from combat, traps, and hazards.
I support character death as a result of fair gameplay.
This gives you additional and meaningful stakes in your encounters.
It encourages players to up their game, as well.

But….

It still sucks when a cherished PC perishes.
So here are d10 ways we can deal well when character death happens.
Cherish the parish.

1. Ghostify Them​

Bring the character back as undead or a spirit.
Change up their stats and abilities a bit so it's the same PC the player loves but with interesting new choices and powers.
In a campaign my friend Dan ran, he killed us all in the first encounter on purpose, and we came back as undead.
That was great fun for us as we a) sought revenge and b) quested to return to the land of the living.

2. Spend Their Treasure​

Allow a return to life but at a cost.
I'm looking at page 104 of my beloved AD&D DMG right now. It costs 1,000 gp + 500 gp per caster level for a Raise Dead spell from an NPC.
That's thousands of treasure points to bring back a character.
his world building detail encourages players to save up wealth as well, depending on the deadliness of your campaign.

3. Spawn a Quest​

In Dan's campaign we quested to return to life.
In your game you could offer a way to bring a dead character back if the party performs a service, finds a special magic item, or finds a special NPC.
In my fantasy campaigns, NPCs can often cast a spell that resurrects PCs, but they demand a service (plus gold sometimes) in exchange.

For example, the party lays the body of Roghan at the steps of the Temple of Dis. They beseech the high priests to bring the warrior back to life.
The priests agree, but only if the party returns a religious artefact stolen by an enemy cult.

In D&D, this is where the Geas spell is our friend.
Many times my players have agreed to the quest and be Geased with it.

This way, I can bring back the dead PC immediately so the player is back in the game, and justify the service-in-advance because the priests know the party will carry through with the quest.

4. Make it A Campaign Plot​

Platinum Wizard of Adventure @Auke posted this great idea on the RPT Discord:

In my setting, there's no undead any more, and Raise Dead/Resurrection don't exist.
Recently, Arawn (the God of Death) has needed a bit of help.
Consequently, when a raver Giant grabbed one of the PCs and used him as a club to almost beat the other PCs to death, that PC died - and came back to life.
Much confusion.
The PC feels fine, though, and life goes on.
Although he can't help shake the feeling that an IOU is due.
Here we can tease out the idea of a campaign plot, ala Piers Anthony, where death is broken and the PCs need to restore the natural order of things.

5. Back But With a Cost​

Re-life comes with a cost.
Platinum Wizard of Adventure @Ye Olde Raven shares this idea in the same Discord chat about dead characters:

Just reading through the posts above about death and resurrection and the idea that death has a say in who gets to come back.
And the idea of death having a reason for collecting the souls of the dead struck me.
The idea was that death is not the final thing that happens in the universe.
Death is involved in some greater event and needs to collect these souls to further an agenda.
Such as the continuation of existence itself.
Death may require these souls at certain times and not others.
So when one of our heroes dies prematurely, it may be that death doesn't need that peace at that time and is willing to let the soul return back to wherever it was.

Who knows what sort of game death is playing, and it may be beyond what even the gods can comprehend.
Which takes the idea of the thing we call death to a whole new level.

My girlfriend just brought up the idea that this can encourage a negotiation between the newly deceased, death, and perhaps even the gods.
Death doesn't know what pieces they need to complete their game until that piece is before them.

Another idea that we thought of was being marked when you were brought back.
That mark can be a visible thing or it could be an invisible thing.
And it attracts unwanted attention.
This could be a smell. It could be flies. It could mean that all of your future offspring are going to be demons and devils.

It comes back to the idea that there is a cost and perhaps a grave one at that for being brought back.

6. Side Quest​

One time when a character died I ran it like a split party.
The survivors kept on.
The dead character awoke in a strange room with a door.
Thus began a side quest to explore the new area and learn the character could return to life.
The character could speak to the other PCs via dreams so the player wouldn't feel too isolated.
Eventually, the character learned what the party needed to do in the land of the living to bring them back.

7. Bring on the Clones​

Reincarnation has brought valiant paladins back as goblins and mighty wizards back as pixies in my games.
It's a fantastic mechanic to foil character death.

You could make this a world-building piece where everyone comes back based on how they behaved in life.
Or restrict it to a special effect via spell, miracle, or service.

Alternatively, you could create a cloning mechanic, perhaps from campaign start.

For example, in my Murder Hobos campaign, the wizard Six turned out to be a clone. The players learned this as events unfolded over the course of the game.
What made things interesting for the player, though, was knowing whether his PC was the original. The player brought me the clone idea as part of their awesome backstory, and I added the uncertainty to keep the plot interesting.

As a side note, if dead PCs can easily boomerang back into play, ensure there's a cost so players still want to avoid character death.

8. Villain's Cackle​

In another campaign I had the villain bring a dead PC back to life as the body was left behind by the party.
I then roleplayed a terms of service negotiation with the player and kept this secret from the group.
When the character suddenly showed up, apparently hale but with a few scars, everyone grew suspicious. But the character was welcomed back and play resumed.
The player did an awesome job keeping secrets and roleplaying their service as a spy for the villain.

9. It's All Relative​

Allow players to erase the name off their character sheet and bring in a new copy as the relative.
Perfect for beer and pretzel games.

If you need more gravitas to suit the tone of your campaign, layer in some plot.
Maybe twins in your world are children of a deity supposed to perform some great mission, but an enemy severed those ties and now such people do not know their destiny.

Or perhaps the family sends the character to find out what happened to their kin, and the family plays a bigger role in your plot now as a faction.

10. Characters Don't Die​

The threat of death and having to create a new character might not be to your taste.
Maybe you don't want to derail your plot. For example, each character might be named in a prophecy.
Or maybe you want to avoid the situation altogether. You don't see the value in that mechanic or that type of story.
If we think in terms of story Stakes then, we can strike death off the list.
But what are good alternatives to create drama and tension?

Some ideas:

• PC is captured instead and must be rescued
• Those who tried to kill the PCs must be brought to justice
• Character(s) face a dilemma based on their beliefs after being attacked (for example, they're a pacifist)
• Characters suffer a loss and need to restore themselves (for example, reduced powers)
• Can the characters turn their attacker into an ally?
• The loss results in a setback, missed opportunity, or

It's Your Turn​

Decide how you'll handle character death before your campaign starts.
Then let your players know so they don't get caught off-guard with something they might not like.
Build your world to accommodate your approach as another way to make it distinct.
This will also help you roleplay better.
A campaign where the NPCs don't seem to know priests perform miracles for the rich and powerful would be quite interesting, for example.
Alternatively, NPCs who do not acknowledge 5,000 gp Raise Dead vending machines in the Temple District would break sense of belief.
Use character death to spawn new plots, deepen gameplay, or motivate players to bring their best game to each session.

For more character death tips, check out RPT #381 | PC Death And Your Campaign.

How about you? How do you handle character death in your campaigns? Join the conversation.

 

[Stephan Hornick]

Great summary, Johnn!
While I do not like those world-spanning ways to deal with death (death as an actor, clones, beer&pretzel style, etc. And for the relative, it would be a totally different character in our world, no mind-linked twins here.), I think it is a list for everybody.
My group knows that death is an actual thing in my world and the PCs almost died several times already. I'm not out to kill the PCs, but it can happen. I never thought much about the "and then what?" question. Thus, I got inspired by your list to use it as a new twist for world-building and plot. Paying a priest? Option 1. Coming back as undead? Option 2. Coming back due to a villain? Option 3.

 

[JohnnFour]

Ma7ybe dead characters should return as game masters.

 

[JonGraHar]

Ha, if your character dies, then the game master rolls up a character and the two friends switch places at the table.

 

[Piper_VGL]

Ha, if your character dies, then the game master rolls up a character and the two friends switch places at the table.

Ouch! Now that's penalty!

 

[Buck]

Ma7ybe dead characters should return as game masters.

Maybe I have.....bwaaaaahaaahaa

 

[ExileInParadise]

The sci-fi game Traveller is (in)famous for killing characters ... even during character generation.

Characters wiped out that way become GM NPCs - thanks for helping swell the ranks =)

Characters killed in game might be save-able using advanced tech... or not.

Depends on how much of them you get back from the jaws of the beast and / or whether you believe in cellular memory can be cloned back like in THE FIFTH ELEMENT.

In fantasy games - when a player character falls, that usually kicks in a resurrection side-quest.

The party charter, if you use one, should specify who is out of pocket for this ... if the party pays, shares of the eventual dungeon loot may be forfeit...

 

[ExileInParadise]

Ha, if your character dies, then the game master rolls up a character and the two friends switch places at the table.

I am totally on board with this idea - but recognize the total downside ... I am definitely gonna kill someone quick to get a chance to play as a player from time to time bwahahahahah

 

[Stephan Hornick]

Wow... I wouldn't. I wouldn't switch places with a player. I like being the GM and that way the plot is going where I like it to go and the level of excitement is maintained.

 

[ExileInParadise]

Wow... I wouldn't. I wouldn't switch places with a player. I like being the GM and that way the plot is going where I like it to go and the level of excitement is maintained.

To quote from Ti Kwan Leap: "But I want to boot some head too." *evilgrin*

 

[JonGraHar]

Wow... I wouldn't. I wouldn't switch places with a player. I like being the GM and that way the plot is going where I like it to go and the level of excitement is maintained.

well, yes, it would be a hard 180 degree turn to switch places, and I wouldn't perform this trick either in real life.
Seriously, I don't think there should be "real life" consequences to a character dying except as stated above in the poll, the player rolls up a new character.

 

[Monsen]

I am currently running the first campaign in a new world (been going for quite a few years now), and I decided to make it a kind of world-forming campaign, in which I did need the PC's to actually survive the entire campaign. So, I basically went the prophecy route. More precisely, I let the characters meet a fortune teller early on that told them they were cursed. The curse meant two things, they were hidden from the eyes of the gods, and they were immortal (sounds more like a blessing at this point). The truth behind the matter is that the characters are inhabited/possessed by the spirits of ancient dragons. In my world, dragons dies out long ago, and don't even survive into modern legends. Every time the character would die, the dragon spirit acts behind the scene to prevent the death, but this has some disadvantages. The characters often ends up with physical disabilities (that can be fixed with powerful enough magic), but it also weakens their resistances, making it easier for the dragon spirit to force it's will on them in the future. It isn't malicious, but it does have it's own desires and agendas which may or may not conflict with the character's interests.
I am also interweaving the normal campaign with a dragon campaign (using the Council of Wyrms AD&D rules) where the players play those dragons while they were alive in the distant past, also forming the world for future campaigns.
Players have played long enough now to having figured out most of the link, but took a while.
I find these immortal PC's an interesting twist, but it will only be for this single campaign, when that is over, it's back to dying again, but the world will have raise spells, providing they can afford/find them.

 

[JonGraHar]

I am currently running the first campaign in a new world (been going for quite a few years now), and I decided to make it a kind of world-forming campaign, in which I did need the PC's to actually survive the entire campaign. So, I basically went the prophecy route. More precisely, I let the characters meet a fortune teller early on that told them they were cursed. The curse meant two things, they were hidden from the eyes of the gods, and they were immortal (sounds more like a blessing at this point). The truth behind the matter is that the characters are inhabited/possessed by the spirits of ancient dragons. In my world, dragons dies out long ago, and don't even survive into modern legends. Every time the character would die, the dragon spirit acts behind the scene to prevent the death, but this has some disadvantages. The characters often ends up with physical disabilities (that can be fixed with powerful enough magic), but it also weakens their resistances, making it easier for the dragon spirit to force it's will on them in the future. It isn't malicious, but it does have it's own desires and agendas which may or may not conflict with the character's interests.
I am also interweaving the normal campaign with a dragon campaign (using the Council of Wyrms AD&D rules) where the players play those dragons while they were alive in the distant past, also forming the world for future campaigns.
Players have played long enough now to having figured out most of the link, but took a while.
I find these immortal PC's an interesting twist, but it will only be for this single campaign, when that is over, it's back to dying again, but the world will have raise spells, providing they can afford/find them.

I like it. It helps me think of ways to bring the worldbuilding onto the character sheet so the players can help me build that world.

 

[Stephan Hornick]

On the side topic of world building I received a player's session summary from the perspective of that PC (a bard) and he knew that he was allowed to bring aspects into the game.

Rhea, the dusk skinned steely eyed elf-maid squinted at the bitter wind that flowed across the endless plains of Ankhara like a chill tide, it’s tides and eddies carrying the raptors that stalked our traces. To her boon companions, myself and the stalwart Berik Vintner, the sea of tall grass provided little counsel; but to the lithe elf-maid, the land spoke volumes. Danger, spoke the wind; corruption, whispered the hawk. Something was coming, something sinister.

So in his nicely written summary (a part of it above) he mentioned raptors following the party through the Bitter Plains. I instantly created a new file and folder in my Foundry Journal for those raptors, and my world has now:

The young soldier looked at the prisoner in confusion, but he followed the order nevertheless. It was still early in the morning but the heat was already palpable. His sweat covered hands fumbled with the fetters until he was finally able to free the prisoner. "Can't we just slit his throat here? He is a murderer of children! I don't understand. Why do we set him free?" The young soldier turned to his sergeant as the prisoner rubbed his wrists, finally free and grinning broadly. Calm and in a good mood Seargent Rupethio cut another slice off his kaki fruit and shook his head. "Why bother and dirty your hands? Look around you. The endless plains some call the Bitter Plains. As long as he doesn't return to the Saphire Empire he is free to roam the plains and find his luck beyond." And there it was again. This strange twinkle in his eye, whenever he was not telling the whole truth. The murderer ran off, while the two soldiers looked after him. As the figure in the distant sea of grass became smaller and smaller and it became to hot to bear in his armor, the sergeant turned to go. "See these tracks here? A Blood Beak, I would assume. Now it will not take much longer. Let's go." As if they had only waited for the soldiers to leave, a moment later the young soldier heard a trilling sound in the distance, an eerie cry indicating the start of the hunt.

At the western border of the Saphire Empire, the endless grassy plains begin, some call the Bitter Plains. Very few venture into it, and less make it through. Sometimes one finds surprised and slaughtered travellers or adventurers at its outskirts.
Only the brave and stupid invade into the territory of the many marauding packs of dynosauric raptors inhabiting the eastern parts of the Bitter Plains.
These raptors come in many different shades of colors, ranging from 3 to 6 feet in size, but all of them are carnivores..
The most common types are Blood Beaks (aggressive, red beaks), Sky Skimmers (fast, blue feathers), Claw Crackers (threatening, heavy), and Nasty Trillers (intelligent, loud)..
Only one of the nomad elven tribes living in the Bitter Plains, the Ankhara tribe of Sushet, has managed to capture and break them as riding steads.

 

[JohnnFour]

From RPT GM Andy:

I have a query for you!

When it makes perfect sense for the players to get an NPC guide (they're just random villagers in an unknown area...) how do you get rid of those guides to add some peril, and mean they don't have access to a regular "oh, yeah. There's a trap up here."?


Response from Johnn:

Hey Andy!

Great question.

Make some threats mobile. Avalanches don't occur in the same place each year, for example.

Add fresh traps. Things change.

Change existing traps because of maintenance or entropy.

You could also make the guide roll for knowledge checks, just like the PCs. With modifiers as you see fit.

The threat could still be there but hidden, so the guide doesn't notice it or call it out.

The guide is a traitor! Haha. My favourite answer.

Anywho, I hope these help.

 

[Stephan Hornick]

I would add PC influence to make it dramatic. The PCs notice that the villager may be a guide for that area (or at least says so), but he is far from being an adventurer. They should quickly notice that he or she! is more frail than them. Maybe it is even a youngster. Now either pointing out that this path is dangerous and that he would normally not use it, but as it is quicker… he tries to guess what the PCs expect of him and rather takes the dangerous route hoping that they will know what to do. Or the young lad is getting cocky, pushed by thd feeling of being in the company of heroes. Maybe even imagining himself to be a hero of some sorts.
Perfect time for the PCs to rescue him / each other while going into danger because they didn‘t read the (unimportant) guide not good enough. Also, it could lead to a moral dilemma of sending him back and tj go without him (after getting some information) to not risk hus lifr overly.
Now dangers can be anything: avalanches, traps, slick or narrow mountain paths, collapsing burial mounds, bogs, animals, heat, goblins, bamndits, poisonous mushrooms, hallucination moss, …