Poll: Dying in Table-Top RPGs

[dohnut king]

Played since white box original D&D, currently playing Pathfinder. Death,, or any other form of failure, is always an option. If a character dies and cannot get raised, then the players gets to create a new one, usually no more than a level or two lower than the rest of the party.

The same for TPK's. It hasn't happened in a very long time, but it is always a possibility, and nearly happened twice in the Wrath of the Righteous campaign that I am currently running.

Character death and failure should not be sought out by a GM, but are a necessary component that gives meaning and consequence to the challenges and the player's reaction to them.

 

[Gethsemani_v1legacy]

Preface: I embraced White Wolf's concept of co-operative storytelling fairly early in my roleplaying days and that's what's colored my approach to being the game master/dungeon master/storyteller.

With that in mind, I would never let a character get killed in a random encounter or because of a few bad die rolls unless the particulars of the story being told is suited to spontaneous and horrible death (like, say, a Starship Troopers the Movie rip-off). Both in my former and current group, there's a consensus that the players care for their characters and don't want to see them killed because of bad luck, bad mood on my part or a bad call in a situation that shouldn't be too dangerous. As such, their deaths need to feel appropriate and meaningful.

If a character dies in a cool or appropriate way, the player is much more likely to feel it is alright and make a new character, instead of getting pissed and refusing to participate anymore. Reversely, if the character dies in a meaningless fashion (lucky Kobold critical hit!) and the GM is anal about rules being rules, the player is likely to loose faith in the GM or stop enjoying the RP itself.

All roleplaying is a co-operative effort and everyone should enjoy it. Most people I've RPed with do not enjoy when their hard work in making a character is wasted on shitty die rolls, a single bad call or the whims of a fickle GM. This is also why I tend to discuss the particulars of characters dying in any campaign with the players before getting it started, so that everyone is on the same page about how much to invest in their character. If they know they are cannon fodder and will burn through half a dozen characters in the Bug War Campaign, the players will tailor their investment in each character appropriately. Putting them in the Bug War after everyone wrote 3 pages of backstory, only to have half the group get killed in the first hour, is a great way to never have people play with you again.