Rules and Player Character Death

After posting my last article Establish a Rules Policy – Part 2 a comment was left by Ooklamok which included a few questions about what do you do if the ruling you are discussing would kill a PC.

From his comments:

If the outcome of a rule “discussion” is going to effect something major (i.e. a PC might die), should you allow more time for arguments to be made? Should you err on the side of letting the PC live? What if you make a ruling that kills the PC and find out later you were wrong?

As for allowing more time for discussions of important matters, as long as the discussion is being productive and constructive I would allow it to continue for a few extra minutes. It’s still a good idea to set limits as to how long you’ll allow it to continue as you don’t want it to consume the entire session. A suggestion is to allow each person that would like to speak to the rule in question three minutes to speak and then move onto the next person (I use a three minute timer, hence that time limit).

The remainder of his comments fall within the bounds of player character death and what to do about it. The hardest part about this area is that every group is different so unfortunately there is not hard and fast rules to follow. As with many of my suggestions on how to handle issues that arise in a gaming group the key is communication and planning.

When looking at this I tend to see groups become a blending of one of two categories, those that protect the characters and those that don’t.

1. Protect the PCs

This is more often than not the default (especially with new GMs) and while your initial thought may be that there is nothing wrong with playing in this mode there are a couple of items you should keep in mind.

First, it puts a lot more responsibility on the GM. I know that it’s the GM’s responsibility to run the game but now you’re expecting them to make sure the PCs don’t die – not just from an opponent’s attack but also from the fall off the building, the missed saving throw or ability check. The bookkeeping for this type of environment is much higher than your standard game and a mistake in math will cause heartache.

The second item is a result of the first. In the course of gaming the characters will no doubt dig themselves a hole they cannot get out of without help – GM to the rescue! Whether it be a timely miss by an opponent, a critical hit that by some miracle only does the minimum amount of damage or (one that I’ve used in the past) a powerful ally shows up and saves the group the result is the same – the group knows they misstepped and had to be bailed out. For some groups this isn’t an issue but for others they don’t care for deux ex machina and know when it happens and it kills their sense of disbelief.

2. Let the dice fall where they may

This is one is far easier to manage, if the dice are going to kill the character – then the character falls. This is a bit hardcore for most groups and depending on the GM can result in a lot of characters being created. If your group is into more realism than fantasy and have a good supply of ideas for characters and can can play those characters with a bit of detach this environment may well suit your group – just be careful here as over time a lot of characters may start to resemble each other (same stats, skills, feats – you get the idea).

Now, those two categories are at the extreme ends and while a fair number of groups will fall into the first category (especially since fantasy novels seem to protect the main characters) a lot will blend the two which gives us choice number three and the best suggestion on how to handle rules that deal with PC death.

3. Let the player decide

This style of play requires a lot of communication on the part of everyone at the table. Most of us have played in groups where there’s a player (typically fairly new or who did a lot of background work) that just does not want to let the PC die. If this information is out in the open then the GM can plan for it.

The same holds true for those players that see their characters as just another part of the story and are willing to let them go. It may be that they’re just interested in playing something different or they may see that by their character dieing the story becomes a bit stronger.

So discuss how exactly the group wants to deal with things (nurish or perish) and it will make dealing with rules a bit easier.

Having said the above what do you do about the ruling?

First, if the player is ok with PC dieing you can take that factor out of the equation and decide based on your understanding rules. If you’re proved wrong after the session you can amend your house rules and continue on from there. Remember the player involved has already agreed that if a circumstance arises that would kill the character they would be ok with it.

Second, if the player is not ok with the PC dieing then rule accordingly giving the PC the benefit of the doubt. I would be surprised if anyone comes back and says, “oops, my character really should have died, here’s my new PC.” As in all cases dealing with the rules be sure to document it and put it in your house rules.

So how do you handle rulings dealing with PC death? Does your group nurture PCs or do you play it a bit more realistic?

May your dice roll well.