Source
r/DMAcademy•
CompDuLac

DM post pc death

We just finished session 20 mins ago. In what was supposed to be a light hearted town session to introduce a new player, I made a battle a little too tough.

It was a tough, well fought battle, but I planned for a full group, not really thinking about the healer not being able to make the session.

I killed my best friends character. I know it was a series of like 4 bad rolls that did it, but... Well it was my OP encounter..

I just feel absolutely horrible... How do you deal with killing a pc? This is technically my 2nd, but the 1st was 5 mins into the campaign and the player had no attachment to the pc yet.

I'm.. Drained.

Posted Jun 15, 2019, 9:41 PM UTC

013
HexedPressman•

Plan out the consequences of it that will hit next session and game on.

3
CompDuLacOP•

Logically I get that, and once I see my player enjoying his new character I'll feel better... It's just not there yet.

1
HexedPressman•

I hear ya. It can be tough sometimes.

2
CompDuLacOP•

I think I might feel worse than him.

1
Memes_The_Warbeast•

Talk to the player and ask him if he wants to run a 1-1 adventure through the afterlife to see if he can be returned to life, his character would wake up and be face to face with a creature looking to make a deal with him in exchange for being resurrected. If he completes the one shot (design a few encounters maybe a few story beats with dead relatives or slain allies keep it hard but not unwinnable, give the PC at least 2 safety nets for the session) Then he get's rezzed infront of the party with whatever skills and exp he picked up while dead.

If he dies in the afterlife then he's dead and you should spend the rest of the session helping him roll up a new character and planning how said character is gonna get into the party.

2
CompDuLacOP•

I really like this idea. I don't want to... cheapen death, but I still the possibility of it.

Thank you for the idea. I'll run it by him.

1
Memes_The_Warbeast•

Alright well good luck with whatever you decide to do and hope it goes well.

And hey if they player just wants to roll up a new PC you can always pocket the dead PCs soul for something climactic and epic when the BBEG fight happens, maybe you accidentally made the encounter too hard so you have out of nowhere a phantasmal form of the dead PC appear to help the party.

2
CompDuLacOP•

Thank you! Really great ideas. I pitched to him the idea of his soul re-entering his body, as a hex blade warlock, out for vengeance.

Player said he needed a day or two to process.. He's now spitting character ideas at me... Seeing him in a better mood about it lightens my mood a bit.

I couldn't believe how bad I felt about it all.

1
Memes_The_Warbeast•

glad to hear he and you are feeling better about it

2
CompDuLacOP•

A PC Death - Needed a 4, rolled a 1

1
Congzilla•

You know it was your accident so find a way to write the resurrection into the story. Simple as that.

1
CompDuLacOP•

I'm actually working on that now with him, well providing it as an option. He is enjoying character building at the moment and may go a whole different route.

1