In Welkin, resurrection spells are available but don’t always work. Loremasters and followers of the Raven Queen may have insights into why. There are no rules for this. It's just a mystery of the setting: Sometimes resurrection works and sometimes it doesn’t. I want to keep character death a real possibility.
A character’s death can be the turning point of a campaign. It can result in the most memorable roleplaying moments but it could also result in a player quitting a game or just become little more than a tax on player fun. There are a lot more ways to handle character death than are represented in the 5e basic rules. For DMs that want to keep death a real possibility in their games, there is a spectrum of possible approaches.
Today I will explore some options you can incorporate. At my table, I don’t treat one of these solutions as a one-size-fits-all. Different situations will call for a different approach. It’s nice to have a lot of tools in your toolbox.
Art by Kekai Kotaki
The relevant sections from the SRD state:
Roll a d20. If the roll is 10 or higher, you succeed. Otherwise, you fail. A success or failure has no effect by itself. On your third success, you become stable (see below). On your third failure, you die. The successes and failures don't need to be consecutive; keep track of both until you collect three of a kind. The number of both is reset to zero when you regain any hit points or become stable.
Rolling 1 or 20. When you make a death saving throw and roll a 1 on the d20, it counts as two failures. If you roll a 20 on the d20, you regain 1 hit point.
Damage at 0 Hit Points. If you take any damage while you have 0 hit points, you suffer a death saving throw failure. If the damage is from a critical hit, you suffer two failures instead. If the damage equals or exceeds your hit point maximum, you suffer instant death.
These rules represent a lot of different possibilities for when death may occur to a character and how many opportunities the party may have to affect the outcomes of a character falling to zero HP.
Characters have a roughly 40% chance to die without assistance from allies. Possibilities without assistance from others:
If a character does die, how do you deal with it at the table or allow recovery from it?
This is fine for a lot of games. Death can be a rare occurrence and you don’t want a few bad die rolls to derail a whole campaign. But for story reasons, I like to keep these spells unreliable.
You can use this with Angry’s method outlined above. If the player wants the character to live, have the party follow some clues to rescue them. If the player wants to make a new character, this could be a loose end hanging over the party or even a window into a huge conspiracy, depending on how much you want to bend your campaign around this incident.
Whatever you choose, you should have a plan ready before this ever happens, so you will be ready to tie it in with the plot of the campaign if it comes up. Trust me, your players will be blown away when an obviously accidental death turns into a pivotal moment in the campaign. The thing is, encounters are hard to balance and d20s are swingy. Plan ahead to make the most of accidental character death and you can be assured this planning will not be in vain.
Do this in a way that seems cool to you. The character could arise after being healed to find they are undead. The attempted resurrection could fail and instead produce an undead character. Combine it with the [previous option, but when the character awakens after their vision, they have become undead. Maybe the dead character could walk into the party's camp ten hours after dying and being buried and just sit down with a big sigh. This happened once while I was a player in a Deadlands game, and it was a complete shock to the rest of us. Very memorable!
In one campaign about ten years ago, I had a player whose character had the classic amnesiac mysterious background. After about 6 levels I asked her if she wanted to fill in her own background or let me reveal her secret through the events of the game. She thought about it for a week and then gave me permission to do whatever to her background as she didn't really have any ideas. I sat on it for a few months and in one situation where the rest of the party were on the verge of being wiped out, she was revealed as a vampire, allowing her to save the day with her newly "remembered" powers.
Are there other ways to take a character death and tweak the rules or make it more central to the storyline? I would love to hear about them in the comments.
A character’s death can be the turning point of a campaign. It can result in the most memorable roleplaying moments but it could also result in a player quitting a game or just become little more than a tax on player fun. There are a lot more ways to handle character death than are represented in the 5e basic rules. For DMs that want to keep death a real possibility in their games, there is a spectrum of possible approaches.
Today I will explore some options you can incorporate. At my table, I don’t treat one of these solutions as a one-size-fits-all. Different situations will call for a different approach. It’s nice to have a lot of tools in your toolbox.
Art by Kekai Kotaki
System Reference Document
The relevant sections from the SRD state:
Dropping to 0 Hit Points
When you drop to 0 hit points, you either die outright or fall unconscious, as explained in the following sections.Instant Death
Massive damage can kill you instantly. When damage reduces you to 0 hit points and there is damage remaining, you die if the remaining damage equals or exceeds your hit point maximum.Falling Unconscious
If damage reduces you to 0 hit points and fails to kill you, you fall unconscious. This unconsciousness ends if you regain any hit points.Death Saving Throws
Whenever you start your turn with 0 hit points, you must make a special saving throw, called a death saving throw, to determine whether you creep closer to death or hang onto life.Roll a d20. If the roll is 10 or higher, you succeed. Otherwise, you fail. A success or failure has no effect by itself. On your third success, you become stable (see below). On your third failure, you die. The successes and failures don't need to be consecutive; keep track of both until you collect three of a kind. The number of both is reset to zero when you regain any hit points or become stable.
Rolling 1 or 20. When you make a death saving throw and roll a 1 on the d20, it counts as two failures. If you roll a 20 on the d20, you regain 1 hit point.
Damage at 0 Hit Points. If you take any damage while you have 0 hit points, you suffer a death saving throw failure. If the damage is from a critical hit, you suffer two failures instead. If the damage equals or exceeds your hit point maximum, you suffer instant death.
These rules represent a lot of different possibilities for when death may occur to a character and how many opportunities the party may have to affect the outcomes of a character falling to zero HP.
Characters have a roughly 40% chance to die without assistance from allies. Possibilities without assistance from others:
- Instant Death
- Sudden death after taking more damage
- Sudden Recovery (rolling a 20)
- Final Resolution after the 5th roll
If a character does die, how do you deal with it at the table or allow recovery from it?
Resurrection
This is the classic method to let the party recover from a death. They may need to go on a quest to get the desired resurrection, or they may be able to pay someone from their hometown to take care of it for them. At higher levels, it often becomes assumed that someone in the party will gain access to Revivify by 5th level.This is fine for a lot of games. Death can be a rare occurrence and you don’t want a few bad die rolls to derail a whole campaign. But for story reasons, I like to keep these spells unreliable.
Angry GM Method
I’m surprised I haven't seen more DMs advocating for this method which comes from the Angry GM. He says when a character drops to 0 HP, ask the player to roll their death saves in private. After the combat, ask the player the status of the character. Done. This puts the narrative back in the player’s hands.Momentum
I love this rule from the Entromancy RPG. You can check it out here. Seriously, go buy this. Anyway, Momentum is an expendable resource which replaces 5e’s Inspiration Mechanic. Among other things, it allows the players to spend 1 Momentum to go from 0 HP to 1 HP. I like this because it is another knob the players can use to control their own level of risk.A Changeling Scheme
My setting has changelings which have infiltrated society for a variety of inscrutable reasons. When a character fails their last save, tell the party that the body changes to that of a changeling. Suddenly, the party is beset with unanswered questions.- How long has the imposter been in the party?
- To what purpose were they there?
- What information do our enemies have about us?
- Where is the original person?
You can use this with Angry’s method outlined above. If the player wants the character to live, have the party follow some clues to rescue them. If the player wants to make a new character, this could be a loose end hanging over the party or even a window into a huge conspiracy, depending on how much you want to bend your campaign around this incident.
Vision or Deal
This option has worked very well for me in the past. When the character fails their last save, take the player aside. Describe what happens to them after the moment of death. They may have a vision of impending doom and be sent back to stop it. A god or other power may make a bargain with them and send them back. When they wake they may have a new quest, a new power or resource, or even a level in a new class or a new character race.Whatever you choose, you should have a plan ready before this ever happens, so you will be ready to tie it in with the plot of the campaign if it comes up. Trust me, your players will be blown away when an obviously accidental death turns into a pivotal moment in the campaign. The thing is, encounters are hard to balance and d20s are swingy. Plan ahead to make the most of accidental character death and you can be assured this planning will not be in vain.
Undeath
Another player race option in my campaigns is an undead race. If a player wanted to keep playing their character but was looking for a change, this might fit. Any time after falling to 0 HP they could become undead.Do this in a way that seems cool to you. The character could arise after being healed to find they are undead. The attempted resurrection could fail and instead produce an undead character. Combine it with the [previous option, but when the character awakens after their vision, they have become undead. Maybe the dead character could walk into the party's camp ten hours after dying and being buried and just sit down with a big sigh. This happened once while I was a player in a Deadlands game, and it was a complete shock to the rest of us. Very memorable!
In one campaign about ten years ago, I had a player whose character had the classic amnesiac mysterious background. After about 6 levels I asked her if she wanted to fill in her own background or let me reveal her secret through the events of the game. She thought about it for a week and then gave me permission to do whatever to her background as she didn't really have any ideas. I sat on it for a few months and in one situation where the rest of the party were on the verge of being wiped out, she was revealed as a vampire, allowing her to save the day with her newly "remembered" powers.
Are there other ways to take a character death and tweak the rules or make it more central to the storyline? I would love to hear about them in the comments.
Thanks for the Momentum shout! :)
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