Characters die in Dungeons and Dragons.  It is basically a given.  It will happen.  There is no point crying about it, whining about it, or pretending that it won’t happen or that it didn’t happen.  It has happened, will happen, and it will happen to you or to someone you know.

Unfortunately there are some times when character death actually is a very bad thing.  Some of this has to do with the game and some of it is part of the metagame.

-    When it cripples the party.  If a character’s death cripples the party to point that they can no longer function this can be a bad thing – usually because it leads to Party Wipe.  There is a fine line between making things more challenging and crippling them to the point it is no longer fun.
-    When it causes Party Wipe.  If one character’s death leads to the loss of the party then it is a bad thing.
-    When it is unfun for everyone.  Most times players handle character death without too much trouble – especially if they play in my group for very long.  We all like a challenge and accept that sometimes (no matter who is DM’ing) that the dice will roll poorly and things won’t go well and somebody will do something stupid and somebody is going to die.  But if the character death is unfun then it should be avoided.
-    When it has metagame ramifications.  If somebody’s character dies simply because they pissed off the DM’s girlfriend’s dog then more than likely there will be more unfun group dynamics to follow.  This is a situation to avoid.

Character death should be a normal part of a well balanced but challenging adventure with natural consequences for poor choices.  Otherwise it probably is just mean and not very fun.

And what is the game without fun?

Welcome back to Dungeons and Dragons Corner.

You can find Character Sheets Here.

Feel free to make a Paypal Donation to support Dungeons and Dragons Corner!

Did you like this post? Want More? Then subscribe to my RSS feed!