Leonine Roar

This is part of a series of articles surrounding character death in D&D 4th edition.  For related articles, go here.

Why finish off characters?  Great story and lore reasons.  Dramatic tension.  Immersion.  Believability.  Verisimilitude.  A different challenge, encouraging different tactics by the PCs.  And, stick with me… fun!

Why can’t character death be fun?  It’s not like death is permanent for adventurers in the D&D world (99% of the time).

One of my favorite and by far most unforgottable recent “death scenes” in the Nentir Vale campaign I play in was when my half-orc two-axe ranger was mind-controlled by undead and forced to crawl into a massive chasm widened by the arrival of an earth titan. 

My beloved half-orc bloodfury savage failed his save, and… a long, echoing roar or scream later, took enough massive damage from the 100′ fall that it sent him well past his already bloodied state right into good ol’ death. 

I laughed hysterically!  Why?  Because, cinematically, it was awesome!  Best character death I’ve ever experienced.

And yes, I came back later, the DM and I working together on the how, weaving it into the story.  So instead of typical ritual magic to bring me back, a somewhat unsettling pact with the Raven Queen and her agents was formed. 

Very cool story, isn’t it?

I think that’s what we miss with the whole board-gamey and over-tactical view of 4e sometimes.  We forget it’s an RPG.  A roleplaying and storytelling game! 

Why fear character death?  Why not enjoy it?  Make it spectacular through encounter presentation, story, and roleplay.  Embrace it like anything else in the game, and let your imagination – collaboratively whenever you can – run wild!

The other thing is, just as important – adventuring is dangerous.  Heros die.  (Temporarily at least.)  They know the risks, they know they’re special.  It’s part of the gig.  So why lead with kid gloves about character death?  Once in a while, it should and will happen.

Death can absolutely be fun.  It’s all about your attitude as a group, player, and DM.  Death scenes can be glorious, cinematic and memorable. 

Again, it’s not like it’s permanent for adventurers in D&D anyway.  You’re just a raise dead away from being back on your feet, with quite a story to tell.  Or, you can do something more imaginative and elaborate, working with your DM – such as coming back as a revenant, saved by the Raven Queen!

I think that’s all very cool and fun.  Yes, I said it, as someone who both plays and DMs: character death can be very cool and fun.  In fact, 4e removes one of the most truly brutal penalties that used to be associated with character death – the loss of levels.  Character death is by far more a rare storytelling tool and minor setback than it’s ever been (not too unlike skill challenge failures), rather than any sort of punishment, like it use to be in prior editions.  And as I’ve said, even getting there happens rarely enough. 

So, again, why the kid gloves on character death?  Be brave and make it spectacular, cinematic, gritty and dramatic instead.  The adventure goes on – and the PC will very likely come back from the dead soon, thirsting for vengeance, one way or another.   There’s a great storytelling opportunity here that can be very enjoyable for your entire D&D playgroup.  Embrace it.