Eternal House Rules

Eternally Dead
a conversation on dealing with permanent player character death

Mike A

I suggest that we may want to create rules for dealing with permanent death. After all, the game must include an element of risk, and it may be that one day one of us will fail a disintegration or ressurection roll. Or maybe we'll teleport way low! Or be eaten by a black dragon.

I think we should be ready before one of us dies, so there will be no controversy.

First off, I think that if you die, the new character you create should be an Eternal Character too, a continuation in the line you have already established.

Second, take the remaining PC with the lowest total XP -- give a percentage of this XP to the new PC. This percentage might be 50% or 66% or something random.

Third, what about magic items? Should all a deceased PC's items be available? Or none? Or some?

Fourth, should we follow in the vein of the Eternal concept and somehow encourage a PC to take elements/classes/skills from past lives? Maybe you would get more XP if you did? Or more of your former magic items?

Finally, would a new Eternal PC just appear soon after the old PC's death, like just wander by? Or would the old body disappear and the new one fade in? Or would we have to track down and locate the new PC somewhere in the world?

One more idea. If an Eternal PC is Reincarnated, I say the PC should be able to reroll the results until a being that can have the desired class/skills is the result.

Don

I think that permanent death should be treated like Reincarnation (duration, effect, etc.) but the new character's race is always chosen from those played by the Eternal party member (after saying this, I will now have to look up reincarnation)

Michael B

I vote that we leave this one a complete mystery and in the hands of the GM running the game or (if the GM opts) the next GM running the next adventure. How about that?

Mike A

Don's Reincarnation idea is interesting, but limiting. If I want to come back as a mage, monk, or ranger (all classes I have been), I can't, unless I want to start at first level.

The PH says "if a reincarnated character returns as a creature eligible to be the same class as he was previously, the reincarnated character has half his previous levels and hit points. If the character returns as a new character class, his hit points are half his previous total, but he must begin again at first level."

So if my PC dies and I want to come back as a mage, I would be first level with 36 hit points. Hey! That might not be too bad if I get a new hit die at second level!

I suppose we can just leave it in the GM's hands, as Michael suggests, but the reason I brought this up is that if I'm GMing and I kill a PC permanently (and I just might!), I would like to have ideas on how we would all like to handle it. Especially broad guidelines on XP, allowable class/race, policy on the dead PCs magic items. For example, if I croak, could I come back as a skill-based PC?

I'm not saying I want rules set in stone, but I'd like to have some guide.

Steve

I agree with Michael. Let the individual GM decide. If the new character is to be a continuation of the "eternal" soul, though, it makes sense that some sort of reincarnation would be involved. I don't think I'd make it like the spell if I were the GM, but reincarnation in the sense that memories, attitudes, alignment would remain the same or at least similar.

The ultimate ream would be to say, "Yes, Michael, you have 36 hit points and you can be whatever class you like, but your soul passed into the nearest baby being born at the moment you died (I might even let you chose the race). So unless the party can find you and show you a ghost, you'll have to wait 15-20 years." Note that there are now optional rules for humanoid PC's.

More seriously, I don't think I'd limit people to classes previously played (who's to say we weren't other things in other previous lives) and I definitely wouldn't make it as easy as wait 1 to 6 turns in the location where the spell was cast (where the character died?) and the new guy will miraculously appear. I'd offer the player the options 1) of returning as a non-eternal -- just someone recruited the next time the party was in town, or met in the wilderness, or whatever -- or 2) to return as an eternal character _after_ the adventure being played was complete -- in which case he could play some of the NPC's against the party, and how to meet his replacement would be the problem of the next GM.

Don

The return 1-6 turns after he dies could be done several ways:

1) Reincarnation occurs like Dr. Who style regenerations -- new face, personality, different spin on same memories, some skills come to the fore, others recede, etc.

2) Reincarnation really occurs with yet another "facet" of your Eternal self being drawn to the spot of death -- the character did not know why it was drawn there, but once in contact with the other Eternal (or spotting the body) it undergoes a rapid transformation/augmentation and becomes the new host for the Eternal spirit. (Sort of what happened to our last characters)

In either case, I think XP about equal to the bottom of 1 level lower would be appropriate. The character's magic items would be disposed of however the party saw fit if they could be retrieved, but the new guy would not have much if any when he arrived. Special "quirks" (Don's fire powers, etc.) could be chosen from past characters, whether quirks they had or abilities from classes played (such as if your magic-user wanted druid pass without trace). Some balance would try to be worked out between XP, quirks, and possibly magic between the two lives, where one could be traded somewhat for another, mediated by comments from the other players on whether the tradeoffs were balanced.

Note that these are just ideas -- and off the top of my head at that -- of what I might do in that position, not a proposal on how things be done.

Michael B

These are all really good ideas and everything and I would be tempted to use one or two depending on the situation. We could place all these ideas (all of them with ideas and responses) down on a Web page as guidelines, suggestions, potential outcomes. But in no way should a GM be compelled to use any one. Nor should a player "know" how it (the death) is exactly going to turn out. There should always be an element of risk, a void in knowledge of this particular future occurrence. The BIG MYSTERY should not be well regulated.

I could see someone getting "bored" with his PC and doing himself in just to have the opportunity to come back as something else. If all you wish for this to happen then I guess it will happen, it just seems like an odd mechanism.

Oh well, just my thoughts.

Later...

Here's one example of an Eternal Death, as handled by Michael as GM.

Site Map | 5 April 99