#death mechanics

[notetakers-blog-of-holding]

Weird DM idea- Throw the Players a funeral for their PC.

So, I was talking to one of my friends about the campaign I'm currently planning and I mentioned that if a PC permanently died then I would burn a copy of their character sheet (My friends enjoy being dramatic.)

She then mentioned that I have a pool and one thing led to another and now when ever one of the PCs die, they will have a grand memorial in my garden and it will go as follows...

The party shall wear black and/or one of the over-the-top hats I own as formal wear.

The players shall give a eulogy, either in character or not. It has to be as dramatic as possible.

The character sheet will be torn into pieces, placed into an old tin and lit on fire.

The tin will be gently pushed across the pool while a song plays out in silence while we salute. (DM choice of song- National anthem, Funeral march, The Last Post, etc.)

If the character has been revived, when the tin reaches the end of the pool, empty it out, place a new character sheet in, and push it back to the other side with a reprise of the song. (Or something hopeful, dealer's choice). If the player has made a new character, put in their sheet.

If one does not have a pool, a small CONTROLLED fire should suffice.

If you want to do it for the BBEG, make the music as comedic as possible.

Bonus points if everyone keeps a straight face during the proceedings.

[tenleaguesbeneath]

From a game design standpoint, the purpose of a Death and Dismemberment Table is four-fold. Death Table as Death Dealer When play...

What a death and dying mechanic does from a game design standpoint: 3e’s negative hit points (which started as a common house rule, earned the status of optional rule in 2e, and official in 3e), 4e and 5e’s death save systems, Dungeon World’s Last Breath move, Darkest Dungeon’s Death’s Door/Deathblow mechanic, and so on.

The writer points out four things he wants it to do: one, to decide when a character is dead as opposed to half-dead; two, to determine how urgent it is to get a downed character first aid; three, to drive what people should do after their characters recover from a bad fight, and four, to give characters scars.

He also takes this analysis and designs a mechanic for his own fantasy heartbreaker that does what he wants it to do.