Turns out I'm really terrible at keeping a running history of games. Time slips away and I just forget to do it. Today's post is something different entirely.
Last night my character died. He hadn't even done any damage in the fight before he was taken out. A lot of people would be rather incensed at this, but I looked at it as an opportunity. This is actually the second character I've had die in this particular campaign. Amusingly both of them were casters and both died to a dragon's breath attack. The thing is, he was the 4th character overall I've played in this campaign.
With 5e I keep coming up with new character concepts that I think are cool so I've always got something in the background to bring out if needed. Unfortunately some character concepts don't work out as well as expected which is why I've ditched two of them. They worked really well for the point we were at in the campaign, but it became harder and harder to roleplay them appropriately as the campaign progressed so they were retired. Character death is just forced retirement in my view.
The character that was killed last night was definitely my favorite yet. Sure he had his flaws, both in RP and in combat, but if he was perfect that would have been boring. I don't blame my fellow players for not saving him, they were all tied up in combats themselves. It really shouldn't have been an issue, but I rolled a 1 on a death save which in 5e results in 2 failed death saves and killed me since I'd already failed one save. My compatriots were far more upset about this than I was, offering to pay to have him resurrected, etc. I appreciated the offer, but honestly I was already working with one of my other character ideas and the current situation was the absolute perfect time to introduce him. He happened to fit into the storyline perfectly.
While there's nothing wrong with liking a character, one really shouldn't get overly attached to them. It limits the player's and the DM's options. If the DM knows that someone going to be really upset if your character dies, then there's never going to be a fight where that might be possible. At the same time as a player you're going to be too scared to make that heroic move that might result in your death, but would be freaking awesome otherwise. That's how I picture last night's death, even though I didn't even try to hit anything, the image of my sorcerer rising up to meet the dragon head on in the sky before being swatted like a bug is awesome and that's what roleplaying is all about. Having awesome stories to tell even if it results in character death.
Look at character death as an opportunity to try something new. Even if you really like the playstyle of a particular class, take it in a different direction. Instead of the big evocation wizard try a conjuration wizard based more around crowd control. If you like to hit things as a fighter, why not try a barbarian and smash things to little pieces as you rage around the battlefield. Even if you reroll what is essentially the same character change his or her personality, feats, or playstyle in order to make him different.
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