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Anonymous03/14/26, 11:45No.97706332Player doesn't want PC to die
Thread title. In brief, I had a player who said that he couldn't continue playing unless I could confirm that his PC wouldn't be killed.
I told him "That's up to you, if you get unlucky your PC could indeed die" and he insisted that his PC's death would sort of ruin the plan he had for him. I said "Yes, that's what
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Anon03/14/26, 11:48No.97706335
either dont play with him at all or make a compromise
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Anon03/14/26, 12:55No.97706546
When you plan to kill off a PC you need to discuss it with a player before the session.
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Anon03/14/26, 13:03No.97706579
I think it's a good thing if a player has an attachment to their character as it means they give some amount of shit. You can take the compliment that he was at least interested in your game enough to make a sincere character, assuming he did it with your rules/world.
However, once the backstory is finalized and submitted, you forfeit most narrative control over to the DM.
Unfortunately you got someone who wanted to write a book about their OC rather than play a game.
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Anon03/14/26, 14:10No.97706809
>"Yes, that's what—
Then OP got shot.
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Anon03/14/26, 14:23No.97706835
>Player doesn't want PC to die
Don't play a game in which character death is a possibility.
Problem solved.
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Anon03/14/26, 14:38No.97706896
If death happens, it happens. If you plan to kill off a PC, plan it with your player. If you talk about how your players might be in danger because you run brutal games(tm), but you actually mean you can't be bothered to prep and sometimes you'll just toss an encounter in there that the players have no hope of winning and also can't prepare from or reasonably flee from, consider taking a break from running and play a little more.In my experience, this sort of interaction usually happens because the DM comes across as overly antagonistic and the player doesn't feel like they'll be allowed to actually get to enjoy their character.
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Anon03/14/26, 15:11No.97706980
player wants to be a novelist not a player.
probably too used to fanfic writing and online freeform RP.>They all lived happily ever after.
I'd imagine the player was not actually happy.>When you plan to kill off a PC you need to discuss it with a player before the session.>If you plan to kill off a PC, plan it with your player.
The dice aren't very communicative about their intentions unfortunately.
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Anon03/14/26, 15:15No.97706993
>I said "Yes, that's what
the player killed op
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Anon03/14/26, 15:22No.97707009
Fulfil the letter and not the spirit.
10000 years of dormancy when he should've died.
Immortality as a million disconnected non-functioning pieces as he slowly disintegrates, spirit trapped in his broken down husk.
Immediate teleportation to some completely unplayable, useless area when he should've died.
Recruitment on death's door by the forces of heaven/hell, immediate removal from proceedings.'But that would ruin the plan I had for my character!'
He already implied nothing short of death would ruin his plan by his one caveat, tough shit.
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Anon03/14/26, 15:34No.97707048
The player knew characters can die in the game you were playing, right?
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Anon03/14/26, 15:35No.97707054
This is why TSR editions call the DM the Referee.The DM should be an impartial judge, dramatizing commentator, and narrator in a match of The Game vs The Players ((not so) secretly rooting for the players because they are the valiant home team champions, but never enough to color his rulings for he is an immaculate judge of utmost integrity). He moves The Game's pieces for it, because it has no hands, and devises the traits, moves, and strategies of The Game, the World and its Creatures, true to his concept of them in his own head because they are unable to think its own thoughts.But if That Orc would run up and gore the wizard with his spear, then the DM HAS to move The Orc's piece up to the wizard and stab at him because that's what The Game's move would be, and if the dice say the orc hits, then The Game has successfully wounded if not perhaps outright killed the Player's beloved wizard character Chuffy Von Salamancer.
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Anon03/14/26, 15:42No.97707087
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Anon03/14/26, 16:33No.97707309
One of my players brought this up to me after the first session. I told her that I'm not going out of my way to kill the party, but if a death happens, it happens. I do have a contingency plan for a TPK where the party will have the ability to battle their way out of the hell.
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Anon03/14/26, 17:48No.97707584
There can be consequences of failure, including combat loss, less severe than character death - such as captivity, gear loss, limb loss or other such persistent injury (which in world with healing magic doesn't have to mean permanent injury). And re-gaining your footing from such setback can be engaging adventure in its own right.
Unfortunately /tg/ won't acklowledge that, because in /tg/'s perspective there's only three options - meat grinder games treating characters as completely disposable, D&D where character death just works as written, and storygames where any loss, setback, or player inconvenience become implicitly impossible.
As for making this work at an actual table, that's down to agreement with the particular people involved. So your chances will vary, but it shouldn't be any worse than trying to push this idea here.
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Anon03/14/26, 18:22No.97707691
By default I'm ok with my PC dying if it comes to combat, but not by GM fiat. And so far all the GMs I played with have also assumed that default.
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Anon03/14/26, 18:44No.97707776
>not even killing the player
ngmi
You should have explained it as
>if you make bad choices and get unlucky your PC could indeed die
Its about player decision making. You as the gm have to be responsible in large part for making sure the information players have to make those decisions is good actionable information though. Some of it is players being able to ask good questions too. If the dialogue breaks down the game breaks down.
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Anon03/14/26, 20:18No.97708220
Sounds like a Critical Role tard who expected a 100% scripted narrative like that is. Fortunately you can avoid almost all of them by running something that isn't D&D.
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Anon03/14/26, 21:46No.97708575
I tell all my Players in a Session 0 that death is a strong possibility in my game if they don't play carefully. The Players almost lost 2 of their PCs due to carelessness, but they already know what they signed up for.
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Anon03/14/26, 23:44No.97709128
The player knew characters can die in the game you were playing, right?
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Anon03/15/26, 05:24No.97710104
Say you won't let his character die and then let his character dieHAHAHAHAHAHAHA