3 Wise DMs

When Is It OK to Kill a Player Character and What Do You Do Next?


Listen Later

Player character deaths happen in all Dungeons and Dragons games and other TTRPGs … don’t they? Should you be worried about killing PCs, or is it fine to let the dice fall where they may? When is it OK to kill a character and how do you make sure the player is still into the game with their new PC? Is it even the DM’s choice?

These questions come to us from a reader, but they’re not as simple as they may first sound. Sure, let the dice fall where they may and if characters die, so be it … But is that always the best thing to do? We think of ourselves as “if it dies, it dies” DMs, but at the same time, we really haven’t killed many PCs in any of our 5E games.

Listen in to hear how Thorin, Tony and Dave handle character death and when/how/why it is OK to kill a player character.

1:00 Listener question: Is there ever a good time to kill a character? How to move forward after that?

2:00 Whether or not a player dies is not up to the DM, it’s a consequence of the situation

4:00 Have any of us actually killed a character in 5E? Well, one of us has

10:00 It is hard to permanently kill a player in 5E

17:00 Will D&D 5E remove short rests from the game?

21:00 Do players want their characters to die more often? Is that the environment you want in your game?

26:00 Is PC death the most interesting thing that can happen in this situation?

31:00 The issue with undoing too many deaths: There need to be problems magic can’t just solve

34:00 When is it OK to kill a PC in a way that can’t be undone (i.e., Finger of Death or Disintegrate)?

36:00 The fear of character death is more useful than actual player character death

43:00 Before you kill a character “for plot reasons,” make sure their player is on-board with the plan

49:00 What do you do after a player character dies?

56:00 How do you introduce the new character?

59:00 A process for fitting new player characters into existing campaigns

101:00 Is there ever an appropriate time to TPK a party?

65:00 Final thoughts

View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

3 Wise DMsBy The 3 Wise DMs

  • 4.9
  • 4.9
  • 4.9
  • 4.9
  • 4.9

4.9

46 ratings


More shows like 3 Wise DMs

View all
Nerd Poker by Nerd Poker

Nerd Poker

2,511 Listeners

Stuff They Don't Want You To Know by iHeartPodcasts

Stuff They Don't Want You To Know

10,213 Listeners

Dungeon Master’s Block by The Block Party Network

Dungeon Master’s Block

584 Listeners

The Adventure Zone by The McElroys

The Adventure Zone

35,436 Listeners

Mastering Dungeons by Mastering Dungeons

Mastering Dungeons

168 Listeners

Gnomecast by Gnomecast

Gnomecast

18 Listeners

The Lazy RPG Podcast - D&D and RPG News and GM Prep from Sly Flourish by mike@slyflourish.com

The Lazy RPG Podcast - D&D and RPG News and GM Prep from Sly Flourish

176 Listeners

Dungeon Master of None by Robert Guthrie & Matt Drwenski

Dungeon Master of None

139 Listeners

Not Another D&D Podcast by Headgum

Not Another D&D Podcast

10,042 Listeners

Morrus’ Unofficial Tabletop RPG Talk by EN Publishing

Morrus’ Unofficial Tabletop RPG Talk

31 Listeners

Critical Role by Critical Role

Critical Role

10,439 Listeners

Dungeons & Dragons Lorecast by DnD Lorecast

Dungeons & Dragons Lorecast

96 Listeners

The Eldritch Lorecast by Ghostfire Gaming

The Eldritch Lorecast

44 Listeners

THAC0 with Advantage by THAC0 with Advantage

THAC0 with Advantage

3 Listeners

Worlds Beyond Number by Fortunate Horse, Worlds Beyond Number

Worlds Beyond Number

2,819 Listeners