Going Out In a Blaze of Glory: Thoughts on Character Death

June 22, 2017

Hey nerds! You may already know some of us met up this past weekend at Origins, and I’ve got to say it was a blast. I was so excited to get to meet Nerdarchist Dave and Staff Editors Ty and Doug in person. Getting to hang out together was really awesome, and one of the things we got to do was play in a one-shot together, DMed by Kobold Press’s Stephen Rowe (who was coincidentally just in a daily live chat).

Let me lead off by saying it was pretty amazing and I have legitimately never been that into a combat before. But something else happened. That was my little brother, Max, experienced his very first character death.

Mind you, this was a one-shot and he didn’t die until close to the very end of it. He didn’t make this character and he only spent a couple of hours with him before the jaws of death closed around him. He was an excellent sport about it, even joked about how he wanted someone in the party to loot his body (because up until that point he had been looting everything else). It got me thinking about character death.

I, personally, have been very lucky in that regard. I can count the number of times I’ve died in-game on one hand. Even in that one-shot, when I was legitimately trying to go out in a blaze of glory, I got away still breathing. But I would have been all right with it if I hadn’t.

Max handled himself well. He was bummed, and he said so, but he joked and he smiled and he got over it pretty quick and he spent the whole car ride home enthusing about that session and how much fun he had. That was, I’m sure, partially due to the fact he went out like a champion. His very first character death was an incredibly memorable one.

It isn’t always like that. Sometimes you get shot down by goblins at first level. Sometimes you fail a save and drown in a sewer. Sometimes you get a good DM who lets you pick your moment instead of having you die right away, but sometimes that’s not the case and that’s okay, too. However, I think there’s something to be said for that particular method of character death.

It lets you say goodbye. You get to pick a moment where it’s do or die to give your character the send-off you believe she deserves. Even better, it gives you more time to write up your replacement character and get all prepared for that.

Of course, in a one-shot none of that mattered because we were never going to pick these characters back up again. In a situation like that, all bets are off and you don’t feel like you have to be as careful because the stakes are losing your character for the last ten minutes of a game rather than the last ten sessions of one. You take more risks. You step up. Sometimes, you get intense awesome things out of those decisions.

Everybody wants their PC to go out like Duncan Idaho from Dune, taking nineteen Sardaukar out with them in their last burst of triumph. And we’re playing a game, here. It isn’t like dying in the game kills you in real life. Sometimes, caution is a good thing, but other times why not take the opportunity to play to the hilt and live like you’re already dying?

After all, then you get to come back as whomever you want. And doesn’t it just feel like how your character dies is as important to who they are as how they live? Those do-or-die moments when you’re up against the wall and facing insurmountable odds are the kinds of things we daydream about as children. When you actually fight through them, it’s great. When you don’t, it can be just as good. Sometimes, it can be better.

Die doing something brave. Die doing something daring and dastardly. Die doing something stupid but worth it. Die standing up for what you believe in. But die. Experience that at least once. DMs, don’t be afraid to kill people off when the moment is right for it. If it happens to happen, you let that PC go down and give them a moment that’s worthy of them.

Players, give yourself a second to mourn. Excuse yourself to the restroom to feel your feelings, and then get back in the game. Realize you now have stories to tell about how awesome that was and the memory of a character that saw their entire life take shape under your hands.

No more fear. Let yourself be free, at least once, and run the risk of taking the fall for it. That’s living. That is the kind of thing that sticks with you long after you leave the table.

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