Player Character Death

This page provides guidance to DMs who need to know what to do when a player character dies. If you are not a Dungeon Master, why spoil your fun ... go on back. That said, much of the lore of death is well known in story and song, so a decent lore check will likely reveal much of the following.

Note: Here is what players know about this topic based on the house rules.

What to do in the very moment of PC death?

Players should still post daily when they are dead, and DMs need to give them engaging things to do. Certainly the dead PC can speak, but will not be heard by the living unless the living PC has some special way to do so. He/she may talk about how weird it feels, any worries he or she has, etc. Living players are not supposed to reply to the dead person's post as, well, the PC is dead.

Email the player with the dead PC and explain that they should post, but can't communicate with the others. They're basically a spirit. Incorporeal. We have no hard and fast rules here, just that the dead PC is dead. :) So he shouldn't generally do anything a dead person shouldn't be able to do. However, the DM should still engage the dead player. Ideas:

1) The dead soul is actually now in the Realm of Shadows, and should see the Wold around them as grey and colorless. Except for the rivulets of Woldsblood that lace the landscape. A dead bloodwitch will recognize these rivulets as ley lines. The dead soul will be drawn to the Woldsblood. This attraction can simply be roleplayed, or the DM can make the dead PC make a Will save to resist being drawn into the nearest rivulet. Living PCs who can see into the Ethereal Plane / Realm of Shadows may catch a glimpse of the dead.

2) The DM may allow the dead PC, in the manner of a poltergeist, have some small effect on the Wold. If the dead PC tries to influence the Wold, describe their efforts as a shiver or an object trembling. YOu might even allow them to make Aid Another checks that offer only a +1.

3) If the PC enters Woldsblood, maybe describe the journey to Gargul's Halls on the endless Woldsblood Sea. Or engage them with flashbacks to their past life.

Another important thing to do after a player character death: Contact the Powers That Be! Coordinate with them for the right time to bring back the character. (Sooner is better; we do not want to lose players who get tired of sitting around dead.) The PTB will want to knwo the circumstances of the death, and especially if it happened through a foolish error. Gargul hates when that happens.

Who gets raised in the Wold?

As a pretty strict rule, only adventurers. Almost never, NPCs.

Notes that a raise is not just a diamond and a spell in the Wold. It is an actual encounter with the God of Life and Death. And he holds players accountable. Gargul has a philosophy that most people have a thread, a path, and they die when they are supposed to. Some people have special fates, and sometimes they die before they are supposed to. As it turns out, most of those with special fates are heroes in the Wold. He is willing to return these people to life. But he is generally UNWILLING to return anyone else, since it is "their time."

How do you handle the raise in game?

You may want to send an email to the players and explain how things will go.

Players can always use the typical raise-type spells to get the job done. Access to Gargul should not be hard. Contact other Plane, Divination, Shadow Walk, even a heartfelt (nonmagical) prayer would suffice. And no expensive components are needed for casting a raise spell. Gargul will extract his price later. :-)

Know Religion or Bardic Lore would reveal ways for heroes to reach out to Gargul for a raise, based on the many legends surrounding other resurrections. A story about how a low level group just said a prayer, for example.

In general, after contacting Gargul in some way, such as a Raise Dead spell, then either a portal opens to the Realm of Shadows (and players can enter) or the entire party is whisked away to Gargul's throne. I do not prefer the portal method, because a player may not want to enter. But it is an option, and it may be that for RP reasons, a character may need to avoid a visit (for example, they are a bloodwitch, or a druid who has used reincarnate, or a PC who has good reason to fear the reaper).

If you're ready for the trip to Gargul, then you hand the reigns to the Campaign DM or to an Assistant Campaign DM, who plays Gargul. The PTB becomes the DM for a few days. He will pick up the players, take them to Gargul, handle the resurrection and all that goes with that and deliver them back to where they were before afterwards. So basically you the DM get a vacation from DMing for a few days while the ACDM handling the resurrection becomes the DM for all that.

A visit with Gargul

The entire event will likely take 1-2 weeks. It is possible that the party will encounter Gimp, Gargul's impish minion, either before or during the encounter. In general, the interview will go something like this (very generalized):

Flavor post with detail on the Realm of Shadows, Gimp, appearing before the Throne, etc.

Gargul appears, with the soul of the dead person in tow. Gargul asks the dead PC how they died. Asks each PC in turn to add their perspective. Asks if this was a preventable death or a matter of chance, overpowering force, mishap, or mistake.

Gargul responds to what each PC says, then summarizes the situation. Asks what each member of the party would give up for this raise. Depending on the circumstances, Gargul may accept they they offer, or require something else, or impose a penalty or price, or even reward the party if he is especially pleased with them.

Finally, Gargul offer the moral of the story, maybe asks for a commitment to better future behavior, send them home. He may require better teamwork, or better communication, or some other improvement.

Gargul does not suffer fools gladly. He is sensitive to disrespect or backtalk. One time he caused an insolent PC's tongue to fall out.

After the encounter, Gargul returns the party to exactly where they started.

One final caveat: If a PC dies in Koshe Marr, the party gets to visit Marteus if they want to raise their friend. This is always a very unpleasant experience.