Permanent Character Deaths Are Wasted Potential

Bloody battles to the death. With his very last strength, the paladin defeats the nightwalker and looks around. At whose expense was this victory won? Some of his closest friends lie motionless. They will never raise their tankards at the victory feast. Instead, they will become immortal—through the songs that tell of their sacrifice.

Permanent character deaths are a fixture of TTRPGs. They can be epic, sad, and can stay with and inspire players for a very long time. In my opinion, though, they should be used very sparingly. When sensible and possible, a Dungeon Master should try to find ways to bring characters back to life.

In the following post, I'll explain why I consider permanent character deaths to be an exception—what value the alternative offers, and how best to use it.

As usual, I look at this topic from the perspective of a Dungeon Master running a homebrew world. My approach applies especially well to campaigns where access to resurrection is very limited—whether because it's exceptionally powerful magic or because that kind of magic is forbidden.

The Downsides of Permanent Character Deaths

When a character shuffles off this mortal coil, it has a major impact on the players, the Dungeon Master, and the relationship between both parties.

Suppose the players decide to complete a seemingly reasonable quest, only to end up carrying one or two characters to their graves after a bloody battle against an overwhelming enemy. If these are characters the players have played for a long time, all eyes inevitably turn to the Dungeon Master. Because ultimately, the DM decides how difficult a fight is. This is especially true for homebrew campaigns. The DM always bears a certain amount of responsibility for character deaths.

On top of that, the DM regularly prepares sessions and has most likely accumulated a considerable collection of ideas to challenge the character with situations tailored specifically to them. These situations are meant to force the character into difficult decisions and thereby, ultimately, into profound change.

Whether all these ideas are realistic is questionable. Whether the DM will ever get the chance to try them out is equally uncertain. What is certain, however, is that if that very character dies permanently, most of those ideas end up on the imaginary scrap heap. That's not just true for the DM—the affected player also had ideas and expectations for the character's journey, which are suddenly destroyed.

That's not just a shame, it's a waste, and it also means the DM and players now have to go through the effort of designing a new character, integrating them into the world, and starting over from scratch.

So it's fair to say that character deaths can lead to frustration. In any case, they lead to a significant amount of extra work for the DM and players—work we naturally all want to avoid.

A Turning Point Instead of a Dead End

If the players run out of options and have no way to bring a beloved character back to life, it's ultimately up to the DM to decide their fate. By deciding to give the character no chance of return, the dramatic momentum dies too.

That momentum only really built up energy during the fight to the death. The DM shouldn't let that energy fizzle out, but instead transform it into a profound change in the character or the story. The radical end of a character should be exchanged for a profound turning point.

Because in this moment, the DM and the player get a unique opportunity to put the character through a radical transformation and steer them in a completely new direction, without it feeling artificial.

• A rival offers her magical powers—in exchange for a destructive artifact previously in the party's possession.

• A beloved NPC offers to sacrifice their own life in a resurrection ritual.

• The deceased is given the chance to fight their way back into the world of the living from the afterlife, at the cost of their mind and health.

• A deity offers to resurrect the deceased character in exchange for an oath.

To make a resurrection meaningful, the rule is: everything has its price, and the decision about that price lies with the players. This not only puts the responsibility for a character's death directly into the players' hands, it also turns it into a genuine choice between two evils. Because if the price cannot or will not be paid, permanent death must remain a real possibility.

The Interplay of Character and Game

The influence on game mechanics, such as class and race, are among the DM's most powerful tools here.

In traditional prose, there's a distinction between character and plot. Countless discussions try to decide which of the two aspects is more important to a story. Robert McKee gives a conciliatory answer in his book Story.

According to McKee, neither is more important, because they define each other. That means a character's fundamental traits determine their actions in the story. Their actions, in turn, create meaningful turning points that change the character's traits.

In our case, players take on the actions of their character. Consequently, it stands to reason that meaningful turning points and character development should become visible through a change in the underlying game mechanics.

This interaction goes both ways. If we swap out mechanics, for example, without adjusting the character, the player would lose the ability to translate certain character traits into actions.

Character development and game mechanics are closely linked. If one changes, the other should follow as closely as possible. If a character dies and finds their way back to life through a profound experience, that's a meaningful experience and should be translated into game mechanics.

Working Together With Players

The sum of these parts is that a player's decisions manifest in their character and thereby become tangible proof of consequences in the world. What more could players want?

The fact that your own character is a collection of testimonies to the decisions of the past weeks, months, or even years is not only immensely rewarding, it also makes the character unique.

Because of this close bond, the needs of the affected player should be given full consideration when designing the turning point. Has the person ever mentioned what development they'd find interesting for their character? What has been the throughline so far that can now be deliberately turned? When in doubt, it's worth deliberately asking whether the person is even interested in such a change.

The more profound the intended turning point, the better it is to work closely with the person. Of course, it can also happen that the player or character doesn't want the journey to continue at all. At this point, the DM has to decide either to provide enough options for the turning point or to work together with the affected person.

Conclusion

Character deaths should only be a dead end in exceptional cases. Instead, a turning point in the form of a meaningful resurrection gives players and the DM a unique chance to put the character through radical change without breaking the narrative.

That not only saves nerves, sweat, and tears—it's also incredibly exciting and creates stories for the ages.