How did you, DMs and players, deal with the love and care we put into our characters and the (desired) reality of Athas which is supposed to be harsh and deadly, i.e. your character can constantly die.
Athas is not Forgotten Realms, thus no cornershop ressurection for the PCs.
So how do you deal with player death?
Make it look harsh and deadly yet in the final analysis it’s not deadly enough to require ressurects (but the illusion is maintained and the players are fooled yet happy) ...
or find a way to indeed ressurect those PCs…
or constantly create new PCs?

“Well Damn, I liked that character. Oh well of to the crematorium”

So far those characters that have survived the first few brush’s with death have become the long term survivors. It’s the new bodies that keep getting killed, not the beloved ones.

Character trees. Not sure how they would work in 4e? Anyone try them?

I haven’t played 4ed. yet, but the character trees worked fine in 3.5. Speaking from a player’s perspective, character death isn’t such a big deal when you’ve got another character ready to go. Character death is a problem when it happens for stupid reasons. If bandits shoot fire arrows at your caravan, and you use too much water to put it out, the party shouldn’t automatically die of dehydration. There should be a chance to harvest some cactus, fight a bog wader for its puddle, fight a tribe of giants for access to their oasis. I’m not saying the party should automatically have access to what they need to survive, but there should be a chance.

Character tree. I’ve also used this system for post-apoc genre (Gamma World using the Alternity mechanic) which I tend to run rather lethal campaigns in. Nothing beats this system. There’s no illusion… death happens. Sometimes it’s glorious… typically it is brutal and cold.
Good Gaming!
-Jason

In a new campaign I’m starting (with some more seasoned AD&D 2E players) I will start using character trees eventually.
First let them build a character they really like, and introduce them to Dark Sun. When the first bodies hit the ground (and they will), I will let them create three more….unless the story somehow would make it believable to ressurect someone.
In past experiences with a more rookie group of players, I had to be brutal to let them see they could not get away with things they used to pull of in other campaign settings.

On one hand, I certainly hope that the power of the resurrection spell will be limited in 4Ed, I’d like to see that you need more than a fingernail to resurrect someone. My veteran players are way too high level to be afraid of death. A nice way to get this over with is the use of spells like Trap the Soul or animate them as undead before they raise them.

On the other hand, we’re almost reaching epic level. My view as a DM is that it would be a pity that an epic level character has practically no background and track record. And it’s hard to get a new epic level character appear from out of nowhere and fit in the actual roleplay. Roleplaying is more about having fun with friends, getting together through a story, using what they achieved personally and as a group, without having to be too puristic about game rules and killing each other.

My two cents of course….

I’ve used several tactics involved with this issue.

The first is to have a handful of characters, somewhat like a character tree, which are somehow acquainted but do not adventure together in gaming terms. With the death of one character, perhaps in the middle of a campaign, it is possible to bring another character from this “tree” into the game without a huge interruption. For example: “Your half-elf ranger staggers a few feet and falls to the ground. With one hand he attempts to brace himself against the inevitable; with the other he tightly grasps the burrwood arrow shaft that has buried itself deep into his chest. He can feel the poison begin to trace through his body, and he begins to pale. Slowly he allows himself to lie upon the warm sands like a man weary from days of travel. His legs and arms tingle from the loss of blood, and with one final breath, he closes his eyes and allows his soul to return the elements.

The remainder of the party performs a burial ritual as best as possible, with haste to retreat back to some sort of civilization. It is here, in the local market that they unexpectedly run into the human bard, whom the half-elf had mentioned many times. They ask him to join in their adventures and with relief, they find that he is willing to complete their party.”

The second tactic I use is much like paddymac stated. As the DM, my job is to guide the PC’s in their adventure. I will not hold their hand and keep them from falling, but I will offer them a hand in getting back on their feet. Give them a chance to survive – somehow. If they are given a chance to somehow “rescue” themselves, the reward of living is that much sweeter, and if they still die, at least they did so on their own terms, and not yours.

I’d like some more explanation of the character tree references that people are making.

In the past I’ve had people make 2 characters. One is the primary, and one as secondary. Secondary gets 60% of all xp that the primary gets, and the two can be swapped out during realistic breaks, at which point he primary would get the 60% of the secondary. Also keeps people from being bored to death of playing the same character. This limits SOME of the pain of a character dying.

Also, I like to build in a lot of contacts. Feels more like an earned res instead of a gimme.

@Fezzik: On p.39 of the Original DS Boxed Set: “Character Trees: DARK SUN campaigns are set in a violent world. Powerful magics and psionics, desperate hordes of raiders, and even the unforgiving desert wastes all conspire against player character’s death is not at all uncommon on Athas, nor is it uncommon for player characters in DARK SUN campaigns.
Replacing a fallen player character of high level with a novice first level character is never satisfying for the player. Also, where this new character fits into the plot is usually contrived on the spot.
In DARK SUN campaigns, players are encouraged to use character trees, where they play with only one character at a time, but they have four to call upon at the beginning of any particular adventure.
In brief, a character tree consists of one active character (which the player is using as his player character) and three inactive characters. The active character takes part in the adventure, performing actions in the campaign world. When a new adventure begins, the player may switch to one of his inactive characters or keep his previously active character to continue play.” Just FYI. I think you’ve got a good system too for playing multiple characters.

Well…interestingly enough I had a player who died once in two consecutive sessions…I tell my players to keep me posted on their HP (he didn’t)…once they are fairly low I start rolling% on theNPC to decide if they change target or someting else.
This character is a Kreen Psychic Warrior who has never tasted elven flesh because he doesn’t want to…so…both times he died the diety of Kreen’s appeared and told him that he is no ready to die until he hunts Elves and taste and eat Elves.
I understand liking character and DS being very harsh…I do not like to kill PC..I love to toy with them but no kill…as DM is your total perrogative what you want to do.

I won’t hold their hands as a DM, but there are frequently options. If a priest is not capable of Raising them in the group then they may consider a templar. Most templars are willing to do most anything… for a price. Hell, that can be a good way to eliminate a stockpile of accumulated treasure OR a whole new adventure filling the demand or cost of the templar!