The subject of PC death has come up a lot lately. In one of last gaming sessions before the break, our wizard died after using an area attack and rolling a critical on himself (the Gravehounds snacking on him probably didn’t help much either). Then last night, our warden was killed by Boneshard Skeleton.

My group has some great people who don’t mind dying. The warden in fact wanted to die so he could come back as a sorcerer. Still, I feel kind of guilty when I kill someone. I remember my first character death. It’s easy to feel picked on when you die, even though in most cases, it’s not personal. A gamer friend recently told me that she’s a little bitter because she’s been on a recent streak of playing PCs that don’t last long. This can obviously lower the RPG fun factor.

Besides legitimate PC deaths, we also lost our gnome bard due to J’s computer death and backup failure. It was actually this that got me thinking about how character loss can be good for the game. It changes the dynamic, adds fresh flavor, and keeps me on my toes as the DM. There’s also the fact that sometimes you just don’t bond with your character. Even after several sessions you may not feel connection with what you thought was going to be a great PC. In this case, death can be a blessing, giving the player a chance at finding a better fit.

There’s also the fact that when you’re starting with a new gaming group, you have to go through that get to know you phase, not just with your PCs, but with the players as well. After you’ve played with the same group for awhile, the comfort level makes it easier to roll up a new character. When my group first started, the players didn’t know each other that well, so it was difficult to really try to build a story around their adventuring group. Now they’re more comfortable, so bringing in new characters is more interesting. Last night we had our fighter and ranger drooling over the new, charismatic sorcerer, something none of us would have been comfortable with in the first few sessions.

I will agree that it sucks to lose a character, but new characters make for new, saucy material. Think of your next death as a chance to create something awesome for your setting.