4 PC party questions

[cibet44]

My group is about to start our 3rd AP which will be CotCT. In the previous 2 APs I DMd we had 3 players using 2 PCs each which made parties of 6. In fact we have always done this going back to our 1E days.

Now, as we start our next AP, I am considering going with only a 4 PC party. I assume most groups play this way (since it is the default party size in 3e) so I was wondering how you handle character death in these cases. What do you have the player do when his only character dies early in the game session? Especially at low levels where raise dead is not available this could be quite boring for the player.

I guess one solution would be for the PCs to use hirelings since these are even affordable at 1st level for most groups (3 sp per day for a 1st level warrior).

[Gorbacz]

Playing one character is, was and will be "the norm". D&D/PF is a high lethality game, something I always tell my players ahead. Also, it is a game where death is not the end, past the first few levels - Raise Dead and Reincarnate are your friends.

The only problem comes when somebody invests a lot of time and energy into his character background and fluff and gets him killed at the beginning due to, say, a scythe crit. PF mitigates it somewhat (more HP, more liberal dying rules), but still it can be a pain.

So, I tell my players - don't overdo with attachment to the PC, because he might hit the dirt early on. If somebody dies mid-session and there is no concievable way of introducing a new PC (say, the party stumbles upon a prison cell where the new guy is held), I just tell them to prepare a new PC for the next game.

[cibet44]

Gorbacz wrote:

Playing one character is, was and will be "the norm". D&D/PF is a high lethality game, something I always tell my players ahead.

Thanks for the reply. We are well aware of the lethality of the APs (and D&D in general) that's why we have always played 2 PCs per player.

Gorbacz wrote:

If somebody dies mid-session and there is no concievable way of introducing a new PC (say, the party stumbles upon a prison cell where the new guy is held), I just tell them to prepare a new PC for the next game.

This doesn't work for us since we play 8 hours sessions I won't have a player sit and do nothing for 4+ hours. I guess rolling up a new PC is the only option.

Do your groups ever use hirelings as described in the DMG?

[Cpt_kirstov]

cibet44 wrote:

Gorbacz wrote:

If somebody dies mid-session and there is no concievable way of introducing a new PC (say, the party stumbles upon a prison cell where the new guy is held), I just tell them to prepare a new PC for the next game.

This doesn't work for us since we play 8 hours sessions I won't have a player sit and do nothing for 4+ hours. I guess rolling up a new PC is the only option.

Do your groups ever use hirelings as described in the DMG?

In times that a lethal DM was running things, I would have the group keep a backup PC and level them whenever they leveled their main PC (same gold amount, buy equipment then, ect). If their main PC died, the alternate was found shortly thereafter, with the gear that was on their sheet as of the last level up. (this was to get them back in the game quickly as it was normally the newer player who died, and if they rolled a new PC during game time, they would be interrupting the other players with questions)

[Erik Freund]

Just change the death rules. Right now you die at "negative constitution." Why not die at "negative fifty" or "negative a million"?

It means that coup de grac can still kill people (but you largely control when it's used) and that a TPK is still death-for-all.

If you want more oomph for death, then say that if you ever go below negative CON, but not below negative fifty, then you recieve some horrible scar or debilition (penalty to a stat that requires Restoration?)

There's no reason you have to play by the rules as written. Do what makes sense for your home group.

[wraithstrike]

Just have each player have a backup character. I do it anyway, when I play so I don't just have to sit around.

[LordRiffington]

wraithstrike wrote:

Just have each player have a backup character. I do it anyway, when I play so I don't just have to sit around.

With SD, I had the players create two characters (though not all of them did,) and included those characters in the story. Currently the backup PCs are involved in running the business, but sometimes they'll accompany the group instead of the main PC. I figured that if one of the party dies, then I don't have to shoehorn new characters in to an existing party.

It might still involve a little fudging for the other character to appear when he/she is needed, but I'll jump off that bridge when I come to it.

[godsDMit]

LordRiffington wrote:

With SD, I had the players create two characters (though not all of them did,) and included those characters in the story. Currently the backup PCs are involved in running the business, but sometimes they'll accompany the group instead of the main PC. I figured that if one of the party dies, then I don't have to shoehorn new characters in to an existing party.

It might still involve a little fudging for the other character to appear when he/she is needed, but I'll jump off that bridge when I come to it.

Holy crap. I really like that idea.

[Northron]

The Backup PC is a good way to go. That way the player still has a character that they have put some effort into, and like. And it keeps play relatively smooth, with a minimum of shoe-horning.

LordRiffington, that is a really great idea, one I'd never tried before. I'll have to give that a whirl in the next AP I run. Thanks!