Dungeon Design Tips: Find A Reason For PCs To Survive (And Try Again)

In the early days of RPGs, death walked with every character as a constant companion. All it took was a single bad tumble of the dice, or the wrong word spoken to the wrong NPC, and it was time to roll up a new character. As games have grown and changed, though, a lot of us have gravitated toward the party-as-main-characters model, where the party are the cast of the novel that is your campaign.

However, while it's a lot harder to kill PCs in most modern games (as long as you aren't playing an OSR game, or something deliberately lethal), it can still happen. Which is why it's a good idea to make sure you have something in your back pocket in case the dice roll hard against your players, but you don't want their stories to be cut short just yet.

You're in a dungeon, after all.

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To The Dungeons With Them!

Consider, just for a moment, some of the standard low-level adventures that you often go on. We've all likely been through:

- Bandit hunting

- The goblin cave

- Orc raids

- An evil cult

There are dozens of other options out there, but these will work to illustrate what I'm talking about. So, your players have gone off on one of these missions, and they either bit off more than they could chew, or the dice really went against them, but they find themselves on the wrong end of the stick. If that's the case, ask what happens to prevent this from being the end of their stories.

- The bandits gather the party's gear, and haul in their unconscious bodies. They can always kill them later, but anyone with the skill and bravery they showed might be worth a ransom... the boss is the one who gets to decide that. So they get their wounds treated, and might have to escape from a stockade in order to get their gear back, and take the fight to the bandits.

- The goblins felled the ones who thought they could stop them. They could just kill them, but they want to play with them. Dragging the party to the shaman so they can be healed, the party is now forced to participate in gladiatorial combat for the goblins' amusement, or they get shoved into a cage with wargs, or something else deeply dangerous. An opportunity to escape and retake the advantage is what they need... but will they get the chance?

- The orcs managed to smash the party. Do they awaken hours later, their gear taken, but each of them left with a weapon as a sign of respect? Or do the orcs take the party, healing their captives whom they intend to make into slaves, as is their right as the victors in combat?

- The cult realizes the party is going to be a serious problem... but it's also what they represent. They need to interrogate them to find out who else knows about the cult, and who will be expecting the party to surface again. They may need to torture them, and as we saw in The Princess Bride, they need to be healthy before the torture starts. And when the cult has all the information they need, the party will make for potent sacrifices... they just need to escape before that happens.

Let's see... what other plot twists can we create?

Of course, low levels aren't the only times characters can meet unfortunate or unexpected ends. Especially since high-level encounters can feel like a game of rocket tag where one bad save can lead to your character being down for the count.

And while death may not be the end in a lot of RPGs, there are things you can do to make their escape from the jaws of defeat more dramatic than just forking over some diamond dust and having a cleric cast a spell... especially if you wind up with a TPK. So consider the types of creatures your party is fighting, the current plot they're part of, or even the location they happen to be in.

As an example, if your characters are involved in conflict with fey, is there some obscure rule of hospitality that means they cannot be slain outright? Must this matter be escalated to one of the high nobles, and a ruling established? Perhaps requiring a trial by combat, allowing the party to take their best shot in a different arena?

Alternatively, if you're running a more traditional, Chosen One sort of game that expects these specific characters to press forward and save the world, do they have the ability to try to escape from the Underworld? While this might become a secondary dungeon crawl, or a combat against one of the psychopomps that try to usher souls to the other side, it can give your players a sense of purpose and power over their own deaths by having to fight their way back to their bodies... literally as well as metaphorically. And if this is a plot you intend to run, I'd recommend checking out The Black Ballad by Storyteller's Forge, as it's a great resource for this sort of thing. There's also a Pathfinder Conversion Pack, which can be useful.

Lastly, consider the place the party meets their ends. If they're in a place that's rife with undeath, does dying in this location curse someone, giving them a kind of dark resurrection? Perhaps adding one of the half-dead racial templates found in my supplement Moüd, City of Bones (available for Pathfinder and DND 5E)? If they're on holy ground, are they offered a bargain by the god, goddess, devil, or demon this place is dedicated to (or was dedicated to, if it's been forgotten)?

It All Depends On You And Your Game

Some groups like it when death has teeth, and the end is final unless someone survives and manages to resurrect or reincarnate the dead or defeated party members. However, it's often a good idea to have some dynamic plans so that defeat and death don't just feel like an arbitrary roll of the die... especially if that puts major kinks into the story you're all trying to tell!

But as with all things, make sure you talk this over with your group to be sure you're all on the same page before it's time to start rolling dice.

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The Reincarnated

The forest looked different through her new eyes. The edges were softer, fuzzier, but the shadows were non-existent. The smells had changed as well; the familiar scents brought into such clarity that they were nearly overwhelming. Her hands were thicker, her feet heavier, and her former grace had deserted her. It had taken some getting used to, but she was adjusting, and working the old skills back into her new muscles.

 

A twig snapped, and in a fluid motion she turned and raised her bow, twin arrows nocked. Three of the border wardens stood in the branches, their own bows in hand, staring down at her with the blank expressions of executioners.

 

"Avoril, Shentar," she said, nodding at them. "It is good to see you."

 

The forest wardens' eyes twitched, but they betrayed no other surprise.

 

"How do you know our names, grayskin?" Avoril demanded.

 

"When last our paths crossed, you told me I had the most beautiful eyes in the forest," she said, baring her now much-larger teeth. "You clasped my hand, and told me to be safe. And I told you I would return, one way or another."

 

"Isandra?" Avoril said, her name a whisper. His aim shook, and he lowered the yew, staring at her.

 

"Though I may not look it," she said, slowly letting the tension off her own bowstring. "There is much to tell. I would prefer to do it without another death staring at me, if you would oblige?"

 

It is quite a tale.

Shedding Your Skin

Death is not the end in most of our fantasy games, but when most of us think of characters who have died and been brought back, we tend to think of a resurrection spell. Characters who have been brought back that way fall into The Returned... but the Reincarnated come with their own unique challenges and benefits.

For those who've never had a character subjected to the spell, reincarnation creates a fresh, young adult body for the subject. However, what race that body is will often vary quite widely, which can lead to some... interesting new perspectives.

Please be an elf... please be an elf...

The difficulty with using reincarnation as a way to resurrect a character is that if you wind up with a vastly different race, it might screw up what your character was built to do. A dexterous archer might find themselves trapped in a clumsy body that can no longer use the delicate weapons they once did. A potent sorcerer might find the creature they rise as no longer possesses the same force of personality they did in their old self. And so on, and so forth.

As a storytelling mechanic, however, a reincarnation spell can be a godsend. Particularly if you're looking to play out a particularly unusual tale in an unfamiliar skin.

For example, how would an elf who'd fought orcs for nearly a century react to suddenly finding themselves encased in their gray skin? What lessons would they learn seeing their "enemy" with their guard down, or experiencing the sort of treatment they once participated in from the other side of the coin? How would a goblin, who was held as suspicious and dangerous, react to people suddenly ignoring them because they were resurrected as a halfling? How would they react to losing their darkvision, or no longer being able to eat many of the things they once enjoyed? Would their sense of smell be different? Their sense of hearing? The list goes on and on.

The other useful thing you can do with a character who's been reincarnated is that it allows you to play certain races without the baggage that may normally come with someone raised in particular parts of the world, or who has been part of a certain community. For example, if you wanted to play a goblin, a bugbear, a gnoll, a lizardfolk, a kobold, or even a troglodyte (and that's just off the basic list of potential races), you could have begun life as someone else before dying heroically and being reincarnated as thanks for their service. Maybe someone who was born sickly made a bargain with a spellcaster, asking only for a new chance at a fresh life, and they got what they asked for in a way they didn't expect when the 90-pound human arose as a 300-pound bugbear. There's all sorts of possible story arcs you can play with, here!

And for those who want to have a Dr. Who-ish aspect to their characters, the Reincarnated Druid out of Ultimate Magic allows you to reincarnate over and over again as a class feature, making it particularly difficult to keep you dead for any real length of time.

On that note, you may want to check out my 5 Tips For Playing Better Druids before you take that archetype for a spin. And, as always, if you haven't signed up for my newsletter yet, please take a few moments to do that today!

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That's all for this installment of Unusual Character Concepts. Hopefully this one gave you something to chew over, whether you're a player, or a game master.

For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio. Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my alley cat noir novel Marked Territory, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my most recent collection of short stories The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now Pinterest as well! To support my work, consider Buying Me a Ko-Fi, or heading to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron. That one helps ensure you get more Improved Initiative, and it means you'll get my regular, monthly giveaways as a bonus!

Fun With Raise Dead, Resurrection, and Reincarnation (in Pathfinder)

Death is a constant threat hanging over anyone who steps out their front door with the intention of heeding the call to adventure. Whether it's on the end of a hobgoblin's mace, or in the fiery jaws of a dragon, death is waiting to pounce at any moment. But if you are powerful enough, or rich enough, it's possible that you could get a second chance. A chance to come back from death's country, and to continue on your adventure. But sometimes the person who gets up is not the same person who fell... or, at least, not entirely.

When you rise, a part of you stays in the grave.

The Potential of Resurrection, Reincarnation, and Possession

So, if you get dead in Pathfinder, the most common means to bring you back is a basic raise dead spell. It's a 5th-level cleric spell, it will run you 5k gp in components, and it requires a part of your body. The major sticking point, though, is that you have to be raised a number of days after you died equal to the caster level of the person performing the spell, or it's not an option. Resurrection  is a 7th-level spell, runs you 10k gp in components, but it can take place 10 years per level after the target died. Neither of these spells will resurrect someone who died of old age, but other than that you should be golden. Reincarnation is the cheapest option at 1k gp worth of oils, and it's also the lowest-level since it's a 4th-level druid spell. Of course, reincarnation rolls the wheel of random chance, putting you into a new body that may be very different from your old one.

Being dead is a big deal, and it comes with a lot of questions. For instance, how would a character be changed by a few days in hell? What about ten years, or twenty, or fifty? And more importantly, what would they bring back with them once they've been raised? How would they react if they died of old age as an elf, but were reincarnated as a human with centuries of accumulated knowledge and skills?

It's all right, Lianna. Just cut his throat... it's probably for the best.

While there's nothing in the rules that says being dead changes you at all, or that you recall where you went to, there's nothing that prevents those things, either. So if your character has had a brush with death, take a moment to ask yourself how it changed them. What was their purpose in returning to the mortal coil? Do they want to return to the same afterlife the next time they die, or are they eager to make sure the next time they stand in judgment that they go through a different door? Are they different now than they were before? More humble? More afraid? More savage? Do they possess strange powers they didn't have before they died (as an ideal origin story for a witch or an oracle)? Did they receive a new lease on life to go along with a new face, trying to become someone completely different than they once were?

These aren't questions that have to wait for a spot of bad luck in the campaign, either. Death is an ever-present threat in the game, and it's possible you died and came back before you ever came on the scene as a 1st-level PC. Perhaps you were fortunate enough to come from a rich or influential family, or you were unfortunate enough to make a deal with something that has haunted you for the rest of your life, but you've managed to stay above ground... for the time being. That's where traits like possessed can add a great deal of flavor to your character, especially if you combine them with feats like the Possessed Hand tree. These create the mechanical backing that something is sharing your body with you, and occasionally acts of its own volition. The Haunted oracle curse might also represent some malign force that clung to your soul on its way back to your body. You could even embrace a character with the undead or destined bloodline, implying there are forces beyond this world keeping them on this plane until their task (whatever it is) has been completed.

If this is a topic that captures your interest, you might also want to check out Undoing Character Death: Unique Methods of Resurrection in Pathfinder.

Well, that's all for this week's Fluff post. Hopefully it gave folks some ideas for interesting story lines, or unusual characters. If you want to check out additional content from me, take a gander at my Gamers archive. It's going to grow steadily, so check back in from time to time. If you want to keep up on all my latest posts, then follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter. Lastly, if you want to support me and my blog, head over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page. All I ask is a $1 pledge per month, and that gets you both my everlasting gratitude, and a small pile of gamer swag as a thank you.