3 Strategies For Coming Back From a TPK

Hanging over nearly every encounter in every RPG is the potential that none of the player characters survive this fight, this trap, or this riddle contest with a devil. Whether the characters make bad decisions, the dice are against them, or something goes horribly awry, there's a chance that everyone winds up dead. It might be a remote chance in some circumstances, but it's usually in the background, watching and waiting.

The problem with a total party kill is, of course, that it severs the story you were all trying to tell, and it leaves everyone in a difficult position. The players need to come up with motivation to make new characters who want to pick up where the others left off, and the Game Master has to figure out some way to accommodate that new party so the story can keep going.

That's a massive headache, so I thought that this week I'd expand on some of the thoughts I had forever and a day ago in Undoing Character Death, and talk about methods and ideas for moving on/fixing a TPK so your game can continue, and you can finish the story you were all collectively telling.

Would you look at that? Seems the game goes on...

Before we get into the nitty gritty this week, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron!

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Avoid Death Entirely

The first, and most obvious, solution to dealing with a TPK is to instead have a TPL... Total Party Loss. The PCs still came out on the losing end of the encounter, but for one reason or another they all survived to tell the tale. So the characters are still in the game, but now they're at a significant disadvantage, and they've got to try to overcome their current circumstances.

Look, I'm just saying, you ain't worth much if I bring you in dead.

As a for-instance, say the party was brought down by a bandit ambush. If the PCs are low enough level, the bandits might just take any of their valuable gear, and move on, leaving them where they fell. After all, the penalty for murder is a lot worse than the penalty for highway robbery, so they might just take what they want and move on. If the PCs were fighting a cult, perhaps the cult wants to sacrifice them, so they have to keep the PCs alive for now. If the enemy was from another faction, perhaps they want to trade the PCs to a more powerful villain, or they might even want to try to sell them into slavery.

Whatever the reason, the PCs are at least not killed, and they might actively be kept alive to serve a purpose.

This is not a perfect solution, of course. After all, animals like manticores, mindless foes like undead or automatons, and creatures who hate the PCs may not wish to allow them to live. But there are a lot of TPKs that can be fixed by simply moving to a TPL instead. Especially because the PCs then have to regroup, and come up with new plans like how they're going to escape captivity, how they're going to get their gear back, and so on. The PCs might also have temporary (or permanent) injuries such as a loss of a hand or eye, or negatives to certain attributes until they can receive proper healing. This can make it feel like the GM isn't just giving the players a get-out-of-dead-free card, maintaining that balance of challenge.

This is also where having friends can help the PCs out a lot, as I mentioned back in The Case For Using Recurring NPCs in Your Game.

"Outsider" Intervention

So, the PCs are well and truly dead. Now what? Well, if the task they've been set is truly important (or if they are pawns in a cosmic game, as often happens in our campaigns), it's possible that some variety of outsider might step in and offer them a chance to try again.

Now, this can be simple or complicated. For example, if your party is slain on holy ground, perhaps they are offered a chance to return to life by the spirit or god who claims that place. This might mark them in some way going forward, requiring them to follow certain vows, or to accomplish certain tasks (mechanically represented by a geas, perhaps). The PCs might be given a chance to flee the afterlife, returning to their bodies, but now there are bounty hunters from the afterworld on their trail to drag them back for judgment. A spirit, a god, or a devil might offer the PCs a chance at life for its own purposes, as well. So even if a devil offers them the bargain, it might be doing so because the PCs are going to inconvenience one of its rivals, potentially creating a power gap that this devil can step into when the PCs achieve their goals. So while it might seem like the devil's bargain is too good to be true, it has its own motives the PCs may not be aware of.

You could make it more complicated, as well, if you want.

You can choose to make this part as complicated as you and your players want, as well. You could even make escaping the underworld a whole arc of the campaign... or a new campaign in and of itself if you check out my earlier post The Black Ballad... A Campaign That Begins Once Your TPK Ends! This particular game went live on BackerKit today, so go check that out if this is something that interests you.

Adding a Template

This is usually something I advocate for when it comes to villain survival after the PCs killed them, but turnabout is fair play when you're the GM. If you want the party to come back, and to come back hard, consider adding a template to them, or altering their creature type... at least temporarily.

Raven 1, going dark.

While you could grab ideas out of I'm Back- 25 Reasons For a Villain's Survival, I'd suggest that any GM who wants to use this particular tactic put a little more effort into making this feel organic. Because whatever template your characters are given should make sense for where they are, who they are, what they're trying to accomplish, and how they died.

For example, ask what it would be like to bring characters back as sentient undead for an arc. Vengeful ghosts, haunted armor, shambling zombies, or wrathful, spellcasting skeletons might be a fun thing to do for a party that was slain in the Forest of Spirits. Having the party reanimated as various golems or cybernetic creatures could work if they were used as subjects by a mad alchemist. Vows that allow them to temporarily become celestial or infernal creatures could be fun as well! Just ask yourself if this is a template you want everyone to have for the rest of the campaign, or if there will be a quest to undo this state of being once the immediate goal is achieved.

For Pathfinder players, corruptions are a ideal for this. These sets of dark powers put a burden on the character, while also giving them some additional abilities, and they are an ideal way to explain why someone isn't dead. Additionally, corruptions can be removed with time and effort, making them an even better choice than a template for this strategy. For those who are interested in them, consider the following articles as a jumping off point:

- 5 Classes To Pair With The Shadowbound Corruption

- 5 Classes To Pair With The Promethean Corruption

Paying The Iron Price

It really isn't all that expensive.

While that's all for my suggestions on coming back from a TPK today, I did want to make folks aware of something new that dropped recently. The Price of Iron is a module I wrote over a year ago for High Level Games, and it's a DND 5E adventure. When the party is offered a sack of silver and a masterfully crafted cold iron weapon each for a single night's work guarding a warehouse, it seems too good to be true. Of course, when portals to other realities begin to open, and the servants of a dark fey begin trying to break out, they realize they have quite a challenge before them.

If you've been looking forward to more modules from me, consider picking this one up, and keeping an ear out because I should have another piece that's long overdue finally becoming available in the very near future!

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Moon Pope Monday. To stay on top of all my content and releases, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of the page!

Again, for more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the Azukail Games YouTube channel, or my Daily Motion channel!. Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection 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!

"The Book of Monstrous Might" Now on Kickstarter From Total Party Kill Games!

If you're anything like me, then there are probably some areas of the 5th Edition of Dungeons and Dragons you find frustrating. A lot of it is straightforward, streamlined, easy to learn and easy to play... but there just aren't as many options as you might like. Not just for races (particularly less-traditional, more monstrous ones), but also for tactics and options to help spice things up once initiative has been rolled and it's time to really forge the narrative of your epic tale of fire and blood.

For those of you who really want to expand your options, this project from Total Party Kill Games is definitely something you should get in on.

Trust me, this is going to expand your toolbox in a BIG way!

What is The Book of Monstrous Might?

The short version is that The Book of Monstrous Might is a Kickstarter project from TPK Games that aims to put more options into the hands of players and dungeon masters alike for DND 5th Edition. This gaming tome adds new monsters and monster abilities for DMs to enhance and spice up their campaigns, but it also has new monstrous races for players to dig into and toy around with. And for everyone at the table, it offers new tactical rule sets and options derived from the company's Gold Medal seller Recovery Dice Options.

Speaking of which, click over to the Kickstarter page for The Book of Monstrous Might, and you'll get a code for downloading a copy of Recovery Dice Options absolutely free! Just as a way for you to dip a toe in, and see where the bigger project is going.

Make Your Game That Much Better!

Whether you're running a game in your own setting, or you're adventuring through the pages of a pre-written adventure, the content planned for The Book of Monstrous Might can only enhance your gaming experience. What makes it really useful, though, is that it's a pick-and-choose option. You can use all of it if you want to, or you can just incorporate the parts of it you like. It's entirely up to you how much of its fresh mechanics find their way into your game!

So what are you waiting for? Go back the Kickstarter today!

Also, if you're looking for some grim little scenarios to try out at your table, with or without the new rules you'll soon have in your hands, take a moment to check out the Critical Hits series that I wrote for TPK Games a little while back as well! These include:

- False Valor: A whodunnit style adventure where the party has to find out who killed a young woman in a local farming town before her death re-ignites the dying embers of a war that's three generations done.

- The Curse of Sapphire Lake: The hamlet of Kingsbridge has lain dormant for thirty years, but when it tries to rebuild something dark awakens in the lake. A figure with a bone white mask, and a hunger for destruction that was birthed in the settlement's past. The curse will take more than courage to break, and the secrets go very, very deep.

- Ghosts of Sorrow Marsh: When travelers go missing in the Sorrow Marsh, it will take brave adventurers to find out what's transpiring. Many have strode out boldly, only to vanish into the darkness. Will you find out what terror lurks in the bowels of the marsh?

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Moon Pope Monday!

Again, 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 sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection 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!

The Critical Hits Trilogy From TPK Games is Finally Released!

Most folks who read my blog with any regularity know that in addition to writing books like my recent short story collection The Rejects and my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife, running two blogs, and keeping up an archive of articles over on Vocal, that I also write RPG supplements. And while most of my supplements recently have tended to focus on the fill-in details that DMs need for their games, like pre-made NPCs, or mercenary companies, cults, etc. a lot of folks have been asking when I'm going to actually write some full-on modules.

Well, I have been. And though they've slipped under the radar for the most part, all three of them are finally out, so I thought I'd collect all of them in one place to let my readers know!

And for those who didn't see it last week, well, this is the most recent release!

Critical Hits: How They Came To Be

For those of you not in the know, I wrote three one-shot modules for Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition several years back. While the first two, False Valor and The Curse of Sapphire Lake have been out for a little while now, Ghosts of Sorrow Marsh has finally dropped. So, now that they're all out I figured I'd take a moment to let folks know, and to give you a bit of background on how they came to be.

Every great game needs a little backstory, right?

Our tale begins several years ago. I was sifting through my email in between reviews and posts, when a unique project proposal came across my desk. The client was looking to make a website where dungeon masters could create slick, sleek-looking modules with relatively little effort, and almost no desktop publishing knowledge. However, to provide a kind of proof-of-concept he needed some writers to create modules using the site to show off what could be done with it.

He'd seen some of my other work, and decided to offer me a shot.

Now, writing modules wasn't really something I had a lot of experience with at the time, but if the site was as easy to use as the client claimed I figured it couldn't be too difficult. Especially since he didn't want anything huge; just a simple, one-shot module that could be used to fill an evening. Something he could use as an example, and to give away for free to prospective DMs who joined. With a competitive per-word rate, I told him sure, I'd be able to get something up in fairly short order.

The first module I wrote was actually Ghosts of Sorrow Marsh. A simple module where something dangerous is assaulting the one road into the town of Bracken, and the heroes need to fight off whatever it is, and track it back to its source in order to end the threat. Grim, dark, and dreary, it had a basic hook, a simple setup, and could be played through by experienced players and new ones alike. I was about 80 percent done with the module, and I'd just finished up the text for the adventure's Big Bad, when the client reached out and told me he was shutting down the site. He apologized profusely, gave me a generous kill fee for the project, and wished me luck.

Problem was that I now had a module that was most of the way done, with no one to publish it.

That was, of course, about to change.

I'd been in the game for a while, so I reached out to Total Party Kill Games (whom I'd created feats for in the past), and showed them the module I had. They liked it, but were a little unsure about its length. They really wanted something a bit meatier, which would justify a print run and putting the story out in multiple formats. Rather than re-work the module I had, I offered a counter-proposal; I could write several more modules just like this one, and they could be bundled together. Each one could offer different themes, different hooks, and different tones, the collection acting as a kind of gaming sample platter for DMs and players who might want to try a horror game, a murder mystery, etc., but who didn't want to commit to an entire campaign.

Said idea was approved, and that's how the Critical Hits series came to be!

Why Are There Only Three?

It's been several years since the project was first given the okay, and as sometimes happens in publishing there were snags. Existing projects had to be rearranged due to new editions coming out, creative teams got reshuffled, and so on, and so forth. As I said, despite Ghosts of Sorrow Marsh being the original module that kicked off the whole project, it was only just released at the tail end of this initial run.

And while I don't have anything in the pipe right now, that could all change depending on you my dear readers.

What can we do?

As I confided to my friends when I first started working on these (I finished all three modules over the course of the summer, by the by), I would be more than happy to keep creating modules as long as people were playing them. And generally speaking, publishers take notice if they put out a product that starts climbing up the medal scale over at Drive Thru RPG.

So if you've seen these before (or if you're just now finding out about the series, and would like to see it grow), here's what you can do to help. If you have a couple of bucks, by yourself a copy. If you already have a copy, leave a review since that helps more people find the modules. Share the link, and tell your friends about it. And it you've got a gaming podcast, a blog, or a YouTube channel, consider using that platform to help me boost the signal on these. Heck, if you want to do a play through or a review, just email me and I'll make sure you get yourself a reviewer copy of any or all of these!

And I'll do my part to share the signal boost back your way!

And if you're not sure which game would best suit your needs (or if you don't like to buy things blind), I'll do my part to try to guide your decisions.

False Valor: Written second, but released first, this module is a murder-mystery investigation. A girl was killed in a way that resembles the execution method used by war criminals generations ago, and it's got tensions running high. Are the elves starting hostilities again, or is something else happening? This module was meant to show players (particularly newer ones) that hacking and slashing won't solve all your problems, and that you need to find the true enemy before you can hope to fight them.

The Curse of Sapphire Lake: We're only halfway to Halloween, but this one was very specifically meant as a love letter to all my fellow slasher fans out there. An ancient campfire tale stalks the town of Kingsbridge, but is it just a monster from out of the mists, or is there something more going on beneath the surface? Piecing together what's happening now with the events that led the settlement's founder to be slain decades ago could be the key to unlocking what the masked figure stalking the town wants... and what will make it stop.

Ghosts of Sorrow Marsh: Meant to evoke the danger of the world beyond the safety of the walls, and the claustrophobic air of an unknown threat (something I daresay we're all much too familiar with these days), this module is meant to be tense, grim, and a little frightening. Everything is damp, dreary, and the horror of what's truly happening out in the wetlands beyond Bracken can leave players horrified. While it doesn't have mature content, it's the bleak way the module presents what it has that might make it something your group loves, or hates, depending on their tastes. If you're a fan of Dark Souls, Shadow of The Demon Lord, and other grim tales, this one should definitely be on your shelf.

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Moon Pope Monday!

Again, 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 sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection 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!

The Undead Feats Are Now Available From TPK's "Feats of Legend" Series!

I mentioned awhile back that I was working on the Feats of Legend series with TPK Games. The first one to bear my name is The Infernal Feats, and is already out like I mentioned a few weeks ago. However, the next one in the series has been released, and it's one that players and DMs alike will have a ball with.

What is it? The Undead Feats, of course.

You were expecting something less necrotic?

What's In The Book?

The latest installment in the Feats of Legend series has 22 feats, brought to you by myself, Brian Berg, and by Simon Peter Munoz (who runs the Creative Repository Blog, which you should check out if you haven't already). These feats are for characters who are undead, who hunt undead, or for characters who have access to the undead bloodline.

What do they do? Well, there are 22 feats, so there's a lot of nasty tricks in this book. You'll find feats that let you poison undead, feats that increase your knowledge of undead, and feats that allow you to hide from undead. You'll also find feats that increase undead creatures' natural armor, feats that allow the undead to gain fast healing whenever they kill a living foe, and even feats that allow the undead to resist their greatest bane; positive energy!

If you want to throw your players a curve ball, or if you're a player who wants to really make the most of your character's undead heritage, The Undead Feats is definitely a book you should have on your shelf.

As always, thanks for stopping by! If you want to make sure you don't miss any of my updates, then follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter. If you'd like to help support my blog, then please stop by my Patreon page to become a patron today! Even as little as $1 a month can make a big difference.

Sometimes the DM Wins

And How!

Recent screen shot from my group's progress in Curse of the Crimson Throne. This is what happens when you step up to take on a lycanthrope without the proper preparation.
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