What’s Your Favorite Death Mechanic For a TTRPG?

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The Topic: What’s your favorite death mechanic for a TTRPG?

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Death at zero HP? Death saves? Unconscious until helped? Or does the PC just exit the story, but whether they died, left, etc is left unspecified? Or something else? Or… what about if your character dies, but returns as a ghost? Is that cool or would you rather just make a new character?

Some Cool Responses

I’m not sure it is a codified mechanic in any system, but I once heard someone discuss the idea of the heroic death, letting the player narrate the death of their character and how their sacrifice saved the other PCs. On the note of returning as a ghost, I don’t care for it in most cases. There are some games or genres in which it would be appropriate, but I think for the most part, character death should be meaningful, and bringing them back as a ghost undermines that.
Crazy Weazel Gaming

(in response) Daggerheart kind of does this? At zero health you can choose to be unconscious until you are healed (taking the player out of the game for an indeterminate amount of time), or roll a 50-50 roll and if you win you are alive but unconscious but if you lose you’re perma-dead, or choose death, but with a heroic impact, like a critical hit and such. But, in the short Age of Umbra campaign that Critical Role ran, I don’t think anyone chose death (maybe in the final battle where there was no risk). But of course in a streamed game it’s probably better to choose the 50-50 as it makes for a dramatic moment on camera.

Jason from Shadomain.com

I think it should be both dependent on what the player wants, and on the flavor of the world. I mean, dying at the hands of an enemy sword fighter, and then your ghost becomes a commenter/kibbutzer is one option. Or, a “quest to bring them back to life”. Or “Unconscious, with permanent injury later”.
Would Star Wars have been as good if Ben was not this useless ghost after he died?
Keybounce

Not a fan of death saves in general, though when combined with Dragonbane’s “rally” feature they become more fun. When rallied the player gets to act WHILE making the saves, and is in even more jeopardy while doing so because every attack which hits is an automatic failure. Combined like that it gives, for me, more meaning to the character’s death because real risk was involved—with a sliver of hope along with it.
Wes from DM Tales

I like GRIT’s choice between going out in a blaze of glory (one last action with automatic max success) or getting a second chance (not dying, and coming back with permanently nerfed HP).
I also made a table of exciting complications and bonuses to occur at 0 HP.
The Merlitron

Wrapping It Up

Some interesting opinions there. When I was reading Pirate Borg recently I loved the option to return as a ghost, which is an optional rule that’s up to the GM. I haven’t run Pirate Borg yet so I’m not sure how it would work in play. I think the key in dangerous games is that if your character returns in spirit form, it should come with a cost, not just your character but mostly invisible. In a heroic fantasy game it might play like a convenient way to lose your character.

I have run post modern games such as Kids On Bikes 2, where death just isn’t a result in the game. This is true in Grimwood Games’ Masked Paws game as well. This fits those games which are not about deadly combat, as Keybounce suggested.

What do you think? Let us know.
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