Deadly Campaign

[Necrosnoop110]

Thinking out-loud here.

What if you take a traditional campaign (4PC, 1DM) and what if one were to setup this campaign with a high likelihood of PC death right from first level onward. On a regular basis. Not as an accident. But as a feature part of the campaign. And the PCs are aware of this. Nothing is a surprise and everyone agrees to this being the case. Everyone likes the idea of a deadly game. My groups usual games go from low levels to high with maybe one or two PC deaths and these deaths become significant plot points.

What kinds of things would you recommend to facilitate such a campaign? How do you keep the plot going in such a game? Should the PCs each have multiple characters worked up? How do you deal with PCs dying during the gaming session but wanting to keep playing that night? Any cool or interesting ideas or concerns about setting something like this up?

Cheers,
Necro   

[SorO_Lost]

Depends how you do it.

I tinker with the metagame a lot and have ran things like that. Like think of "it's all a nightmare" version of the Tomb of Horrors, once someone dies the world becomes harder in an attempt to achieve a TPK ASAP, just so the events can rewind and begin right before the first guy died. For Askewed, my first ever pbp, death acted as a retcon. Like day one Bob made a friend Fred, day two he died, day three Tom met his friend Fred again.

Ironically they both had the same twist to them.

(click to show/hide)

The time travel shenanigans were in-game elements. IE ToH really was a nightmare because the characters where trapped in hell. In Ask you didn't just play the threads at the same time, in game they happened at the same time too. But that part was never revealed.

[Solo]

What kinds of things would you recommend to facilitate such a campaign?

A six-pack

How do you keep the plot going in such a game?

The game should be about dying in entertaining ways.

Should the PCs each have multiple characters worked up?

No, just clones.

How do you deal with PCs dying during the gaming session but wanting to keep playing that night?

Airmail the party clones.

Any cool or interesting ideas or concerns about setting something like this up?

Imagine, if you will, an underground city run by a benevolent, all knowing computer...

[Libertad]

What if you take a traditional campaign (4PC, 1DM) and what if one were to setup this campaign with a high likelihood of PC death right from first level onward. On a regular basis. Not as an accident. But as a feature part of the campaign. And the PCs are aware of this. Nothing is a surprise and everyone agrees to this being the case. Everyone likes the idea of a deadly game. My groups usual games go from low levels to high with maybe one or two PC deaths and these deaths become significant plot points.

A lot of OSR games are like this, although since this is being asked in the 3.X section, I recommend checking out Frog God Games' catalog of adventures for inspiration.

What kinds of things would you recommend to facilitate such a campaign? How do you keep the plot going in such a game?

Basically do not coordinate encounters and the setting to their level.  Give hints that certain areas might be really dangerous (signs of a huge dragon flying over a volcanic mountain range, a lake full of sharks) instead of plopping an archfiend in the middle of nowhere with zero forewarning.

Make it non-linear, or a plot not dependent on the PCs being the same group of people.  Take for instance Way of the Wicked Adventure Path, which is facilitated on the PCs being more or less the same ones who joined Cardinal Thorn's cause in the first adventure.

Take the Sword of Air.  Nothing in it requires that the party even be comprised of the same PCs, and a lot of locations are unconnected from each other to the point that they're relatively self-contained.

Sandbox styles of games are great for this.  This Reddit thread does a good job of talking about it.

Should the PCs each have multiple characters worked up? How do you deal with PCs dying during the gaming session but wanting to keep playing that night? Any cool or interesting ideas or concerns about setting something like this up?

Yes, have multiple PC stat blocks planned out.  As soon as a PC dies, you want to get them playing ASAP.  Maybe not by a new PC immediately; maybe they take control of an eidolon or animal companion, or hireling already with the party.  New PCs can be found as prisoners in the dungeon, friends and allies from the same organization such as a knightly order, or otherwise another person with an incentive to work with the party.

Cheers,
Necro   

Have fun!

[KellKheraptis]

This really does sound like a Paranoia game   That being said, this would also fit for a high grit, low fantasy E6 game.

[Keldar]

So another Thursday night at Gygax's house then?

[Necrosnoop110]

Thanks for the thoughts folks!

So another Thursday night at Gygax's house then?

[Unbeliever]

My problem with this kind of campaign, is that it's hard to sustain over any period of time.  At least in its traditional Gygaxian form.

Basically, the idea is that around every corner in every dungeon death is ready to pounce and crush you.  After you've seen half your friends run through blenders, you either become very cautious or your character would sensibly retire with the two bags of gold your mule can carry and live a peaceful life.

Both of those fairly natural consequences cut against the goals of the campaign.  If the players are really cautious, then you are just engaging in an arms race, which isn't great.  And, it's also not just too much fun. 

I like the idea of a brutal campaign, but I think the one in the OP would be too much for me.  Death would be too common for it to meaningful (viz. Paranoia).  I'd probably try and set it up in a harsh environment where the PCs can't readily not adventure, like a war set-up.  But, that's a pretty different set-up than the one contemplated in the OP.

[Debatra]

It's called the Tomb of Horrors.

[Necrosnoop110]

My problem with this kind of campaign, is that it's hard to sustain over any period of time.  At least in its traditional Gygaxian form.

Basically, the idea is that around every corner in every dungeon death is ready to pounce and crush you.  After you've seen half your friends run through blenders, you either become very cautious or your character would sensibly retire with the two bags of gold your mule can carry and live a peaceful life.

I share your concerns. But isn't that meta though? Wouldn't each new character have reset high hopes, unrealistic expectations, and impossible dreams like most young new adventurers? Death around that corner? ... naw that'll never happen to me, that was the other guy.

[Necrosnoop110]

I'd probably try and set it up in a harsh environment where the PCs can't readily not adventure, like a war set-up.  But, that's a pretty different set-up than the one contemplated in the OP.

Elaborate.

[kitep]

When I first learned to play Call of Cthulu, it was assumed that by the end of the campaign everyone would be dead or incurable insane.  In a way, it was freeing because you didn't feel you had to save resources for later.

But now, I think an often deadly campaign would be a nice change of pace, but I wouldn't want all or even most of games like that.  We like to clown around too much.

[Unbeliever]

My problem with this kind of campaign, is that it's hard to sustain over any period of time.  At least in its traditional Gygaxian form.

Basically, the idea is that around every corner in every dungeon death is ready to pounce and crush you.  After you've seen half your friends run through blenders, you either become very cautious or your character would sensibly retire with the two bags of gold your mule can carry and live a peaceful life.

I share your concerns. But isn't that meta though? Wouldn't each new character have reset high hopes, unrealistic expectations, and impossible dreams like most young new adventurers? Death around that corner? ... naw that'll never happen to me, that was the other guy.

Maybe, but only briefly.  It depends a little bit about the type of world you imagine.  One way to go is to imagine why someone would ever bother to become an adventurer in the first place if the odds were about 100% that you'd die horribly?  I think Lamentations of the Flame Princess actually runs with this (from what I hear) and you are all playing misfits and outcasts that essentially have no choice. 

That isn't my preferred way to think about the world, though.  I don't like adventurers' guilds and the like b/c you guys are supposed to be heroes and protagonists and stuff, i.e., adventuring isn't just some ordinary job.  Galahad isn't just some ordinary knight.  He's a "Questing Knight."  But, even then, if you've got say 5 adventurers and in in each session one of them dies horribly.  Then, by session #5 it's hard to imagine how the one lone survivor of the original team doesn't just say "fuck this, I'm set for life, let me retire!"  Hence the Bilbo Baggins reference.  He made it through one adventure, by the skin of his damn teeth, and that was enough for him.

I'd probably try and set it up in a harsh environment where the PCs can't readily not adventure, like a war set-up.  But, that's a pretty different set-up than the one contemplated in the OP.

Elaborate.

So, the idea to counteract the above is to not make adventuring a choice.  The PCs are engaged in this admittedly deadly trade b/c they don't have any other options.  Spartacus' options are revolt (high probability of death) or slavery (yay ...) or death by slavery (even better ...).  He doesn't have the Baggins retirement option readily available to him.

I mentioned that this seemed different from the OP b/c the OP seemed relatively light-hearted and playful about the idea.  And, this approach, paired with frequent PC death, is very grimdark.