That comment ruined me! So sorry for your loss! I hope he/she watches your every adventure and smile with your shenanigans! And I'm sure those nat 20s are not just luck, just a little help from someone beyond.... Raise a glass my friend!
Right there with you bud. We had a close friend die over Christmas, and ngl it destroyed me for a little while. 7 months later, this song is a nice homage to him - or at least for me it is.
Same sentiments shared. Lost my foster father yesterday, 11/01/2024. I hope he's in a better place. Cause I don't want think that his time was wasted here on earth.
Man this made me think of this one campaign i was part of my character was a paladin tortle and the "dad" of the group i had basically raised 2 of the other players characters as i took them under my wing the were a kleptomaniac kenku rogue and a pyromaniac fairy druid when we got to the bbeg we were all low on health and the bbeg shot a beam of magic that did aoe at the kenku and fairy but the dm gave me the chance to intercept it and jump in front of it and if i did that then they would not get hit by the aoe but i would die. I took the decision and took the jump with my back to the beam smilling at my "kids" all the way untill my character got vaporized but it bought enough time for them to kill the bbeg. And my character got uplifted into godhood as the patron god of tortles for this valiant sacrifice. Rest in peace ju you were the best character i ever played
To the heroes & losted allies. To the friends we had made, who wait for us in the halls of the fallen. A fitting Melody to sooth the pasting and rekindle the lessons learnt with them.
We raise our tankards to our Friend and wish them better travels to the lands beyond the gray walls. to the lands, fields, and homes of kin an ancestors. were you walk we can not follow at this time but you shall continue to travel with us in our hearts and memories. Till we meet again at the end.
Ever lost a character? How did it happen? How the DM and the rest of the party managed it? Share your stories with the rest of us. We all raise a mug of ale for the departed ones! 🍻
I imagined a party standing on a cliff watching the sun rise after an epic battle against the BBEG and their standing beside them are the spirits of their fallen comrades one last time before departing to the after life
my first character died due to an awesome player boss fight. my champion fighter companion wanted to change subclasses so him and the dm made an arrangement for him to be a mix of champion and eldritch knight, but for how it came about we had to fight him so he could regain his sanity. I got nocked into death saving throws and on my last two rolls I got double 2s which my rouge used his time rift card that he got from the deck of many things, to reset my last two rolls which after that I got double 4s. my character was destined to die in that fight
I've played with the same group for about 2 years now. The group has had a total of 5 PC deaths so far, I've had 2 character deaths (One of which we were able to revive via Revivify scroll and a lucky roll) while one other player at my table has the other 3 (He's currently playing a Cleric because "I'm tired of dying every. single. campaign!") We've kinda made a meme out of character deaths because the first one to die's last words were, "It must be my birthday!" He was a level 1 dwarf fighter who was ganged up on by a few goblins. So, now whenever a character dies, it's canonically their birthday, and the first thing they see is all the previous PCs who've died in previous campaigns who present the newly dead PC with a birthday cake. This was further solidified when my first character death happened on my birthday XD (He got better, but the point still stands!) PC death isn't fun for any of us, but we accept it as a necessary part of the game should it come to that.
I have and I have left you a story that has transpired in the last 24hrs that I hope you will enjoy and a thanks for helping me better handle a character death. Music is such an amazing thing.
To many to count and sometimes I cry for each of my fallen children with tears of both sadness and pride. Am thinking of getting some figures made in there images and build a little hall of fame in there memory.
Here's to Eclair. Here's to Silver. To Vega and to Nox. We had fun. There was laughter, there was tears. Your stories are ended, but the memories remain. You may not be real, but you were to us and I'm so happy I got to know you.
Gonna share a bit of recent events with me and how this helped me a bit. This is a bit of a long post, but I hope it's worth a read. I'm currently in a Curse of Strahd game. I played a Divine Soul Sorcerer with a knack for music. More than once had I brought out an actual instrument and did a song. Something that became known within the group, that she'd do this to lift the spirits of those around her. (So much so that the DM gave me the feet Inspiring Leader for free) However, a rough patch appeared before us. This character of mine had met her death, she wasn't perfect, but everyone at the table wasn't happy and the DM. A wonderful friend was visibly upset and a bit emotional. I however was pissed and let my emotions get to me. I was upset, so much so I wanted to quit. Not only that, but I lashed out, this got to me pretty bad and everyone saw it. Which made the mood even worse. My friend I hold dear felt horrid, and it showed, it was clear I needed a moment. So we paused the game, so I could cool off. To cool off I listen to music and I saw this video, felt on the nose and just gave it a listen. This is gonna sound so fucking cliché, it gave me a way to get my head out of my own ass and look at how to turn what was shitty into something better. I talked to my friend (DM), who I really ended up getting worried that it was a friendship ruining move. Which shows how... shitty I was. I apologized and instead asked for them to listen to the song with me and told them... I have an idea. Instead of letting a cherished character death go in such vain. Make it one to remember. A few hours later, working on something with the DM, we set up a scene. Everyone was still down, the scene picked up. Back at the Tavern in Valaki, the party was processing everything and how they lost someone we had been spent 2 years with. As we role-played the scene, I sat and listened and... a cloaked figure walked, carrying a lute that had the same swirl of vines and flowers along its design that our fighter, a crafter of types, personalized for my character before. Everyone saw her walk in, cloaked and unknown, she began to play and we T'd up this song as my character's ethereal figure formed, smiling at the party. "Death is just another pass we must take." She sang this song for the party, which the mood and look on everyone's face was so... unprepared and enthralled. At the end of it all, she said. "Even though am gone, our bonds are not. I love you all my friends." We had literal tears from everyone, as she approached, everyone gave them each a hug and a kiss on the forehead." As a strong wind blew in, her voice in the wind said. "Let the adventure carry on, even if am not here. Because anothers journey is about to begin, and they could use some good friends." Standing in the doorway, was a young boy. Barely a man if at all, pointed ears and orange hair, an Eldarin who looked strikingly like the one they had lost. Arriving, he looked around confusing, "I thought I heard my mom singing... but she's not here." The party stood in silence, as the fighter approached and asked. "No... she's still here my boy, come... sit down." The arrival of her son, seeking her out after a quest had taken way longer, had left her missing. Seeking her out, he came to find her and help her if he could. Learning his mother had passed, a boy crying out for his mother. Comforted by her comrades and friends of his mother, given his mothers lute. Clutching it tightly. The night waned on and come morning, he was gone, and the party looked for him and was confused. Ushered by the DM that you cannot find him. Making way to the town gate, they heard the yelling of a boy. Nose still snotty, eyes bloodshot, stood before them and said. "I... I want to join you. I want to honor my mom... I know am not as good as she was... but... I" His voice unsure of himself. "Well get over here then boy, wipe your nose and stand with yer head high." The gruff fighter bellowed out as the others in the party ushered him to hurry up. As he smiled, running to catch up. The ghostly visage of his mom stood behind him smiling once more and waving goodbye to her comrades as her spirit faded once more, but all but the boy notice... her spirit went to her lute on his back. Now a boy starts his journey with new friends as his mother's old comrades. While her old comrades look after this boy and see a bit of her in him, and a new adventure begins while a new bond is formed. After this, I apologized to my friends for my outburst, and I was met with understanding words and nods, a bit of ribbing but overall supportive friends that understood. However, they were happy to see how things turned around, and we are all now moving forward, my new character is but a boy and a few levels lower than the party, but the party has made it clear they intend to help him grow. And that's what I wanted to share, I know it's a lot to read, but I hope it's something others can learn from as well. How to take something crummy and make it something great, and even the death of a beloved character can become a pivotal point to tell another story just as great as the last.
@@SayingWhatIwantThe list I have is far from comprehensive, but I know CritCrab, DnD Doge and Den of the Drake have done more wholesome stories as counterpoint to the usual dross of humanity material they cover. Of those, CritCrab and DnD Doge have a format more conducive to this story; Drake usually does single longer stories. I would recommend watching a couple of their videos before deciding for certain, and other commenters may have better ideas, too
This was beautiful. Definitely made cry. Oftentimes, this is more than a game we play for heroic moments and d!ck jokes. We build bonds with these characters and to see them fall is hard.
One of my favorite characters I ever played was a barbarian/monk multiclass named Cekosh. He was a Kalashtar that had the misfortune of being cursed from birth to be a conduit for all of the Quori spirits that didn't have a host, leading to him having thousands of spirits all screaming in his head every minute of every day. This eventually drove him to unspeakable rage and at one point when he was 14, he got into a fight with another child in his tribe and ended up killing him. Due to the guilt and torment he felt from his actions, he decided to exile himself from his tribe in order to try and find a cure for his curse. Cekosh spent the next 35 years traveling the world, living far from civilization to prevent himself from hurting anyone else. Cekosh eventually came across a reclusive monk who took pity on him and started training him in meditation and mental exercise to help him gain some semblance of control over his many spirits, allowing him to put up mental walls that prevented the rage. Some backstory for the campaign, long ago, there was an ancient adventuring party that was tasked with stopping a great tragedy that would destroy the world. After stopping the tragedy, the party managed to acquire ancient knowledge that would allow them to cast a powerful magic spell that would alter reality by killing off the old gods and making the entire world forget about their existence and instead remember the party members as the gods. Three of the party members stood against this, Indrel the cleric, Angus the Paladin and Morran the Rouge. They argued that it was not right to kill off the gods and install themselves as false deities. However, the rest of the party ignored their pleas and when the three tried to stop them, they killed them and then cast the spell. However, something went wrong with the spell and while it did kill off the old gods and make the entire world forget the old gods, it also caused the three betrayed party members to rise to divinity, albeit incredibly weakened and unable to exercise and influence on the world. So these three new gods sat by idly and merely observed the actions of the betrayers while they slowly healed, awaiting the point where they could exact their revenge and right the wrongs committed by the false gods. Additionally, the DM was running this party in a sort of interesting way. Three of us were chosen as the champions of the true gods and therefore told the general story of the campaign beforehand and given knowledge about what actually happened, whereas the remaining 6 (Yes, 9 players, very big campaign) were chosen as the champions of the false gods and were only told an incredibly biased, and completely false, telling of events by the false gods. Back to the timeframe of the campaign, after several years of living with his sensei, Cekosh was contacted by the Indrel, the now goddess of mercy and compassion who informed him that he was her chosen champion for an upcoming battle and that if he helped her win and put things right, she would be able to fix his curse. She presented him with a powerful divine artifact, the Altruist's Guards, a pair of bracers that granted Cekosh great power to protect those close to him. He was then tasked with finding the rest of the party, who were the chosen champions of the false gods, and merely keep and eye of them as well as protect them until the time came for the battle when the true gods would have raised their armies from their exile in the shadowfell and invade the prime material plane to challenge the false gods at which point the player characters who were the champions of the false gods would all choose whether they wanted to stay with the false gods or side with the true gods. Cekosh obliged and thanked his master, leaving to find the party. After finding the rest of the party, Cekosh traveled with them and did his best to protect them, becoming incredibly good friends with several of the party members, namely the party's kalashtar bard. Shortly before the time came for the invasion, Cekosh, along with the other two true god players left the party and were later seen by the party leading the armies of the shadowfell. Our characters then explained what actually happened and the party's bard as well as one of the paladins chose to switch sides to the true gods. At this point it became two separate campaigns in the same world with the two parties working against each other. This went on for a while until the players on the false god side laid a devious trap that would have killed two of the members of the true god party, however Cekosh activated the newly acquired ability of his artifact to absorb damage from allies and took the entirety of the damage dealt to the bad and paladin, leading to him being killed. Cekosh sacrificed himself in order to save his friends, after which the bard cast a spell to teleport the surviving party members along with Cekosh's corpse back to their base. The true god party was crushed and mourned the loss of their friend and even the false god party where crushed seeing the selflessness of Cekosh and remembering all the times he protected them. This eventually led all the false god players to decide they were on the wrong side and switch sides to the true gods, with the new re-unified party eventually stopping the false gods and restoring the old gods to life. At the end of the campaign the characters build a statue to honor Cekosh and his heroic sacrifice in the center of the capital, and he was fondly remembered as a hero of legend even well into our later campaigns that took place in the same world. I actually feel that this song represents Cekosh incredibly well because at one point shortly before his death where Cekosh nearly got killed by using another power of his artifact to draw aggro from all the surrounding monsters to protect his friends, the bard told him that he needed to stop being so reckless or else he would die and I as Cekosh responded with the exact same Gandalf quote that starts off this song, "Death is just another path, one we all must take eventually." Cekosh would have wanted the party to go on and be happy, to live life to the fullest and not let his death effect them to heavily. He would not have wanted the party to cry for him because he would gladly give his life to protect his friends every time.
*Hears "every quest" as "EverQuest"* Flooded memories of youth and comrades, some married now through meeting online and in IP gatherings, some still in contact and visiting with ;w;
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Before the campaign I played in Resetted, I had a character who became the last person remaining of his original party members. I’d played as a literal teenaged Bronze Dragonborn Cleric named Deric Kain during a modified version of Tyranny of Dragons. To begin with, he had a hard time fitting in with the party as he was a new arrival (to replace another player who left) but luckily he had time to bond with the group as the adventure hardly started. However, bit by bit, battle by battle, adventure by adventure, he became the unintentional leader of the party keeping it together, guiding people to their mission. However, as the battles got harder and we got closer to our mission, he gradually became the only person left of the original team and a jaded, spiteful veteran driven by vengeance, having to teach every new character who replaced the others and push everyone onwards. He eventually became a monster who did horrific actions in order to save the realms and dirtied his hands bloody for the greater good, among new people who were either slain in battles, lost their wills to continue or called away by actual events replacing players. The newest characters were there for selfish reasons, ridiculing my character and his actions and his age. But Deric? He never forgot why he was there fighting, despite the horrors he committed and endured. He fought for everyone in spite of everything, for the safety of the world, for vengeance, but most of all… The memories of all the friends he lost along the way. Out of everyone in the group at the time, Me and the dm, who’d been incredible in doing the campaign, agreed that Deric, despite his Shortcomings, was the truest, most tragic hero of all. I miss that campaign and the friends I made and the people I shared the experience with, but the memories will stay with me forever. 🥲
@@BardStrike Believe me, It wasn’t until much later that it fully hit me how much my character suffered through at that point, especially in conversations shared between me and the Dm. 😭 His story had started with his parents defecting from the dragon cult of Tiamat and killed after failing to rebel against the main villain. He became an orphan of the Clergy and got taken by the party traveling through as a replacement for the previous player who left for toxic reasons. He then bonded and grew close to the party, but accidentally became partially responsible for one of the character death and felt guilty for it. We got him resurrected, but the cost was Deric had to be permanently bound to a faction and fight for them till his dying days, so his future was sealed. Afterwards, when group members were either having to leave the campaign or their characters were killed or replaced by someone else one after another, Deric was having to make increasingly worse and horrible decisions for the sake of everyone in what he hoped would be the right thing. He managed to secure alliances with Giants and trolls, Worked with Rogue members of the Dragon Cult and Even succeeded in securing an alliance between Drow Lolth Worshippers, Vampire’s and their undead forces and a Group of Devils and Demons to join forces against the Dragon Cult, But at the Cost of Literally selling his Soul and a peaceful afterlife. He did all of this and so much more out of sheer willpower and spite against the Dragon Cult who by all rights were his mortal enemies. And the thing was, Deric left such an impact on events in the story and his dedication to aiding the war effort, going above and beyond what was expected of him, that Deric Given a chance and an offer by the Villains themselves to becoming a valued member of the Cult. The Party was justifiably nervous about it all, because by this point, Deric did a LOT of awful things to fight and had more than enough to either stop or switch sides because of the amount of emotional pain he was going through and the ridicule he had been enduring. The Main Villain himself wanted Deric to personally join him as one of the top leaders and Wyvern Speakers for the Cult, under the man himself in terms of authority, Such was my character’s relentless nature. And in spite of EVERYTHING, Deric managed to spit on the outstretched hand offered to him and continued his work to completely destroying the cult, delivered by a heartfelt speech from myself. Although his story never got completed unfortunately, He remained one of the truest members of the group despite having the opportunity to switch sides. He was a real, true hero, even though he never considered himself as one, not even once. In his mind, he was a monster and accepted it, but never once did he forget why he was fighting. I loved that character so much. 🥲
@@BardStrike I certainly have to him: He earned that much! 😁🍻 I did get a moment of bittersweet vindication for him though, as told through the dice: We had to retrieve the sword of a Solar celestial angel who’d gone missing and we’d learned was planned to be sacrificed by the Cult, but we’d have been able to track her location down by getting her sword first. Problem was, the sword would only let a worthy person who’s performed acts of true and real heroism with pure intentions wield it, and as a result, depending on the answer the player gave the DM, had to make a high check to take the sword successfully or be forcefully rejected. Literally! 😂 Naturally, the other players of the group attempted to take it, all believing they were actually the ones worthy and giving answers that they thought were good enough. All of them were rejected and launched away, only getting one chance to easily take the sword without having to do something complicated to not just retrieve it, but also truly become attuned to the weapon and it’s fullest capabilities. So It became my turn to try. When my character went to take the sword, the sword asked him the question it asked everyone else and why he should be allowed to wield it. My character, including myself as the player, thought about all the work and sacrifices he’d made up to that point for the sake of all and everything he endured, basically gave it the best response I could: I wasn’t worthy to carry the sword for myself, but there were good people in the world that didn’t deserve the nightmare that was coming. He sacrificed everything so far, and he’d sacrifice even more if it means everyone got to live. Worthy or not: He was taking the sword and not caring either way what it thought as a sentient weapon. In Deric’s mind, the world was more important than himself. I made my rolls and The dice responded by given me Natural 20’s to my answer. Out of the entire party, The Sentient weapon belonging to the High Celestials and one of the most important people in the entire campaign for our party, believed that Deric was the only truly worthy person to take charge. To say my excitement was palpable is a gross understatement!!! 😂 Both me, the Dm and one of my closest friends in the group were the most excited about the whole thing because it was confirmation and vindication for everything that I did so far!!! 😂 The dice Gods themselves agreed that Deric was the real hero and only confirmed it for everyone!!! 😂 The dice really knew how to create the story that day, and remains one of my most incredible memories in playing dnd in recent memories. ☺️
Fester... I miss you. I played you for 2 and a half years. You were the first of my long term characters to die. Your aim was true and your shot was deadly. Your voice Echoed with good will in a world full of evil. You were a merciful Brother of the Nasiob, your reluctance to use the black arrows was not of cowardice, but of strength. You tried to Change the world for the better, but it was not as easy as changing your face. And ultimately you made the ultimate sacrifice for the Beauty of this world. The hunt for Wolfpack continues but I wish I still could have you to guide the party. Your sense of justice kept the party hunting. And please... let go of your pain. Sigovar was not your fault. Sigovar was not your fault.
@@BardStrike Always. Couple sessions later his death lead to kind of a snowball effect. One of the partymembers has been helping some weird forest creatures that none of us understood and we realized that they were evil when they asked for some rescued slaves as food. The partymember who was helping them was convinced it was the right thing to do and since our party has basically reset, every member has either left or died pretty close before that, there was nobody in the party he knew well enough to trust that the forest creatures were evil. The player told me that Fester would have had the best chance to convince him to stay with the party. I still miss my changeling archer fighter. And a word of advise, try out echo knight with a bow. It's really fun.
Yeah, it sucks. My character was low on health, out of spell slots and being chased into a dead end. While ultimately, my character is used again in a different game, it still sucks. If my character has to die, I'd ratger it be in the final battle against the BBEG and go out in a blaze of glory.
Brother s character died to a manticore 6 giant spikes she was hiding in the back she was healer so my character a warforged barbarian/fighter started bashing its heavily in a rage and rest of the gang joined in with friend whos character was her father angry samurai dad. Afterwards laughed because Brothers character was the first to die again and was reincarnated as a gnome lol game agreed to the original short character joke from first campaign he we did he started
Fury Rolls!!! 🎤🎸
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For me it was the death of a player, not a PC.
That comment ruined me! So sorry for your loss! I hope he/she watches your every adventure and smile with your shenanigans! And I'm sure those nat 20s are not just luck, just a little help from someone beyond.... Raise a glass my friend!
Right there with you bud. We had a close friend die over Christmas, and ngl it destroyed me for a little while. 7 months later, this song is a nice homage to him - or at least for me it is.
Same sentiments shared. Lost my foster father yesterday, 11/01/2024. I hope he's in a better place. Cause I don't want think that his time was wasted here on earth.
@@QuestionEverythingAssumeNothng nobodys time is ever wasted my friend. Stay strong.
This song is a fitting tribute to all the PCs who lost their lives through their journeys
Well only if the other players liked the PC that died, none of the others liked mine because I played him way too well
Lost both characters and players
Man this made me think of this one campaign i was part of my character was a paladin tortle and the "dad" of the group i had basically raised 2 of the other players characters as i took them under my wing the were a kleptomaniac kenku rogue and a pyromaniac fairy druid when we got to the bbeg we were all low on health and the bbeg shot a beam of magic that did aoe at the kenku and fairy but the dm gave me the chance to intercept it and jump in front of it and if i did that then they would not get hit by the aoe but i would die. I took the decision and took the jump with my back to the beam smilling at my "kids" all the way untill my character got vaporized but it bought enough time for them to kill the bbeg. And my character got uplifted into godhood as the patron god of tortles for this valiant sacrifice. Rest in peace ju you were the best character i ever played
Godhood ascencion for such heroic act really bring a tear, especially if the two people you saved became your first clerics
You will live on in my memory and the character sheet that I'll occasionally come across when cleaning.
To the heroes & losted allies. To the friends we had made, who wait for us in the halls of the fallen. A fitting Melody to sooth the pasting and rekindle the lessons learnt with them.
We raise our tankards to our Friend and wish them better travels to the lands beyond the gray walls. to the lands, fields, and homes of kin an ancestors. were you walk we can not follow at this time but you shall continue to travel with us in our hearts and memories. Till we meet again at the end.
this is cool and kind of beautiful
Ever lost a character? How did it happen? How the DM and the rest of the party managed it? Share your stories with the rest of us. We all raise a mug of ale for the departed ones! 🍻
I imagined a party standing on a cliff watching the sun rise after an epic battle against the BBEG and their standing beside them are the spirits of their fallen comrades one last time before departing to the after life
my first character died due to an awesome player boss fight. my champion fighter companion wanted to change subclasses so him and the dm made an arrangement for him to be a mix of champion and eldritch knight, but for how it came about we had to fight him so he could regain his sanity. I got nocked into death saving throws and on my last two rolls I got double 2s which my rouge used his time rift card that he got from the deck of many things, to reset my last two rolls which after that I got double 4s. my character was destined to die in that fight
I've played with the same group for about 2 years now. The group has had a total of 5 PC deaths so far, I've had 2 character deaths (One of which we were able to revive via Revivify scroll and a lucky roll) while one other player at my table has the other 3 (He's currently playing a Cleric because "I'm tired of dying every. single. campaign!")
We've kinda made a meme out of character deaths because the first one to die's last words were, "It must be my birthday!" He was a level 1 dwarf fighter who was ganged up on by a few goblins. So, now whenever a character dies, it's canonically their birthday, and the first thing they see is all the previous PCs who've died in previous campaigns who present the newly dead PC with a birthday cake. This was further solidified when my first character death happened on my birthday XD (He got better, but the point still stands!)
PC death isn't fun for any of us, but we accept it as a necessary part of the game should it come to that.
I have and I have left you a story that has transpired in the last 24hrs that I hope you will enjoy and a thanks for helping me better handle a character death. Music is such an amazing thing.
To many to count and sometimes I cry for each of my fallen children with tears of both sadness and pride.
Am thinking of getting some figures made in there images and build a little hall of fame in there memory.
Here's to Eclair. Here's to Silver. To Vega and to Nox.
We had fun. There was laughter, there was tears.
Your stories are ended, but the memories remain.
You may not be real, but you were to us and I'm so happy I got to know you.
This gave me chills and a lump in my throat 😢 beautiful music but oh God the feels.
Gonna share a bit of recent events with me and how this helped me a bit. This is a bit of a long post, but I hope it's worth a read.
I'm currently in a Curse of Strahd game.
I played a Divine Soul Sorcerer with a knack for music. More than once had I brought out an actual instrument and did a song. Something that became known within the group, that she'd do this to lift the spirits of those around her. (So much so that the DM gave me the feet Inspiring Leader for free)
However, a rough patch appeared before us. This character of mine had met her death, she wasn't perfect, but everyone at the table wasn't happy and the DM. A wonderful friend was visibly upset and a bit emotional. I however was pissed and let my emotions get to me. I was upset, so much so I wanted to quit. Not only that, but I lashed out, this got to me pretty bad and everyone saw it. Which made the mood even worse. My friend I hold dear felt horrid, and it showed, it was clear I needed a moment. So we paused the game, so I could cool off.
To cool off I listen to music and I saw this video, felt on the nose and just gave it a listen. This is gonna sound so fucking cliché, it gave me a way to get my head out of my own ass and look at how to turn what was shitty into something better.
I talked to my friend (DM), who I really ended up getting worried that it was a friendship ruining move. Which shows how... shitty I was. I apologized and instead asked for them to listen to the song with me and told them... I have an idea.
Instead of letting a cherished character death go in such vain. Make it one to remember.
A few hours later, working on something with the DM, we set up a scene.
Everyone was still down, the scene picked up. Back at the Tavern in Valaki, the party was processing everything and how they lost someone we had been spent 2 years with. As we role-played the scene, I sat and listened and... a cloaked figure walked, carrying a lute that had the same swirl of vines and flowers along its design that our fighter, a crafter of types, personalized for my character before.
Everyone saw her walk in, cloaked and unknown, she began to play and we T'd up this song as my character's ethereal figure formed, smiling at the party.
"Death is just another pass we must take."
She sang this song for the party, which the mood and look on everyone's face was so... unprepared and enthralled. At the end of it all, she said. "Even though am gone, our bonds are not. I love you all my friends." We had literal tears from everyone, as she approached, everyone gave them each a hug and a kiss on the forehead."
As a strong wind blew in, her voice in the wind said. "Let the adventure carry on, even if am not here. Because anothers journey is about to begin, and they could use some good friends."
Standing in the doorway, was a young boy. Barely a man if at all, pointed ears and orange hair, an Eldarin who looked strikingly like the one they had lost.
Arriving, he looked around confusing, "I thought I heard my mom singing... but she's not here."
The party stood in silence, as the fighter approached and asked. "No... she's still here my boy, come... sit down."
The arrival of her son, seeking her out after a quest had taken way longer, had left her missing. Seeking her out, he came to find her and help her if he could. Learning his mother had passed, a boy crying out for his mother. Comforted by her comrades and friends of his mother, given his mothers lute. Clutching it tightly.
The night waned on and come morning, he was gone, and the party looked for him and was confused. Ushered by the DM that you cannot find him. Making way to the town gate, they heard the yelling of a boy. Nose still snotty, eyes bloodshot, stood before them and said. "I... I want to join you. I want to honor my mom... I know am not as good as she was... but... I" His voice unsure of himself.
"Well get over here then boy, wipe your nose and stand with yer head high." The gruff fighter bellowed out as the others in the party ushered him to hurry up. As he smiled, running to catch up.
The ghostly visage of his mom stood behind him smiling once more and waving goodbye to her comrades as her spirit faded once more, but all but the boy notice... her spirit went to her lute on his back.
Now a boy starts his journey with new friends as his mother's old comrades. While her old comrades look after this boy and see a bit of her in him, and a new adventure begins while a new bond is formed.
After this, I apologized to my friends for my outburst, and I was met with understanding words and nods, a bit of ribbing but overall supportive friends that understood. However, they were happy to see how things turned around, and we are all now moving forward, my new character is but a boy and a few levels lower than the party, but the party has made it clear they intend to help him grow.
And that's what I wanted to share, I know it's a lot to read, but I hope it's something others can learn from as well. How to take something crummy and make it something great, and even the death of a beloved character can become a pivotal point to tell another story just as great as the last.
This was touching.
Have you considered sharing this with one of the D&D Reddit Reader channels as a story where everything works out?
This was an incredible story! Honestly brought tears to my eyes. What an amazing tribute to a fallen PC.
@@SayingWhatIwantThe list I have is far from comprehensive, but I know CritCrab, DnD Doge and Den of the Drake have done more wholesome stories as counterpoint to the usual dross of humanity material they cover. Of those, CritCrab and DnD Doge have a format more conducive to this story; Drake usually does single longer stories.
I would recommend watching a couple of their videos before deciding for certain, and other commenters may have better ideas, too
Multiclassed ninja bards cutting onions somewhere in this tavern...😭
This was beautiful. Definitely made cry. Oftentimes, this is more than a game we play for heroic moments and d!ck jokes. We build bonds with these characters and to see them fall is hard.
Fuckin hell this made me cry...
One of my favorite characters I ever played was a barbarian/monk multiclass named Cekosh. He was a Kalashtar that had the misfortune of being cursed from birth to be a conduit for all of the Quori spirits that didn't have a host, leading to him having thousands of spirits all screaming in his head every minute of every day. This eventually drove him to unspeakable rage and at one point when he was 14, he got into a fight with another child in his tribe and ended up killing him. Due to the guilt and torment he felt from his actions, he decided to exile himself from his tribe in order to try and find a cure for his curse.
Cekosh spent the next 35 years traveling the world, living far from civilization to prevent himself from hurting anyone else. Cekosh eventually came across a reclusive monk who took pity on him and started training him in meditation and mental exercise to help him gain some semblance of control over his many spirits, allowing him to put up mental walls that prevented the rage.
Some backstory for the campaign, long ago, there was an ancient adventuring party that was tasked with stopping a great tragedy that would destroy the world. After stopping the tragedy, the party managed to acquire ancient knowledge that would allow them to cast a powerful magic spell that would alter reality by killing off the old gods and making the entire world forget about their existence and instead remember the party members as the gods. Three of the party members stood against this, Indrel the cleric, Angus the Paladin and Morran the Rouge. They argued that it was not right to kill off the gods and install themselves as false deities. However, the rest of the party ignored their pleas and when the three tried to stop them, they killed them and then cast the spell.
However, something went wrong with the spell and while it did kill off the old gods and make the entire world forget the old gods, it also caused the three betrayed party members to rise to divinity, albeit incredibly weakened and unable to exercise and influence on the world. So these three new gods sat by idly and merely observed the actions of the betrayers while they slowly healed, awaiting the point where they could exact their revenge and right the wrongs committed by the false gods.
Additionally, the DM was running this party in a sort of interesting way. Three of us were chosen as the champions of the true gods and therefore told the general story of the campaign beforehand and given knowledge about what actually happened, whereas the remaining 6 (Yes, 9 players, very big campaign) were chosen as the champions of the false gods and were only told an incredibly biased, and completely false, telling of events by the false gods.
Back to the timeframe of the campaign, after several years of living with his sensei, Cekosh was contacted by the Indrel, the now goddess of mercy and compassion who informed him that he was her chosen champion for an upcoming battle and that if he helped her win and put things right, she would be able to fix his curse. She presented him with a powerful divine artifact, the Altruist's Guards, a pair of bracers that granted Cekosh great power to protect those close to him. He was then tasked with finding the rest of the party, who were the chosen champions of the false gods, and merely keep and eye of them as well as protect them until the time came for the battle when the true gods would have raised their armies from their exile in the shadowfell and invade the prime material plane to challenge the false gods at which point the player characters who were the champions of the false gods would all choose whether they wanted to stay with the false gods or side with the true gods. Cekosh obliged and thanked his master, leaving to find the party. After finding the rest of the party, Cekosh traveled with them and did his best to protect them, becoming incredibly good friends with several of the party members, namely the party's kalashtar bard. Shortly before the time came for the invasion, Cekosh, along with the other two true god players left the party and were later seen by the party leading the armies of the shadowfell. Our characters then explained what actually happened and the party's bard as well as one of the paladins chose to switch sides to the true gods. At this point it became two separate campaigns in the same world with the two parties working against each other. This went on for a while until the players on the false god side laid a devious trap that would have killed two of the members of the true god party, however Cekosh activated the newly acquired ability of his artifact to absorb damage from allies and took the entirety of the damage dealt to the bad and paladin, leading to him being killed.
Cekosh sacrificed himself in order to save his friends, after which the bard cast a spell to teleport the surviving party members along with Cekosh's corpse back to their base. The true god party was crushed and mourned the loss of their friend and even the false god party where crushed seeing the selflessness of Cekosh and remembering all the times he protected them. This eventually led all the false god players to decide they were on the wrong side and switch sides to the true gods, with the new re-unified party eventually stopping the false gods and restoring the old gods to life. At the end of the campaign the characters build a statue to honor Cekosh and his heroic sacrifice in the center of the capital, and he was fondly remembered as a hero of legend even well into our later campaigns that took place in the same world.
I actually feel that this song represents Cekosh incredibly well because at one point shortly before his death where Cekosh nearly got killed by using another power of his artifact to draw aggro from all the surrounding monsters to protect his friends, the bard told him that he needed to stop being so reckless or else he would die and I as Cekosh responded with the exact same Gandalf quote that starts off this song, "Death is just another path, one we all must take eventually." Cekosh would have wanted the party to go on and be happy, to live life to the fullest and not let his death effect them to heavily. He would not have wanted the party to cry for him because he would gladly give his life to protect his friends every time.
To be honest, your music hits hard, in every way! Great job, everytime.
*Hears "every quest" as "EverQuest"*
Flooded memories of youth and comrades, some married now through meeting online and in IP gatherings, some still in contact and visiting with ;w;
❤
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Before the campaign I played in Resetted, I had a character who became the last person remaining of his original party members.
I’d played as a literal teenaged Bronze Dragonborn Cleric named Deric Kain during a modified version of Tyranny of Dragons.
To begin with, he had a hard time fitting in with the party as he was a new arrival (to replace another player who left) but luckily he had time to bond with the group as the adventure hardly started.
However, bit by bit, battle by battle, adventure by adventure, he became the unintentional leader of the party keeping it together, guiding people to their mission.
However, as the battles got harder and we got closer to our mission, he gradually became the only person left of the original team and a jaded, spiteful veteran driven by vengeance, having to teach every new character who replaced the others and push everyone onwards.
He eventually became a monster who did horrific actions in order to save the realms and dirtied his hands bloody for the greater good, among new people who were either slain in battles, lost their wills to continue or called away by actual events replacing players.
The newest characters were there for selfish reasons, ridiculing my character and his actions and his age.
But Deric?
He never forgot why he was there fighting, despite the horrors he committed and endured.
He fought for everyone in spite of everything, for the safety of the world, for vengeance, but most of all…
The memories of all the friends he lost along the way.
Out of everyone in the group at the time, Me and the dm, who’d been incredible in doing the campaign, agreed that Deric, despite his Shortcomings, was the truest, most tragic hero of all.
I miss that campaign and the friends I made and the people I shared the experience with, but the memories will stay with me forever. 🥲
Why am I crying over a fictional character, that I didn't even play with?
@@BardStrike Believe me, It wasn’t until much later that it fully hit me how much my character suffered through at that point, especially in conversations shared between me and the Dm. 😭
His story had started with his parents defecting from the dragon cult of Tiamat and killed after failing to rebel against the main villain.
He became an orphan of the Clergy and got taken by the party traveling through as a replacement for the previous player who left for toxic reasons.
He then bonded and grew close to the party, but accidentally became partially responsible for one of the character death and felt guilty for it.
We got him resurrected, but the cost was Deric had to be permanently bound to a faction and fight for them till his dying days, so his future was sealed.
Afterwards, when group members were either having to leave the campaign or their characters were killed or replaced by someone else one after another, Deric was having to make increasingly worse and horrible decisions for the sake of everyone in what he hoped would be the right thing.
He managed to secure alliances with Giants and trolls, Worked with Rogue members of the Dragon Cult and Even succeeded in securing an alliance between Drow Lolth Worshippers, Vampire’s and their undead forces and a Group of Devils and Demons to join forces against the Dragon Cult, But at the Cost of Literally selling his Soul and a peaceful afterlife.
He did all of this and so much more out of sheer willpower and spite against the Dragon Cult who by all rights were his mortal enemies.
And the thing was, Deric left such an impact on events in the story and his dedication to aiding the war effort, going above and beyond what was expected of him, that Deric Given a chance and an offer by the Villains themselves to becoming a valued member of the Cult.
The Party was justifiably nervous about it all, because by this point, Deric did a LOT of awful things to fight and had more than enough to either stop or switch sides because of the amount of emotional pain he was going through and the ridicule he had been enduring.
The Main Villain himself wanted Deric to personally join him as one of the top leaders and Wyvern Speakers for the Cult, under the man himself in terms of authority, Such was my character’s relentless nature.
And in spite of EVERYTHING, Deric managed to spit on the outstretched hand offered to him and continued his work to completely destroying the cult, delivered by a heartfelt speech from myself.
Although his story never got completed unfortunately, He remained one of the truest members of the group despite having the opportunity to switch sides.
He was a real, true hero, even though he never considered himself as one, not even once.
In his mind, he was a monster and accepted it, but never once did he forget why he was fighting.
I loved that character so much. 🥲
@@CaptainFirespitter Raise your mug 🍺
@@BardStrike I certainly have to him: He earned that much! 😁🍻
I did get a moment of bittersweet vindication for him though, as told through the dice:
We had to retrieve the sword of a Solar celestial angel who’d gone missing and we’d learned was planned to be sacrificed by the Cult, but we’d have been able to track her location down by getting her sword first.
Problem was, the sword would only let a worthy person who’s performed acts of true and real heroism with pure intentions wield it, and as a result, depending on the answer the player gave the DM, had to make a high check to take the sword successfully or be forcefully rejected. Literally! 😂
Naturally, the other players of the group attempted to take it, all believing they were actually the ones worthy and giving answers that they thought were good enough.
All of them were rejected and launched away, only getting one chance to easily take the sword without having to do something complicated to not just retrieve it, but also truly become attuned to the weapon and it’s fullest capabilities.
So It became my turn to try.
When my character went to take the sword, the sword asked him the question it asked everyone else and why he should be allowed to wield it.
My character, including myself as the player, thought about all the work and sacrifices he’d made up to that point for the sake of all and everything he endured, basically gave it the best response I could:
I wasn’t worthy to carry the sword for myself, but there were good people in the world that didn’t deserve the nightmare that was coming.
He sacrificed everything so far, and he’d sacrifice even more if it means everyone got to live.
Worthy or not: He was taking the sword and not caring either way what it thought as a sentient weapon. In Deric’s mind, the world was more important than himself.
I made my rolls and The dice responded by given me Natural 20’s to my answer.
Out of the entire party, The Sentient weapon belonging to the High Celestials and one of the most important people in the entire campaign for our party, believed that Deric was the only truly worthy person to take charge.
To say my excitement was palpable is a gross understatement!!! 😂
Both me, the Dm and one of my closest friends in the group were the most excited about the whole thing because it was confirmation and vindication for everything that I did so far!!! 😂
The dice Gods themselves agreed that Deric was the real hero and only confirmed it for everyone!!! 😂
The dice really knew how to create the story that day, and remains one of my most incredible memories in playing dnd in recent memories. ☺️
Fester... I miss you. I played you for 2 and a half years. You were the first of my long term characters to die. Your aim was true and your shot was deadly. Your voice Echoed with good will in a world full of evil. You were a merciful Brother of the Nasiob, your reluctance to use the black arrows was not of cowardice, but of strength. You tried to Change the world for the better, but it was not as easy as changing your face. And ultimately you made the ultimate sacrifice for the Beauty of this world. The hunt for Wolfpack continues but I wish I still could have you to guide the party. Your sense of justice kept the party hunting. And please... let go of your pain. Sigovar was not your fault. Sigovar was not your fault.
Raise your mug 🍺
@@BardStrike Always.
Couple sessions later his death lead to kind of a snowball effect. One of the partymembers has been helping some weird forest creatures that none of us understood and we realized that they were evil when they asked for some rescued slaves as food. The partymember who was helping them was convinced it was the right thing to do and since our party has basically reset, every member has either left or died pretty close before that, there was nobody in the party he knew well enough to trust that the forest creatures were evil. The player told me that Fester would have had the best chance to convince him to stay with the party.
I still miss my changeling archer fighter. And a word of advise, try out echo knight with a bow. It's really fun.
Yeah, it sucks. My character was low on health, out of spell slots and being chased into a dead end.
While ultimately, my character is used again in a different game, it still sucks. If my character has to die, I'd ratger it be in the final battle against the BBEG and go out in a blaze of glory.
Thumbs up
Brother s character died to a manticore 6 giant spikes she was hiding in the back she was healer so my character a warforged barbarian/fighter started bashing its heavily in a rage and rest of the gang joined in with friend whos character was her father angry samurai dad. Afterwards laughed because Brothers character was the first to die again and was reincarnated as a gnome lol game agreed to the original short character joke from first campaign he we did he started