Because it amuses me, here is the current death toll of my game:
| Name | Details | Controlled By | Cause of Death | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liam O’Gara | 2nd level Elf Ranger | Player: JA | Mauled by a Mountain Lion |
| 2 | Grut | 1st level Dwarf Fighter | Player: MW | Killed by Kobolds |
| 3 | Strang the Unlucky | 1st level Human Fighter | Henchman being controlled by Player: JA | Killed by Hobgoblins |
| 4 | Melchior of the Three Fingers | 2nd level Human Fighter | Henchman | Killed by Troglodytes |
| 5 | Koode Dood | 2nd level Human Magic-User | Player: MS | Face severed by evil faries |
| 6 | Talen-Zin | 3rd level Human Magic-User | Henchman | Killed by evil faries |
| 7 | Fedyeka the Bastard | 1st level Human Fighter | Henchman | Poison needle trap |
| 8 | Kashiim | 3rd level Human Fighter | Player: MW | Digested by a gelatinous cube |
| 9 | Elif Gooten | 2nd level Halfling Magic-User | Henchman being controlled by Player: MB | Petrified by Medusa |
| 10 | Yogund Fruze | 4th level Human Paladin | Player: MB | Poison by bite of Medusa’s hair |
| 11 | Gentleman Jack Getz | 4th level Human Thief | Player: JA | Killed by party after turning into a were-boar |
| 12 | Janse Marlense | 1st level Human Ranger | Player: MB | Killed by Brigands |
| 13 | Evynd Knifewielder | 1st level Human Fighter | Henchman | Left for dead in a brigand lair |
| 14 | Motya Karamazov | 1st level Human Fighter | Henchman | Lava breath of an animate statue |
| 15 | Ure of the Evening Eye | 1st level Human Fighter | Henchman | Lava breath of an animate statue |
| 16 | Prince Te’Waharoa | 1st level Human Fighter | Player: JA | Lava breath of an animate statue |
| 17 | Hare Sarlicsson | 1st level Human Thief | Henchman | Poisonous gas inhalation |
| 18 | The Man with No Name (Klint) | Level 4/1 Human Thief/Magic-User | Player: PA | Poisonous gas inhalation |
| 19 | Deacon Silver | Level 5 Human Cleric | Player: BJ | Bitten by poisonous spider |
| 20 | Blood Mallet | Level 2 Human Fighter | Player: DD | Eaten by a ghoul |
| 21 | Kellen | Level 2 Human Fighter | Player: JA | Fed poison potion by own party while paralyzed |
| 22 | Thrain Fireknife | Level 1 Human Fighter | Henchman | Killed by flaming zombie |
| 23 | Atseden the Fastidious | Level 1 Dwarf Fighter | Henchman | Crushed by the hammer of an animate statue |
| 24 | Ozmo | Level 2/1 Halfling Magic-User/Fighter | Player: MM | Died looking up at two descending Gargoyles |
| 25 | Bloodmallet | Level 4 Human Fighter | Henchman | Stung by a Wyvern |
| 26 | Kellen | Level 3 Human Fighter | Henchman controlled by Player: MM | Decapitated in fire ball blast (friendly fire) |
| 27 | Achlor, Rasheed, and Brand the Mace | Normal Humans and Level 1 Human Thief | Henchmen | Frozen by the breath of a white dragon |
| 28 | Bazil the Dancing Sorcerer | Level 6 Human Magic-User | Player: MW | Bisected by a Frost Giant |
| 29 | Yel | Level 1 Human Fighter | Player: MW | Eviscerated by zombies |
| 30 | Bjorn Bigflask | Level 1 Halfling Fighter | Player: RV | Cored by gray ooze |
| 31 | T. Walker | Level 2 Human Ranger | Player: SS | Poisoned by giant spider bite |
| 32 | Emrys | Level 4 Elf Magic-User/Fighter | Player: MM | Disturbed yellow mold once too often |
| 33 | Emrys | Level 4 Elf Magic-User/Fighter | Player: MM | Over-charged a wand of magic missiles |
| 34 | Raede | Level ? Elf Magic-User/Fighter | RL | Killed by horde of skeletons |
| 35 | Savin | Level ? Elf Magic-User/Thief | Player: RV | Died alone on the road of Lycanthropy |
| 36 | Sir Thom | Level 6 Human Paladin | Player: JD | Beheaded by a demon |
| 37 | Aweirgan | Level 4 Human Paladin | Player: NP | Beaten to death by confused party member |
| 38 | Post | Normal Human | Henchman | Stung by giant flies in the Red Swamp |
| 39 | Bloodcleaver and Jeb | Human Berserker and Norman Human | Henchmen | Exsanguinated by stirges |
| 40 | Klaus | Normal Human | Henchman | Bitten by a giant centipede |
| 41 | Drummian | Level 1 Elf Cleric | Player: JD | Eaten by a phase spider |
| 42 | Trebbiano | Level 3 Human Zealot | Player: FS | Shanked in a divy bar |
I think that’s roughly in the order it happened. As for explanation of the henchmen controlled by players, originally the idea was simply to allow the players to take over a henchman as their primary character if their primary character died. This extended naturally through play to also use them if a primary character was in some way incapacitated. Rather than sit out for the session while your guy is paralyzed, why not control the henchman for a little while? This practice has not proven healthy for the poor henchmen.
Oh, also, the two unknown deaths. Currently the players are on a quest to find out exactly what happened to those two. They went off on their own and never returned, so it’s a mystery to the rest of the party. Quite literally too, as I had the player play a private session to figure out what did become of them, and that player no longer plays with us at all (for unrelated reasons), so the group really has no clue what happened.
EDIT: I have bolded the names of those characters who were later Raised from the Dead by the party after their death.
Whoa hey! You updated this! Cool!
Yeah, you said something about it at Mocksgiving and I thought it was a good idea. I wanted to do it before the list got long enough that I might forget some details.
Dude, you need to make this sticky at the top of your blog, or at least post a link on the front page. Hilarity like this shouldn’t stay buried if you’re going to keep updating it.
Good call. Link added in the Archive section to the right.
This PC death list thing made me laugh out loud the first time I saw it here, and now that I’ve got a campaign going, I am so stealing it.
It’s really been a hoot to keep this list going. We went a long stretch there with no player deaths, but then last night the double whammy!
As Ozmo’s player I just wanted to point out that the action that lead to his death saved the parties’s higher level mage’s life. It was a good death. And my new character has much better stats. RIP Ozmo.
Gotta admit. “Decapitated by fireball.” is a particularly epic way to go.
I’m seeing some repeat die-ers here. What is it about this Bloodmallet guy that keeps the party coming back for seconds (and thirds, even)?
Yeah, it’s unclear whether it was the pure shock value of the blast or a piece of shrapnel that took off his head. Either way, it was a glorious death.
Blood Mallet is seriously one of my favorite characters ever. He’s a henchman that’s managed to level along with the party fairly well. He’s also treated as the universal “loaner character” any time the table has a new visitor, or a player finds himself with no character to play. “Dumb barbarian” is a pretty easy character for anyone to pick up, and as a result, get killed. 🙂
Bringing him back after being eaten by a ghoul was a pretty exciting session too. Poor guy had risen as a ghoul himself, so the party actually had to hunt him down and kill him again before they could get him raised.
Rasheed was one of my favorite hirelings. I hope we can hire his brother.
Raede died in tomb of the iron god killed by skeletons.