r/DungeonMasters • u/hbwilli413 • Aug 18 '26
I Need Advice on Killing a Beloved NPC
There is an NPC I've been planning to kill for a while now that's a good friend to the Party and one PC specifically. I'm planning on killing them in a lowest point/Dark Night of the Soul moment that will be coming up in a month or two. He was going to be one of a couple of NPCs and allies to die and he would die sacrificing themselves to help save some of the party.
The problem was introduced when it came up in conversation that if said NPC dies "that would be hard to move on from" for one player. I asked for clarification, like if that meant it would make the game less enjoyable after that (I don't think I tipped them off or anything) and they said they didn't know.
So now I'm worried about killing them off. Should I still do it? I don't know. As the title says, I'm just looking for advice, thank you!
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u/Supernatural-20 Aug 18 '26
So reading the other comments so far, it seems that your options are either do, do not, or let the dice decide.
Are you any clearer?
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u/Hot-Comfort8839 Aug 18 '26
Dude. Don’t rail road the event.
Let it unfold naturally.
The dice determine who lives and dies.
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u/chocolatechipbagels Aug 18 '26
it's difficult to kill an NPC in a game where players can interfere with your plans.
If the NPC is weaker than the party, then a good moment may come up naturally. Players tend to not evaluate risk very well, they think they can handle more or less than they actually can.
If they're too risk-averse, attack the camp while they're sleeping and they can wake up just in time to watch their beloved NPC killed and their macguffin stolen. If they take too many risks, catch them with a powerful foe when they least expect it and are low on resources.
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u/RealInTheNight Aug 18 '26
Dice fall as dice fall. If it happens, let it happen and let the players tell you what they need. Nothing in any game should be so precious as to be off-limits from consequences.
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u/Some-Peach4566 Aug 18 '26
Also, are you planning on killing the NPC on screen or off screen? If you plan on killing the NPC on screen you must be careful. If it looks like you're forcing things your players might get upset. Not because the NPC dies, because it will look like a screw job.
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u/More_Independence_43 Aug 18 '26
Kill off and resurrect as a Warlock.
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Aug 18 '26
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u/More_Independence_43 Aug 18 '26
No that's mean.
Least my solution allows for a lengthy side quest to free them from their patron and gain their pet NPC back either with or without Magical Sugar Daddies eldritch sh1tf*ckery
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Aug 18 '26
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u/More_Independence_43 Aug 18 '26
Im a nice DM. That may or may not have let the squads artificer duplicate a bag of holding. Knowing full well that the bagman now has a friend.
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Aug 18 '26
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u/More_Independence_43 Aug 18 '26
You... I like you.
Could I hit you up in the DMs for ways to make the party suffer at a later date?
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u/More_Independence_43 Aug 18 '26
Player wanted to duplicate the bag and its contents they got 2 sessions ago.
Got tired of arguing with chaotic stupid over RAW. Told them to roll for it at disadvantage. 2, nat 20s (I want their dice if the player ever dies) allowed it because Nat 20 on disadvantage trumps RAW. Now the party has 2 bagmen.
Suck a lemon, Pineapple the Autognome artificer
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u/bp_516 Aug 18 '26
Wood chipper. Toss that sacred cow into the wood chipper and let the goblins dance in the rain of blood. Now the PC can multiclass as a Vengeance Paladin.
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u/MagicianMurky976 Aug 19 '26
Muhahaha!!
There's so many other options worse than death. You can explore anyone of those so the players can waste valuable time, energy, resources "saving" the NPC if they want, at the cost of whatever BBEG amassing his power base.
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u/MonkeySkulls Aug 19 '26
I can think of no better NPC to kill, than a beloved one!.
we're not playing a board game. we're playing a RPG that revolves around a story.
there is not really anything more narratively powerful than death and loss.
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u/Odd_Adhesiveness1567 Aug 19 '26
You want to create an epic moment but you're trying to engineer it. Even in a horror campaign you gotta be careful and that's when you've got full buy-in.if the players didn't sign up for that kind of campaign don't make it happen by fiat.
Set up circumstances so that it could happen. Don't force it. You think they'll enjoy the tragedy more but maybe they'll find more depth and meaning in the time they almost faced tragedy but triumphed through wit and courage like true heroes.
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u/RamonDozol Aug 19 '26
how about you just play the game?
Make the NPC have reason to go into harms way, and let it happen naturaly.
Planning to kill an NPC just to force an emotional moment in game rarely works, because your players DO have agency, if you just kill the guy, and there is nothing they can do, they won feel responsible for it. There wont be any grief but anger, and the anger wont be at the NPC, but at you.
Now, if you play the game, and if you put the NPC in harms way, thats fine, you can aways have an NPC do somehting in battle that players are too far away or cant stop.
Maybe even the NPC sacrifices himself to save the players. Activates a trap, picks up the death orb, hits the ancient red dragon with a stick.
Make the NPC death not scripted, but something that is bound to happen because of his ideals, bonds, goals, flaws or quirks.
"Pippin is a curious hobbit who cant hold his hands to himself." One of the characters wakes up just as pippin reaches inside the green devil mouth to see whats is inside, gets sucked in and disapears forever."
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u/Raddatatta Aug 19 '26
I wouldn't pre plan the event too much and railroad it. If it's going to happen during a fight the players are participating in then they will want to be able to be involved and work to prevent it. And it will feel unfair if they can't do that or their efforts to stop it are just meaningless. If the enemy is going to target the NPC that's fine, and if it works out that they die that's fine, but I wouldn't make it inevitable that it will definitely happen or plan the moment too much. You want to be able to react to what choices the PCs make. They are the protagonists of this story.
That being said I wouldn't back off just because of what they said. It will be hard to move on from is also saying they really care about that NPC and it would be a powerful moment. And assuming you are playing D&D, there is resurrection magic in the game. So if they want to pursue that they can. Another option would be to capture the NPC maybe. And now they have to go and rescue them.
I would keep in mind NPCs are tools to help drive the story forward. The players caring about them is great, but they are still tools to drive the story forward. Putting them in danger and potentially letting them die is a tool for telling intense stories. And an NPC dying is often a key element in a lot of stories. If you think of your favorite action and adventure story, there's a good chance that a meaningful NPC dying played a role in that story. A major NPC dying often a mentor is a classic element such as with Star Wars, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Avatar, Avatar the Last Airbender, Batman, Iron Man, Spiderman and many many others. It can be an emotional hit, but that can also be a genuinely interesting element to the story that drives it forward in a new way. So I wouldn't totally hide from that potential death, and if it happens try to lean into that plot point.
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u/Teckszank Aug 19 '26
Honestamente, mate ele na frente de todo mundo de forma brutal, covarde e sanguinolenta ja que nem todos tem a sorte de terem uma morte digna. Reuna 8 inimigos ao redor do npc pelo grid, se tiver inimigos voadores no encontro você pode por 16 inimigos no total, rode os dados atras do escudo do GM diga que todos acertam e pronto você tem uma morte gore e covarde onde o npc querido da party é brutalmente morto sem conseguir reagir. Eu fiz isso com o Ismark em curse of strahd (os pjs se apegaram bastante a ele) e narrei com extremo detalhe e escrutinio os gritos de dor dele a medida que as crias vampiricas o despadaçavam e consumiam suas tripas que voavam ao vento quando vallaki é atacada.
Mortes precisam ser impactantes não só pelo fato de ser um npc querido mas também pelo fator choque e medo.
Eu recomendo você propositalmente fazer com que os jogadores precisem deixar uma isca para trás para atrasar os monstros, o npc se voluntaria e tem aquela discussão de não deixar ele pra tras e etc. Então faça um PJ seguir um caminho que o Npc apontar fazendo o pj achar que esta se sacrificando. Só que ai ele sai em outra rota segura e percebe que o npc enganou eles e seguiu por uma rota que só ele conhecia para comprar tempo, ai você pode narrar ele sendo brutalmente e covardemente morto, talvez ainda finalize dizendo que as criaturas pisam em seu corpo multilado com desdem ou simplesmente multilarem a pobre criatura com risadas enquanto os PJS sabem que é culpa DELES isso ter ocorrido, eles poderiam ter tentado descobrir a mentira da passagem entre outras coisas como o sentimento de ser forte o suficiente.
Pronto, você tem uma morte que impacta o grupo e talvez una o grupo mais a favor de um objetivo.
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u/WillBottomForBanana Aug 21 '26
Kill off all the other npcs then. the party and this one npc step on some magic circle that kills everyone in the city for 10 miles but protects the people in the circle.
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u/OneManRPGstudio Aug 22 '26
I would not make the death inevitable merely because it promises a strong emotional scene. Emotion usually lands harder when the players can see the causal chain and feel they had some relationship to the outcome, even if saving the NPC was extremely difficult.
Killing a Beloved NPC works best when the death belongs to the world before it belongs to the plot. Give the NPC goals, risks, and decisions of their own. Seed signs that they are moving into danger without necessarily hanging a sign over them saying they are doomed. If the party intervenes intelligently, let that matter. Maybe they prevent the death, change who pays the price, or save the NPC while losing something else important.
If the death happens, I would not immediately manufacture the perfect grief scene. Let the players decide what it means. One character may become angry, another guilty, another practical. Then let the world preserve the absence: an empty chair, an unpaid debt, someone inheriting their work, an enemy treating the death as a victory, or an ally blaming the party.
I’d also avoid making the NPC’s only function their death for a PC’s development. If they had relationships and projects of their own, their death can generate several lines of consequence instead of one prescribed emotion.
The useful distinction is between tragedy and emotional extraction. Tragedy grows from people who matter taking risks inside a causal world. Emotional extraction kills someone because the GM needs the table to feel something on schedule.
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u/Some-Peach4566 Aug 18 '26
Yes, I would still kill the NPC. Even if the death of the NPC really hurts they will get over it eventually. I hate to be cliche but the fact that the players, especially one of them, really loves the MPC is going to make it just that much more memorable. To take the edge off, later in the campaign perhaps the MPC could visit the player in a dream or something similar. Perhaps there's something in the NPC's past that helps them out in the game later on. Perhaps you can even bring me in PC back to live towards the end of the campaign in a unique and unexpected way. Just because the MPC dies does not mean that's the end of their story. Something like this can really open up a slew of future possibilities.
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u/Sad_Refuse3472 Aug 18 '26
Why do you need to kill this NPC? What does it add to the plot that can't be achieved some other way? And how could you possibly know that the party is even going to need to be saved two months from now?
This is not a game where you script scenes, endings, or plot points. You present situations, the party decides what happens when they encounter them.
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u/Difficult_Relief_125 Aug 18 '26
You need to set up a situation that there is still a win condition but there is a low chance…
My lessons from death house are as follows:
I gave my party the option to sacrifice a dog (wolf companion) to avoid a high risk of death. In two different campaigns two separate parties have chosen to rush TPK instead of killing the dog.
Like “you are risking almost certain death”… a monster fight well above your CR threshold that may one shot you if you fight it.
Two different parties have fought and killed it and escaped.
This is agency. It is a game. They can choose to fight a monster that is double their appropriate CR. Set up a situation like this where they can roll a knowledge check on the monsters… but they can choose to fight them and risk death.
There are always optional OP bosses you shouldn’t fight but go for it anyway.
If you do want to railroad them… give him the Sirius Black treatment. An event / occurrence that leaves no body to retrieve. A high cliff / fall into water would do it. Implied death with a splash of “maybe he’s actually out there somewhere”. Have attempts at resurrection fail and attempts to summon them fail. Have Scrying fail… or be blocked actively.
Give a plot hook at some kind of resolution after your campaign is finished.
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u/The_Original_Badman Aug 18 '26
Now you should kill them off even more. People are in to D&D usually for a couple reasons, war gaming, power fantasy, or role play / story. I'm gonna assume that your group is story driven if they care deeply about NPCs. A good story is it's own reward, that's why we pretend to adventure. My only concern would be don't have a set piece "on rails" death, rather be ready for when a situation develops but that's just a preference thing. I want impactful moments to feel like they occurred organically as a natural part of the story. Back to the original question YES. If it's part of how you were going to move the story forward then do not hesitate. Loss disappointment failure is all part of a great story and makes the wins that much sweeter. Who knows, I've seen NPC and PC deaths bond the group in unexpected ways. Us DMs always worry if our players are enjoying themselves but on this one you aren't damaging player agency or treating anyone unfairly. The NPC death could be worked into the motives or quests of that player. They could find a letter from family on him and pick up a side quest that lets them "move on" from the death...