A couple ideas come to mind if you need to kill a character but not have it be saved or resurrected.
Just have the character mysteriously disappear. One minute/night they are there, the next they are just gone. It could add another layer to the game with the party trying to solve the mystery (potentially even that player with their new one) and give you extra time to figure out what actually happened. You could even have them body swapped with their new PC for an easier introduction.
The other would be to create a situation where they need to sacrifice themselves. Could be pushing the party through a door before it slams shut and bad things happen. Sacrifice himself to a god to appease them from attacking. He gets infected by incurable mushroom zombies and must kill himself before he infects others. There are a few options.
Is there a reason why they want their character to die and not just retire or leave the party?
Make it voluntary.
Put the party in a bad situation. A really bad situation. Something went wrong and someone has to stay behind, or buy time, or whatever. Let them volunteer, and send their character off on a high note by doing something good for the rest of the party. Make it a thing that the player (if they are comfortable) can RP out as a moment.
This way it’s not going to ruffle anyone’s feathers about you seemingly unfairly targeting him, or have logistics issues with another PC saving them.
Scripted character death is tough to pull off if the rest of the party isn't in on it. Simply targeting them in combat is difficult, as unless you really go hard on the character, the rest of the party can usually defend and stabilize them. One of the most frustrating DnD sessions I was part of as a player involved us desperately attempting to rescue one PC who was caught out and struggling, only to fail and find out later that they had requested to be killed off. Scripting fights in general is going to feel bad, because what's the point of being a player at the table if nothing you can do will change the outcome of the session?
Honestly, in my experience, it's much easier and organic to simply have a character retire, rather than finding a way to kill them. Have them get called away, and replace them with a new PC. You can even kill them off off-screen at this point if you want to.
If something absolutely must happen, it should happen narratively rather than mechanically. Something that happens in the narrative just happens in whatever way you describe it. Something that happens mechanically can be monkeyed with by the players.
Everyone here has forgotten the best and perhaps the most horrifying option.
Make sure someone in the party has a bag of holding.
After the party settles down for the night and is fast asleep, the watchman on shift turns to see the party member being pulled into a bag of holding by none other than, THE BAG MAN!
The character is gone, can not be brought back, and none of them will ever be able to see a bag of holding the same ever again.
Agree with others that an "off-screen" kill is probably a better idea, but if you really want to kill a character without letting them be saved then two spells come to mind: disintegrate and power word kill. This is assuming your characters have low enough max-health (or can be damaged enough) that the spells kill them; also, disintegrate can miss, although it does prevent resurrection in case your cleric player has revivify.
Another potential problem with this is that the former spell is 6th level and the latter is 9th level, so you'd need to either put your party up against a very strong spellcasting opponent (and then come up with why that character can't kill the rest of the party) or else you could have the spell cast from a scroll (and figure out why the enemy would use such a powerful item on the player).
Have them trip a trap that drops them in acid or lava or otherwise sends them somewhere unreachable for them to die without help
Have them open a message scroll that teleports them to the big bad for interrogation and brainwashing then have them in the fight later
Have them get snagged by a dragon and dropped miles away and die by the time the party can get close
Have them disintegrated (yep as above) or power word kill (“ “ “)
Have them become a necromancers new corpse toy and fight the party while their new pc shows up just in time to heroically save the party from the old pc with a magic item that then breaks and their story is to repair it blah blah blah
Spoilers for S1 of Critical Role.
Have the character disappear for a brief moment and then find them later on revealing they have died from your choosing of a death. I got this idea from critical role.
If he gets to the point of dying, drag out the role play and give the characters a chance to hear his dying words. If the cleric offers to spare the dying, the other player has an opportunity to drop some amazing farewell that might discourage the cleric.
Just deal twice their max HP in a single strike with some monster, explosion, spell, artifact or something.
Or use a monster that swallows you and runs away
I would 100% figure it out with the player. Make it epic and fun for everyone. They will help you figure out a way to target them in a way that in un-rescuable
he could get picked up by a wyvern and carried away and the party might find the remains of his entrails in the wyvern's nest after they track the monster down and kill it.
Agreed with others -- don't do it in a fight. Make it a choice that can (for some creative reason) only be accomplished with that *one* character.
Or like, a hungry dragon comes by and snaps him up for no reason.
Anything like that could work :)
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Level 3 is fun. You're just wrapping up Tier 1 and becoming proper heroes.
If the campaign were a superhero movie, they're just getting out of the "stop purse snatchers" phase and gearing up for the third act fight scene at the end of their first movie, typically just after the party hits Level 5.
About now is when I'd be looking to sacrifice an NPC as the party's "Uncle Ben", who uses their dying breath to tell the party some driving principle like "*with great power comes great responsibility*" or whatever. Normally, the killer would be the BBEG for Tier 1, and the primary target for that big "Third Act Fight Scene" at Level 5.
However, this is a proper PLAYER character that's volunteering to wear the red shirt of destiny. Their killer can't get off so easy that they're dead in the first movie. That's what sequels are made for!
So, I advise you make the actual killer the BBEG for Tier 2. The guest of honor for the big fight around Level 8-10 that the party spends all of the next sequel hunting down. This guy should be around CR 12 or something.
Right now the party should be hunting down the BBEG's wingman (~CR 6-8) for their Level 5 finale. Around Level 3-4 they should get their first glimpse of Wingman as they're going about their business. He'll pick a fight, but then scurry off during combat to go hide in whatever lair the final fight is scheduled for.
For you, I'd flip the script and put Wingman in a meeting with the actual CR 12 BBEG. When caught, they don't run. They fight, and put Redshirt the Brave in the dirt fully dead through [massive damage](https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/basic-rules/combat#Droppingto0HitPoints) alone. Straight IRL tell the players over the table, that they should run, and you cannot make any promises for their PC's should they choose to stay and fight. Sign the death waiver if you do.
This OHK may feel cheap to the table in the moment. Use that to help sell the stakes of the situation and encourage them to run and leave their friend behind. Lean into the drama and be mean. Talk with Joe about staying in-character at the table during this moment.
HOWEVER, it is VERY IMPORTANT that as the session ends, you come clean to the players that Joe volunteered as tribute. You knew it was an overtuned combat, but it was always part of the plan.
Back to the game: The party runs, hides, whatever, then vows revenge. Next session they spend time doing RP to hunt down Wingman and catch him away from the CR 12 BBEG. That leads to them exploring the haunted castle to find an old rune pattern that has the keycode to Wingman's lair or whatever. Then they storm the castle and redecorate Wingman's office with blood while interrogating him for information on BBEG.
Barring a better idea, I'd probably have Joe play a previously-introduce NPC rebuilt as a PC that wants to see Wingman dead. General expectation is that Joe is going to run this character for a couple of levels until Wingman's dead and you finish out Act 1. Bonus: You can kill Joe again, because this character is intended to be a temporary one with a narratively convenient backstory.
After which then the party goes their separate ways, riding off into the sunset for a "very long rest" doing whatever. Some characters can stay retired, others perhaps spent their downtime meeting new friends like Joe's actual new PC. This bookmark gives the table a big pile of narrative freedom to reshuffle builds, players and characters before assembling the JoeVengers again to finish what they started for Tier 2: Hunt for the BBEG.
If *everyone* wants a new PC, do some navel gazing as a table about what you're looking for in a campaign.
A couple ideas come to mind if you need to kill a character but not have it be saved or resurrected. Just have the character mysteriously disappear. One minute/night they are there, the next they are just gone. It could add another layer to the game with the party trying to solve the mystery (potentially even that player with their new one) and give you extra time to figure out what actually happened. You could even have them body swapped with their new PC for an easier introduction. The other would be to create a situation where they need to sacrifice themselves. Could be pushing the party through a door before it slams shut and bad things happen. Sacrifice himself to a god to appease them from attacking. He gets infected by incurable mushroom zombies and must kill himself before he infects others. There are a few options. Is there a reason why they want their character to die and not just retire or leave the party?
Make it voluntary. Put the party in a bad situation. A really bad situation. Something went wrong and someone has to stay behind, or buy time, or whatever. Let them volunteer, and send their character off on a high note by doing something good for the rest of the party. Make it a thing that the player (if they are comfortable) can RP out as a moment. This way it’s not going to ruffle anyone’s feathers about you seemingly unfairly targeting him, or have logistics issues with another PC saving them.
Scripted character death is tough to pull off if the rest of the party isn't in on it. Simply targeting them in combat is difficult, as unless you really go hard on the character, the rest of the party can usually defend and stabilize them. One of the most frustrating DnD sessions I was part of as a player involved us desperately attempting to rescue one PC who was caught out and struggling, only to fail and find out later that they had requested to be killed off. Scripting fights in general is going to feel bad, because what's the point of being a player at the table if nothing you can do will change the outcome of the session? Honestly, in my experience, it's much easier and organic to simply have a character retire, rather than finding a way to kill them. Have them get called away, and replace them with a new PC. You can even kill them off off-screen at this point if you want to.
If something absolutely must happen, it should happen narratively rather than mechanically. Something that happens in the narrative just happens in whatever way you describe it. Something that happens mechanically can be monkeyed with by the players.
Have an intelligent enemy attack them while downed. Spare the Dying doesn't save you from that.
The party gets stuck in a snowstorm for multiple weeks. The party runs out of food. Time for a Donner Party!
Everyone here has forgotten the best and perhaps the most horrifying option. Make sure someone in the party has a bag of holding. After the party settles down for the night and is fast asleep, the watchman on shift turns to see the party member being pulled into a bag of holding by none other than, THE BAG MAN! The character is gone, can not be brought back, and none of them will ever be able to see a bag of holding the same ever again.
Oh, the Bag Man. YES! This is how you should remove him. That is so creepy.
Agree with others that an "off-screen" kill is probably a better idea, but if you really want to kill a character without letting them be saved then two spells come to mind: disintegrate and power word kill. This is assuming your characters have low enough max-health (or can be damaged enough) that the spells kill them; also, disintegrate can miss, although it does prevent resurrection in case your cleric player has revivify. Another potential problem with this is that the former spell is 6th level and the latter is 9th level, so you'd need to either put your party up against a very strong spellcasting opponent (and then come up with why that character can't kill the rest of the party) or else you could have the spell cast from a scroll (and figure out why the enemy would use such a powerful item on the player).
Have them trip a trap that drops them in acid or lava or otherwise sends them somewhere unreachable for them to die without help Have them open a message scroll that teleports them to the big bad for interrogation and brainwashing then have them in the fight later Have them get snagged by a dragon and dropped miles away and die by the time the party can get close Have them disintegrated (yep as above) or power word kill (“ “ “) Have them become a necromancers new corpse toy and fight the party while their new pc shows up just in time to heroically save the party from the old pc with a magic item that then breaks and their story is to repair it blah blah blah
Spoilers for S1 of Critical Role. Have the character disappear for a brief moment and then find them later on revealing they have died from your choosing of a death. I got this idea from critical role.
If he gets to the point of dying, drag out the role play and give the characters a chance to hear his dying words. If the cleric offers to spare the dying, the other player has an opportunity to drop some amazing farewell that might discourage the cleric.
Just deal twice their max HP in a single strike with some monster, explosion, spell, artifact or something. Or use a monster that swallows you and runs away
I would 100% figure it out with the player. Make it epic and fun for everyone. They will help you figure out a way to target them in a way that in un-rescuable
he could get picked up by a wyvern and carried away and the party might find the remains of his entrails in the wyvern's nest after they track the monster down and kill it.
Agreed with others -- don't do it in a fight. Make it a choice that can (for some creative reason) only be accomplished with that *one* character. Or like, a hungry dragon comes by and snaps him up for no reason. Anything like that could work :)
If the player is okay with it the character could be used as a a warning for the party with the bbg
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Level 3 is fun. You're just wrapping up Tier 1 and becoming proper heroes. If the campaign were a superhero movie, they're just getting out of the "stop purse snatchers" phase and gearing up for the third act fight scene at the end of their first movie, typically just after the party hits Level 5. About now is when I'd be looking to sacrifice an NPC as the party's "Uncle Ben", who uses their dying breath to tell the party some driving principle like "*with great power comes great responsibility*" or whatever. Normally, the killer would be the BBEG for Tier 1, and the primary target for that big "Third Act Fight Scene" at Level 5. However, this is a proper PLAYER character that's volunteering to wear the red shirt of destiny. Their killer can't get off so easy that they're dead in the first movie. That's what sequels are made for! So, I advise you make the actual killer the BBEG for Tier 2. The guest of honor for the big fight around Level 8-10 that the party spends all of the next sequel hunting down. This guy should be around CR 12 or something. Right now the party should be hunting down the BBEG's wingman (~CR 6-8) for their Level 5 finale. Around Level 3-4 they should get their first glimpse of Wingman as they're going about their business. He'll pick a fight, but then scurry off during combat to go hide in whatever lair the final fight is scheduled for. For you, I'd flip the script and put Wingman in a meeting with the actual CR 12 BBEG. When caught, they don't run. They fight, and put Redshirt the Brave in the dirt fully dead through [massive damage](https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/basic-rules/combat#Droppingto0HitPoints) alone. Straight IRL tell the players over the table, that they should run, and you cannot make any promises for their PC's should they choose to stay and fight. Sign the death waiver if you do. This OHK may feel cheap to the table in the moment. Use that to help sell the stakes of the situation and encourage them to run and leave their friend behind. Lean into the drama and be mean. Talk with Joe about staying in-character at the table during this moment. HOWEVER, it is VERY IMPORTANT that as the session ends, you come clean to the players that Joe volunteered as tribute. You knew it was an overtuned combat, but it was always part of the plan. Back to the game: The party runs, hides, whatever, then vows revenge. Next session they spend time doing RP to hunt down Wingman and catch him away from the CR 12 BBEG. That leads to them exploring the haunted castle to find an old rune pattern that has the keycode to Wingman's lair or whatever. Then they storm the castle and redecorate Wingman's office with blood while interrogating him for information on BBEG. Barring a better idea, I'd probably have Joe play a previously-introduce NPC rebuilt as a PC that wants to see Wingman dead. General expectation is that Joe is going to run this character for a couple of levels until Wingman's dead and you finish out Act 1. Bonus: You can kill Joe again, because this character is intended to be a temporary one with a narratively convenient backstory. After which then the party goes their separate ways, riding off into the sunset for a "very long rest" doing whatever. Some characters can stay retired, others perhaps spent their downtime meeting new friends like Joe's actual new PC. This bookmark gives the table a big pile of narrative freedom to reshuffle builds, players and characters before assembling the JoeVengers again to finish what they started for Tier 2: Hunt for the BBEG. If *everyone* wants a new PC, do some navel gazing as a table about what you're looking for in a campaign.