So I’m looking for some advice from my fellow GMs. The party was aboard an elemental powered airship when the ship was attacked. The ship had ready taken a point of stress prior to the attack and the pcs did not take the time to repair it. The first attack caused another point of stress. They tried to fight back but rolled several 6-.
It resulted in a other barrage that essentially blew up the forecastle releasing the greater elemental that powered the ship. There was a cool and dramatic scene where the party tried to get off the ship and rescue their fellow crew members. The barbarian was about to escape when she looked around and noticed that one of their hirelings that has been with them since the beginning of the campaign was not on deck and likely trapped below. She drank a fire oil potion and went below deck. She found the character trapped below deck trying to hold off the elemental. She was trapped between the elemental and the bow of the ship. The barbarian dove past the elemental, taking a whalop in the process, grabed the npc, and dove out a hole in hull right before the ship crashed.
This was an incredibly heroic thing on the barbarians part. They dove out a hole in the hull to the air as the ship was crashing. In someways i feel like they would not have survived this. The npc is a mage, so conceivablely she could have saved them but I don’t want to steal the pc’s thunder by having the npc ride to the rescue. I guess i cpuld just call for last breadth, but we are very close to the end of the campaign. I’m looking for advice on how to handle this.
I take risks with my character because I like the sense of risk. Roll last breath and let it stand. Near the end of the campaign is a great time for characters to die; when this happens I like jumping in and playing as an existing npc or hireling.
But I also like to clarify the player’s perception of the risk–if they understand that they’re risking death then it’s totally fair play. Alternatively, a soft way to “come to rescue” for the mage: work some magic to give +1 to the last breath roll.
At the time the player said. “Well, BA’s dead…” so I’d say she understood the risks
Would you agree that the npc suffer the same fate as the character?
I wouldn’t make the NPC die if the character dies. They risked all to save the NPC – their sacrifice should not be in vain.
If the PC dies then offer them to pick up as the mage they just saved. This person goes forward inspired by the sacrifice of the character.