When a hero falls in glorious battle (or drowns in a cess pit after a night of drunken debauchery), it’s only right to try to replace that person with a suitable substitute. Here are several ideas.

Some of these might be a named heir; the player can choose the heir at the time of the PC’s death; it doesn’t have to be written in a will beforehand. That heir should inherit all the PC’s worldly possessions. This process might involve a special experience point bonus for the survivors who give the dead comrade an honorable send-off.

1. Close Relative

The new character is a sibling or cousin of the fallen hero who feels honor-bound to take their place. This character might be traveling with the party already as a henchman.

2. Old Friend

The new character is an old friend of the fallen hero who wants to replace them as a way of honoring their memory and/or avenging their death. This character might be traveling with the party already as a henchman.

3. Faction Colleague

The new character is a member of the same faction as the previous one (order of paladins, thieves guild, council of wizards, etc.) and wants to fill their role in heroic ventures.

4. Rescued Captive

The heroes find a captive who has the right skills. The character may be down a few hit points but may have valuable information about the location or villains.

5. Chance Traveler

The heroes happen across a traveler who has the right skills. It can be entirely by chance, or the new character could have been attracted by shouts and sounds of combat and decided to help.

6. Provided by Patron

The new character is one found by the company’s patron as a replacement.

7. Rescued from Stasis

The heroes find a character who has been turned to stone or otherwise put in stasis and have the means to reverse it.

8. Reincarnation

The new hero is a reincarnation of the very same hero who died, created accidentally or even on purpose by some magical means.

The Property of the Deceased

A significant factor in how you replace a lost PC is what to do with the character’s property. At higher levels, the character may have amassed a very substantial amount of treasure and magic items. The players will likely want to divide it among themselves, but you should be firm about ensuring treasure be inherited by the character’s family. Don’t even bother to play this out, unless the players really want it. And don’t be too strict about it; it’s just a game, after all, but good characters just don’t loot the corpses of their fallen companions.