What is a TPK in D&D?
TPK is a shorthand term for “total party kill.” In D&D 5e, a TPK happens when the whole party dies—usually in combat or some sort of dangerous scenario. With no player characters (PCs) left to revive the others, it’s up to the DM and players to decide together how to move forward with the game, whether that means continuing the current story and characters somehow or starting over. The prospect of a “total party kill” can sound daunting—but try not to worry too much, whether you’re a DM (Dungeon Master) or a player. There are many valid ways to deal with a TPK that can be satisfying for everyone involved; it just comes down to your preferred style of play!
How to Prepare for a TPK
Talk to players beforehand about the possibility of a TPK. If you’re the DM, sit down with your players and talk about what they’d prefer to do in the event of a TPK. TPKs can happen unexpectedly—so if it happens to your group, it’s important to have a general idea of what to do. Lay out the options and ask the group if they have any preferences in terms of what could come after a TPK, including: Continuing the same characters exactly as before (essentially avoiding the TPK somehow). Continuing the same characters but in a different way (allowing the DM to make changes to accommodate the TPK). Starting new characters and continuing the campaign with them, letting the old characters remain dead (at least for now). Starting a brand new campaign altogether, letting go of both the old characters and campaign. Remember, there’s no wrong answer here. And, if not everyone agrees, there are ways to compromise (like letting one player keep their old character, even if the others start new ones).
Avoiding a TPK
Find a creative way to declare the TPK didn’t happen. If you and your players would prefer to continue the current campaign with the same characters, the easiest way to do so is by narratively preventing the TPK, ensuring that although the PCs lost a battle and fell unconscious, they didn’t actually die. Come up with a story that makes sense, depending on the scenario. For example: If a powerful dragon beat the PCs, that dragon might have decided to capture them and bring them back to its lair to devour later, giving them a chance to escape. If a corrupt nobleman and his guards overpower the PCs, they might bring the PCs back to the nobleman’s keep and question them instead of killing them outright. A powerful NPC (non-player character) ally might arrive at the last moment, reviving or teleporting them to safety. As a DM, you could even fake your dice rolls if you see a battle start to turn seriously south and let the party miraculously turn things around, turning certain defeat into a miracle victory.
Declare the whole battle was actually a premonition. If a battle turns south, it seems like the entire party will perish, and their enemy is more likely to kill instead of capturing them, don’t worry: there are still creative ways to get around it! Let the battle play out, and if it ends in a TPK, describe the defeat vividly before announcing that the encounter was actually one PC’s vision of the future. This gives players a do-over and time to think about what went wrong in the battle (and where they might improve or change their strategy). If the players dove headfirst into a battle that might’ve been too tough for them in the first place, this also gives them a chance to flee so they can return when they’re stronger!
Continuing the Same Characters After a TPK
Resurrect the characters magically. Resurrection magic exists in D&D, which means it’s totally possible for dead PCs to return to life—all you need to do is come up with a story that explains how (and why) they’ve been resurrected. Consider how the PCs might be brought back. Could an ally do it? Or, conversely, would one of the campaign’s villains have a reason to do it? For example, if the party is friends with an NPC cleric, that cleric might go out of their way to bring the party back to life to repay them for all their help in the past. On the other hand, an evil sorcerer might bring the party back to try and compel them into doing the sorcerer’s bidding in the future. Perhaps the TPK was actually destiny—the PCs were marked for sacrifice, and their bodies were infused with divine (or infernal) magic beforehand, enabling them to come back to life after dying.
Turn the characters into spirits or undead. Bring the campaign into the spirit world by turning the PCs themselves into spirits, newly arrived in the afterlife after their deaths. What changes would that create for the PCs and their stats or abilities? How would it change their goals or the trajectory of the campaign? This is a fun way to make TPKs feel like a natural part of the story. For example, the PCs’ new goal might be to find a way back to their mortal bodies or find new allies to help them return to life. In the meantime, being in the spirit world might make the PCs’ bodies incorporeal or make their magic look (and react) differently. Don’t want to change the setting and travel to the spirit world? No problem. Instead, bring the PCs back as undead. Perhaps a necromancer wants to control them, or an evil vampire turns them into spawns or dhampir. Just check in with players before dramatically changing their PCs this way. Some might think it’s an awesome idea, but others might not want to do it.
Stage a divine intervention from the gods. You might have the PCs enter a god’s service after the TPK. with a particular deity intervening to resurrect the party in exchange for their fealty, or their help in completing a specific task. The god might want the PCs to become their champions on the mortal plane—or, instead of getting resurrected, they might become the god’s immortal servants. Most D&D settings have whole pantheons of deities to choose from! Try picking one you feel best aligns with the party’s ideals and values (or, to create conflict, have a god that they definitely wouldn’t relate to intervene).
Starting New Characters After a TPK
Pick up where the old characters left off in the campaign. Even if you and the rest of your players decide to make new characters, you can still continue the same campaign! You could play as one of the old PC’s friends or allies—or simply create a new hero to take up the old PC’s cause and finish whatever mission they started. For example, a new PC could be a former friend of the party looking to get revenge for their deaths. Perhaps the old party saved a village while adventuring, and a child from that village becomes your new PC (because they were so inspired by the old PCs that they decided to become an adventurer). Late in the game, new PCs after a TPK might have to navigate a world where a powerful villain beats the heroes and fulfills their evil plan.
Create new characters at the same level as the old ones. It’s up to the players and DM to figure out what level to start new PCs at after a TPK—but often, players might find it more satisfying to start at the same level as their old PCs. That’s because starting back at level 1 can be disappointing, as players may feel like they’ve worked hard to get to their old PC’s level. If you start the new PCs at the same level as the old ones, it can also give players a good opportunity to try out a class they’ve wanted to explore!
Create secondary heroes whose goal is to resurrect the old ones. Since D&D 5e has plenty of resurrection spells, your campaign’s new PCs might decide that the best thing they can do is bring back the characters that died in the TPK. For example, maybe there’s a prophecy involving the old PCs, or maybe the new PCs feel like they could beat the campaign’s big villain if they work together with the old PCs. If the new group of characters succeeds and brings back the old PCs, that doesn’t mean they have to disappear entirely! You might keep them around for future one-shots or side quests, or even play them in the campaign every now and again for fun!
Play as enemies of the old characters, alternatively. If you and your players want to shake things up, consider making new PCs that were enemies of the old ones. They might be members of an organization that opposed the old PCs or competed with them. You might even play the group of villains that ultimately caused the TPK and killed the old characters! This can give players (and the DM) a chance to explore the perspectives of the villains they fought against previously.
Starting a New Campaign After a TPK
Set the new campaign in the same world or a brand new one. Are you and the other players ready for a new story? You might feel like the old one has reached its natural endpoint, or you might simply prefer the idea of starting fresh with a new campaign, Consider whether you’d rather start a campaign in the same setting as the first, or whether you want to explore a new world as well as a new character! However, remember that adopting a whole new setting can be challenging for DMs, especially if a TPK happens suddenly and you weren’t expecting it. This is because it takes time to get to know a new world—and if you’re creating it from scratch, you’ll need to take time to establish new lands, stories, villains, and more for the campaign.
Consider setting the campaign years after the old one. If you decide to keep the same world and setting as the old campaign, shake things up by starting a new campaign years (decades or even centuries) later, after the first. What’s happened in the meantime, especially after the heroes lost and, presumably, villains were able to fulfill their evil plots? How will that affect the new campaign? For example, maybe the campaign is now set in a post-apocalyptic world that’s been ravaged by the villain from the last campaign, or maybe that villain now rules society and needs to be taken down. This can give TPKs really powerful storytelling consequences and make the stakes of the new campaign seem even greater!
Bring pieces of your old story into the new campaign. Did a group of D&D players have a TPK before you revealed the plot for the old campaign fully? Don’t let all that work go to waste! You spent time making a great adventure for your players, so try recycling elements of the old plot. Take the things you liked best from the old campaign, and consider how you can fit them into fit them into the new one! For example, if you haven’t revealed the final boss for the old campaign yet, you could reuse it for the new campaign. Similarly, if you were really excited to give the party a series of quests revolving around a particular genre, like a heist or espionage, you could tweak those quests to fit the new campaign instead.
Why can TPKs ruin a game?
TPKs can make a session feel pointless and miserable for players. Part of the fun (and challenge) of battles in D&D is the question of whether the party can pull through and score a victory against a tough opponent. However, if players realize their PCs won’t win partway through and spend hours playing out a battle in which their carefully crafted PCs get brutally killed, it can be upsetting for them. To be clear, DMs who allow TPKs are absolutely not bad DMs; some DMs prefer realism and extreme consequences in games, and some players do, too! There’s nothing wrong with that. However, plenty of players also find sitting through TPKs demoralizing, especially if the whole thing is dragged out in an hours-long battle. That’s why it’s important to be aware of your players’ preferences and feelings about TPKs before designing an encounter where a TPK is a possibility.
TPKs may disrupt a campaign's story and momentum. Many players get excited to explore their characters’ personal quests and immerse themselves in whatever campaign story arc their DM has prepared. Thus, some find TPKs upsetting because they prevent players from giving their PCs a satisfying conclusion or fully experiencing the campaign’s story arc. Basically, TPKs can leave a campaign feeling short, abrupt, and unsatisfying. Even if the DM continues the current campaign with different characters, letting all the old PCs remain dead can feel disjointed and disappointing to some players.
TPKs are harder to deal with than a single PC death. There’s a big difference between one (or even multiple) PCs dying versus the entire party. Because resurrection spells exist, a party that loses one or two members can absolutely bring those PCs back to life. If every party member is dead, however, it can be much harder for players to work around that and bring their PCs back to life. The potential for death adds extra stakes to every battle, so even a DM actively trying to avoid a TPK shouldn’t hesitate to kill a PC (as long as they’re handling the encounter fairly, not going out of their way to cause a fatality). The only scenario where both TPKs and single PC deaths can feel unfair to players is when PCs are still low-level and unable to perform resurrection spells. If you’re a DM, it’s a good idea to be more lenient and go out of your way to keep a low-level party (from levels 1 to 5) alive, even if it means faking a roll here or there. This is because any deaths, let alone TPKs, are much more final for beginner-level PCs than high-level ones!
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