I had a player message me a few hours before our 5e session, "Hey I'm quitting the group, would it be too much of a hassle to kill off my character tonight?" I said that's fine, thinking I would fudge some combat rolls near the end of the night to kill the character. I was under the impression that he would play one last session; we waited for him to arrive later that evening. but after a while and a text message, I realised he wasn't coming at all.
I panicked and did the unimaginative "Bob falls over unconscious on the ground".
The party were just after entering a dungeon which they will take a number of sessions to complete. We have since had two sessions with the remaining party of four level 3 characters, dragging Bob around doing their best to RP why their comrade is catatonic. They are now well into the dungeon.
Bob is a tiefling warlock with a fiend pact. I've added some intrigue with Bob muttering under his breath and his horns glowing with runes as the party journeys further into the dungeon, linking the runes in a small way to another character's backstory.
I am however at a complete loss on how to resolve this. I have no one who could step in to play Bob any time soon, and as a very new DM, I'm creatively stumped on a good way to write off the character without just having him killed by an enemy.
How can I write out this player character? I am not looking for specific brainstormed ideas, but instead to understand the various ways I can go about this. Please back up your ideas with things you have used, seen used, or can cite.
Best Answer
Well, their PC has just become an NPC, so your choices are limitless.
If there is any chance that the player will return to the campaign at some point, you may not want to "kill them off" - they can just leave for any of the thousand reasons someone IRL leaves a job or hobby or whatnot.
If they're certainly not returning, then you can freely maim and kill them as well.
So what "should" you do when you have unlimited options? Well, it's up to you. But as a DM, you should always be looking to use everything in your game to further your campaign, its plot, tone, and character development.
This is an opportunity to think like a screenwriter. What does your game need? Does it need him to be murdered so they have something to avenge? Does it need someone to be kidnapped so they have something to go after? Does it need someone to declare they're pregnant with another PC's child but they never want to see them again? Does it need them to go out with a bang or stay around? It's all up to you and there is no right answer.
In my campaigns, ex-PCs have settled down and been a source of advice and guidance, they've decided they hate the PCs and plot their demise, they've gone to jail and sacrificed themselves and no end of dramatic turns.