Just wondering how it would be possible. Say for example, the party is level 5 and one player is killed in battle. What is to be done? Does he roll a character at level 5, or level 1? What are your thoughts? Is there an option that is fair but still fun for the returning player?
I don't believe that it's wrong, per se, to let a new character join the party at level 5. I just think that the organic roleplay development of the character may be stunted, which isn't all that fun for the player or the DM. Plus it could perhaps make death seem rather trivial, if the player can simply return to the scene with a different character of more-or-less equal power.
Then again, perhaps a cycle could easily form where the newly rolled level one characters get slaughtered repeatedly by the rest of the party's encounters. That wouldn't be great.
Not sure what the best route is.
I just want to find a way that allows death to be a serious aspect without stunting the player's experience both from a mechanics perspective and a role-playing perspective.
Best Answer
The traditional way of handling PC death in AD&D is for the player to roll up a new, 1st-level character. The bite of death is strong in AD&D, and the intention is that players treat the risks of adventuring very seriously.
However, what is traditional isn't universal—plenty of groups made up their own table rules for how to make a character after an advanced one died. You're well within your rights to say that they start with half their old PC's experience, or one level less than the lowest other party member, or at the average XP of the party minus 1000, or whatever simple or complex variation you can think up.
One of the things to keep in mind while considering how you want to handle this is that mixed-level parties not only work fine in AD&D, but they are expected. The power curve in AD&D is much flatter than in recent editions, making the difference between a 5th-level character and a 1st-level character much less than modern players might assume. With less power divergence, there is less mechanical pressure to ensure that levels are the same—so that should not be something you worry about when deciding how to handle new PCs joining an advanced party. Furthermore, because XP is split evenly among everyone who survives an adventure, any lower-level members of a party will advance slightly faster than normal, since their party will generally be taking on greater challenges—this makes the power difference even less of an issue than it already is.
Basically, history and I give you permission to handle this how you feel is right—there is almost no way you can handle it wrong. If you feel that the organic development of a character from 1st level is important, then you're in agreement with a lot of present and past AD&D gamers, and you should do that.