This is one that I find a struggle. I've mainly acted as Games Master throughout the time that I've been gaming, and there aren't that many memorable occasions where I've had a character die. It's not something that worries me too much - if it matches the story and feels right, then I'll go with it as it can open up lots of interesting character interaction. Probably the only one that really sticks in mind was during a game of Legend of the Five Rings that Richard M was running, where my Crab Clan Warrior ended up in some kind of honour duel (I think) which he won, but immediately had to commit suicide to maintain clan honour. I've only vague memories of this, but do remember that I did get a decent replacement.
I've seen some other memorable character deaths; probably the most significant was Greg L’s character 'Art' during a Traveller campaign that I ran back when I lived near Chester. This was a blend of Twilight's Peak, a bunch of other Traveller scenarios and a bit of CJ Cherryh's Merchanters and Andre Norton's Free Traders. It was a game of restaurants, docksides, and side missions, with a very mixed and dysfunctional crew. If anything, the party ended up more nervous of dockside interactions because "bad things happen in bars and restaurants", usually driven by the players. Art died off camera, and the repercussions shattered the campaign. Alli M’s Aslan stalked off, and Steve H’s character 'Kira' was left holding the baby. Probably the best write up of this was done by Steve, and he kindly lets me host it on my site.
The other kind of memorable character deaths that spring to mind tend to have been when I have run Traveller convention adventures. These have included the character group that decided to risk breaking into a starport when sighted by a starship scale laser defence battery, ignoring the warning shot. As they were in an Air/Truck, basically a flying Transit van, this wasn't especially smart. Another included the last surviving crew member of a ship which had been swallowed into a corsair, who rather than surrender and be murdered, opened up inside the corsair with the ship's lasers, scoring critical hits until the reactor exploded.
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