Dungeon Mastery: The Death Flag

 

The Death Flag should never see regular use. Rather you save it for the Princess whose affections a PC have not so much spurned because she is an annoying, clinging pest but because she is the Princess.

The Death Flag can be applied to not just people, but places.

Its why the PC might leave their nameless home village at level one only to feel reminiscent at later, much higher levels, and having returned found it wiped off the map, and they the only survivor.

There are six good Death Flags:

1. An Evil NPC has turned Good. Applying this to the Home town is harder, but it might be applied to a mid-tier villain's base. The base burned, the shrine has been cleansed, and the PCs like the place, but its unexpectedly wiped out by a band of Orcs because it is no longer a military Stronghold. It had thanks to the 'heroes' become a power vaccuum.

2. They talk about how they love their friends. Ideal for that home village where a PCs parent used to sit them on their knee and tell tales of his time as a caravan guard. Dad pats you on the back and tells your PC he loves you in an unexpected moment of emotion.

"You take care of yourself lad and remember... Your Mum and Dad love you."

3. They are blindly loyal. So damn loyal that when the BBEG sends in an agent who says send the PCs a letter to lure the PCs to the village or the village burns, they choose option B.

"Tell your Lord that the Villagers of Muddypuddle spit on his God!"

4. They have family photos. These are there to show how great a loss an NPC is going to be. In a medieval fantasy setting where there are no photos this might be relayed to the PCs as a regular supply of stories and anecdotes.  

"Dont touch that. I'm pretty sure its Wolvesbane. My Gran said there is no cure and you would die in horrible pain."

"I look forward to stopping off for some of my Gran's Rosella flower jam."

5. They reach a point of no return. Pushed to their limits of their power against incredible opponent and suddenly the tide turns against them. The NPC Magic-user tosses them the remaining healing potion, and tells the party that they should retreat to a position of safety while the Wizard throws what little he has at the BBEG to give them a moment to escape. Rather than retreat with them, the Wizard shatters his magic staff detonating its tri-Kobold soul core and the explosion disintegrates the NPC and and momentarily wounds the BBEG.

6. They are too good for this world. Mother Anasta has operated the orphanage where the PC grew up. She has raised many orphans to be fine farmers, blacksmiths, (and the disappointing Mercenary that your PC became though she blames Farmer Gowler for filling your PC's head full of Bard's Tales about Adventurers). The local Lord's soldiers have killed her with a slap from a gauntleted hand, turned the orphanage into a local store house for his siezed grain, and the orphans have been taken by the Lord as part of his army and sent off to war with a rival over some percieved insult.

The crap ones exist to spur the PC on with little build up. This is new wife found stuffed in a fridge on the morning after the wedding night. Or the Village the PC grew up in (that one on the bottom of the Player's character sheet that they never visited but just got shown by the BBEG in his surveilance mirrorbeing burned to the ground).