In the last session of DFRPG Arden Vul, the Right for Riches company came pretty close to a total party kill. (It would not have been the whole company, as Vael wasn't there. But both Vallium and Uvash were out of the fight and at the mercy of undead, in a no-mana zone.)
Since then, the players have been reviewing the tactics that almost led to their defeat. But they're also making plans for party continuity if they do get wiped out.
The Right for Riches company has three assets that many less experienced adventuring parties do not: money, allies, and communications. So these ideas won't work for every group, but some of them might.
Money is great because it pays for things like Resurrection spells and bounties to recover your body. If you have enough money, someone will probably be motivated by it. Crucially, the money has to actually be available; if it's all on your body, and nobody knows where your body is, then it's not so useful. Gosterwick has pretty solid banking services from three different merchant Factors, and each member of the Right for Riches company has substantial deposits at them, so they have this covered.
Money isn't enough though, as someone needs to coordinate paying it out. That's where non-adventuring allies come in. Right for Riches have three key allies to help with disaster recovery. The first is Akla-Chah, the Rudishva AI in the Beacon, with whom they can communicate with their Rudishva Command Bracelet. As long as they remember to call her often enough, she knows where a search should begin. The second is Barnaby Goodbarrel, their lawyer in Gosterwick, who can write binding legal documents such as wills and contracts. The third is Basil, their employee, who can travel between the Beacon and Gosterwick and coordinate rescue or recovery efforts.
Not every group has the ability to frequently communicate back to base, but next best is just telling someone your planned route before you leave, and then sticking to the plan as closely as possible. Right for Riches designs a plan for every delve, and sharing it with Akla-Chah and Basil gives them a starting point for a search, even if they forget to call with updates.
While rescue is ideal and resurrection is second best, sometimes really bad things happen and nobody can ever find the bodies. At that point you need a succession plan. Right for Riches has a couple of levels of that. First, the company is legally incorporated in Gosterwick and can own assets, so much of the group's property belongs to the company rather than its members, so if the party is wiped out, at least the property they own back at the Beacon still belongs to the company. Second, they have a plan to allow Basil and Barnaby to hire new adventurers to reform the company if the current members are missing long enough.
Finally, for personal property, there are wills. Does your personally owned stuff pass out of the game, or to your close friend or relative who just happens to be your next PC? So far Uvash is the only PC with a designated successor, his son.
Ultimately this is all a meta play. The GM has to decide what's too cheesy to allow. But Right for Riches are at least making an attempt to spin things so that, if they get wiped out, their replacement PCs get to keep some of their stuff. We'll see how it plays out, if things ever reach that point.
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