Player mix and other stuff

I feel very lucky with the player mix that has developed. I have two very good old school players in my game. A couple of guys with some playing experience and then a whole slew of players with no experience to speak of. Since the campaign started in July of 2009 we have played every month without missing a game. I did have once solo game during that stretch and 3 games with two players. All of the other games have ranged from 3-9 players per game with 5-6 being the most common. We have now had 17 different people play in this campaign and 13 of those are people who are currently playing every now and then.

My 16 (now 17) yr old player has only missed one game out of 21 consecutive games from July of 2009 through March of 2011. This player is really maturing as a OD&D player really developing a great feel for the game. One of the older guys in the game early on called for him to be the leader of the group and the group agreed and he has been the leader of the party ever since. Currently his character is the longest running in the game and the highest level (7th). His first character was the first to die permanently in the game and his current character obtained a ring of regeneration at about 4th level IIRC and has went to zero hit points at least 10 times since then. As the designated leader, the highest level fighter and the possessor of the ring of regeneration he is always one that fights the toughest foe and a several times he has killed the opponent on the same round he went to zero himself. He has also learned not to stand in front of a chest when you open it and many other valuable lessions. :)

My house rule on death is currently as follows:  at 0 HP to -10 HP you are unconscious and the ref rolls a d12. That is the number of melee rounds the other players have to give you first aid or you die. If I roll a 1 on the d12 you die, since that meant it was impossible for anyone to give your first aid. The higher I roll, the better chance the player has of surviving. So far about 8 characters have died permanently.