I don't like dead party members. The only guy I managed to get through being shackled (twice) alive was the paladin leader. Any of my chars died with shackles on, the interest of the many outweigthed the interest of the one, to cite Spock (first and last time in life, I promise).
How do you deal with it, except to try to not lose physical armor entirely? Can you remove it? Maybe you can shackle back (?) as Necro but what if you don't are Necro?
