How Do You Like Your Death in D&D
Yes. That was my intent, not that the PC only dies because of player choices.
Mercule
Adventurer
Screw that, then. The only choice they have is in not doing stupid things.
I went with "poor/stupid" decisions. I'd like to say that I always follow the rules and allow characters to die due to bad rolls. The truth is, though, that I take pity on players who just have a ridiculously bad night -- though I'm willing to let them die to a combination of marginally bad rolls and marginally bad decisions.
In our current campaign, the rogue was charmed by a succubus' kiss, and was being a royal pain. So the barb said, "I'm going to knock him unconscious". Well, he forgot that the succubus had already reduced the rogue's max hp from 28 to 14, and he had taken additional damage during the encounter. Was sitting around 5 or 6. When the barb rolled to hit, he critted. Ended up doing 20+ points of damage, killing him. Good idea, rotten execution. Literally.
From now on, if we have to knock a character unconscious, we don't ask the barb to do it.
From now on, if we have to knock a character unconscious, we don't ask the barb to do it.
I think you leave out an important vairable: are pc deaths reversible?
If they are, then you can be pretty brutal, even if the cost of reversing the death is high (I, for example, vastly prefer reincarnate to raise dead for this reason).
If pc deaths are not reversible, then it becomes important to ensure that all pc deaths are the fun kind (whatever that means for your table).
Personally, I don't like removing a character from the game unless the player is okay with it. I make sure they can fail, (even die for e little bit) but if the player wants to keep the character, they can still try again.
If they are, then you can be pretty brutal, even if the cost of reversing the death is high (I, for example, vastly prefer reincarnate to raise dead for this reason).
If pc deaths are not reversible, then it becomes important to ensure that all pc deaths are the fun kind (whatever that means for your table).
Personally, I don't like removing a character from the game unless the player is okay with it. I make sure they can fail, (even die for e little bit) but if the player wants to keep the character, they can still try again.
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Prakriti
Hi, I'm a Mindflayer, but don't let that worry you
That sounds like a rules blunder to me. You can attack to subdue with a melee weapon, and there's no risk of death. The attack just knocks a character unconscious without killing them (they don't have to make death saving throws; they just wake up after 1d4 hours).
happyhermit
Adventurer
Nope, "force" not required. After years of experimenting with systems that offer "support" for RP IME we often have a lot more fun with systems that offer less, especially when playing RP heavy campaigns. We still play some of those systems and have fun, but for different reasons.
Back to the OT. I chose; "PC death can happen due to poor/stupid decisions but are rare." because that's the closest to my most common preference but I truly enjoy the different approaches, especially if it's clearly stated before starting. However, the decisions that result in PC death are often anything but stupid, many times they are Awesome.
Oofta
Legend
Huh. Guess we've been playing our extremely RP-heavy campaigns all wrong then. I'll have to tell the guys.
Unless of course you want some mechanical reinforcement of RP ... which seems kind of contradictory. Or I'm just completely missing your point which is entirely possible.
Charlaquin
Goblin Queen (She/Her/Hers)
Err... I don’t really like any of the options presented in the poll. Rather, I prefer to just let characters die whenever it happens naturally in game, regardless of whether it’s a result of bad luck, player choice, etc. That doesn’t mean that life is cheap or that death is common, though. 5e is extremely forgiving, it’s actually pretty hard to kill PCs past about 3rd level unless you’re actively trying to.
A mixture of mechanical support of RP elements (exposed motivations, interaction points, environmental linkages, et al) and mechanical support for other combat outcomes other than death for the combats that do occur either through player control or stake assignment.
