After spending some time with the rules, something has been bugging me. As far as I know, the only ways to kill a character are as follows:
1. A single attack that takes the character to a negative HP total equal to the HP maximum
2. Fail three death saving throws
3. An ability that explicitly says it causes death
Despite hunting and searching, I haven't found anything in the game that qualifies for number 3. I'm sure it's out there somewhere, but I have yet to find it. For option #1, an attack will need to do probably a minimum of 50 HP in the best case, and most likely 70 HP or more to someone who is already at death's door, so that seems like an extremely far-fetched situation. That leaves #2, which gives the party at least three rounds to reach someone and stabilize them before death. Not to mention, with all of the re-rolls and such that are available, death is unlikely, and even then spells like Revivify abound, so if someone should die, oh well, no big deal. As far as I can tell, there's no real penalty for dying, other than some gold spent, and you don't even need gold for much else in the game anyway!
With all of that being said, is this a game of TPK or don't bother? Looking back at 1E, it was a deadly, dangerous game. Death and suckitude lay around every corner, with poison saves, level draining, and other sundry woes to avoid. After the first few levels, where is the danger in 5E? I'm not trying to start an argument here, just curious what people's thoughts and experiences are so far.
1. A single attack that takes the character to a negative HP total equal to the HP maximum
2. Fail three death saving throws
3. An ability that explicitly says it causes death
Despite hunting and searching, I haven't found anything in the game that qualifies for number 3. I'm sure it's out there somewhere, but I have yet to find it. For option #1, an attack will need to do probably a minimum of 50 HP in the best case, and most likely 70 HP or more to someone who is already at death's door, so that seems like an extremely far-fetched situation. That leaves #2, which gives the party at least three rounds to reach someone and stabilize them before death. Not to mention, with all of the re-rolls and such that are available, death is unlikely, and even then spells like Revivify abound, so if someone should die, oh well, no big deal. As far as I can tell, there's no real penalty for dying, other than some gold spent, and you don't even need gold for much else in the game anyway!
With all of that being said, is this a game of TPK or don't bother? Looking back at 1E, it was a deadly, dangerous game. Death and suckitude lay around every corner, with poison saves, level draining, and other sundry woes to avoid. After the first few levels, where is the danger in 5E? I'm not trying to start an argument here, just curious what people's thoughts and experiences are so far.