Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Is Dying really hard?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Rhenny" data-source="post: 7239595" data-attributes="member: 18333"><p>The DM has a lot of control over when PCs live and die. That's basically the crux of it. 5e is certainly designed to allow for a deathless experience if PCs act with caution and heed warnings.</p><p></p><p>PC Death happens when PCs are either forced to adventure when they are already compromised/resource deprived, or when they bite off more than they can chew. A lot of this depends on the adventure design, the DM and how the players respond to DM description. In a game setting where PCs can encounter larger numbers of foes or foes that are clearly more powerful than they are, players need to learn that fighting is not always the answer. Of course at lower levels, this is much more of an issue than at higher levels.</p><p></p><p>DMs can telegraph through description and by giving PCs chances to make Arcana, Nature, History checks etc. to give clues to the players about the dangers that exist.</p><p></p><p>If none of the above happens - PCs ignore warning signs, or they fight against large groups of foes (without being able to clear them out with AOE, etc.), or they just hit a patch of bad luck when they are unconscious, there can be death.</p><p></p><p>In the last Phandelver session I played in (yes, I'm still playing that one in one campaign) our 3rd level party went to Thundertree looking for a dragon. My character warned the others that this did not seem like a great idea since we were relatively inexperienced (3rd level is still pretty weak). The others didn't listen so I just went along trying to temper their enthusiasm. Well, eventually, we met the creature (Venom Fang - an evil and prideful young green dragon). Our warlock had a chance to speak with Venom Fang because he had disguised himself as one of the cultists. We were all hidden 30' or so away from the warlock and the dragon. I don't know why, but the warlock basically told the dragon to attack us. Well, let's just say the warlock said the wrong thing to the dragon and he gave away our position so when the dragon stalked toward our hidden Dwarf paladin, the warlock unleashed an eldritch blast that did not penetrate the dragon's hide. We were now committed to a fight that I (as a player and as a Bladesinger PC) knew we could not win. Pretty soon, my PC ran to a wooded area and casted a rope trick so that we had a safe place to hide. I told the others to run for it. Well...to make a long story short, the warlock, the paladin, the cleric all died. The dragon took down the warlock and then flew away with his body and dropped it from the tower. The cleric was killed outright from poison breath. My PC was left with 4 hp after saving vs. the poison breath. The paladin went down once, was healed by the cleric (before he died of course) and then he saved the nearly dead Rogue, who ran away with only 1 hp. My PC sealed herself in the rope trick and rested. Then she ran for cover in a nearby barrracks that we had cleared earlier, but the dragon was aware. My PC was slashed by a flyby claw attack taking me down to 1 hp before I jumped into the building and used rope trick once again. I had to wait out the night after the rope trick ended and sneak out a window to get outside Thundertree. I was lucky...no dragon...no wandering monsters. I found a farm nearby and they took care of me. End of session.</p><p></p><p>We had a great time with this. But as you can see, the decisions that players made and the decisions that the DM made all contributed to death. That dragon was CR 8. We were 3rd level. The outcome of combat was set from the beginning. I have heard of groups who succeeded in driving the dragon away or even killing it, but that would require a very coordinated attack plan and a lot of luck.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Rhenny, post: 7239595, member: 18333"] The DM has a lot of control over when PCs live and die. That's basically the crux of it. 5e is certainly designed to allow for a deathless experience if PCs act with caution and heed warnings. PC Death happens when PCs are either forced to adventure when they are already compromised/resource deprived, or when they bite off more than they can chew. A lot of this depends on the adventure design, the DM and how the players respond to DM description. In a game setting where PCs can encounter larger numbers of foes or foes that are clearly more powerful than they are, players need to learn that fighting is not always the answer. Of course at lower levels, this is much more of an issue than at higher levels. DMs can telegraph through description and by giving PCs chances to make Arcana, Nature, History checks etc. to give clues to the players about the dangers that exist. If none of the above happens - PCs ignore warning signs, or they fight against large groups of foes (without being able to clear them out with AOE, etc.), or they just hit a patch of bad luck when they are unconscious, there can be death. In the last Phandelver session I played in (yes, I'm still playing that one in one campaign) our 3rd level party went to Thundertree looking for a dragon. My character warned the others that this did not seem like a great idea since we were relatively inexperienced (3rd level is still pretty weak). The others didn't listen so I just went along trying to temper their enthusiasm. Well, eventually, we met the creature (Venom Fang - an evil and prideful young green dragon). Our warlock had a chance to speak with Venom Fang because he had disguised himself as one of the cultists. We were all hidden 30' or so away from the warlock and the dragon. I don't know why, but the warlock basically told the dragon to attack us. Well, let's just say the warlock said the wrong thing to the dragon and he gave away our position so when the dragon stalked toward our hidden Dwarf paladin, the warlock unleashed an eldritch blast that did not penetrate the dragon's hide. We were now committed to a fight that I (as a player and as a Bladesinger PC) knew we could not win. Pretty soon, my PC ran to a wooded area and casted a rope trick so that we had a safe place to hide. I told the others to run for it. Well...to make a long story short, the warlock, the paladin, the cleric all died. The dragon took down the warlock and then flew away with his body and dropped it from the tower. The cleric was killed outright from poison breath. My PC was left with 4 hp after saving vs. the poison breath. The paladin went down once, was healed by the cleric (before he died of course) and then he saved the nearly dead Rogue, who ran away with only 1 hp. My PC sealed herself in the rope trick and rested. Then she ran for cover in a nearby barrracks that we had cleared earlier, but the dragon was aware. My PC was slashed by a flyby claw attack taking me down to 1 hp before I jumped into the building and used rope trick once again. I had to wait out the night after the rope trick ended and sneak out a window to get outside Thundertree. I was lucky...no dragon...no wandering monsters. I found a farm nearby and they took care of me. End of session. We had a great time with this. But as you can see, the decisions that players made and the decisions that the DM made all contributed to death. That dragon was CR 8. We were 3rd level. The outcome of combat was set from the beginning. I have heard of groups who succeeded in driving the dragon away or even killing it, but that would require a very coordinated attack plan and a lot of luck. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Is Dying really hard?
Top