JohnSnow
Hero
Perhaps this is a lesson for DMs and players alike. And it speaks to the notion of hit points as combat capability.
Player1: "We lost our first fighter? Oh no! Run away!! Head down that hallway!"
Player2: "Oh crap, they brought reinforcements..."
Player3: (to DM) "What're you trying to do? Kill us?"
Player4: "We can't escape, fight to the last...*urk*"
Player5 (the aforementioned fighter, 3 rounds later): "Well, that encounter led to a TPK. So, who's ready to make new characters?"
DM: "Not so fast. Regdar, the blackness lifts from your eyes as you find yourself coming to consciousness. From the pounding in your head and the soreness in your limbs, you guess you've lying on this floor for hours. Your armor is missing and your sword is nowhere to be seen. Mialee, Tordek, Jozan and Lidda are lying unconscious in the same cell. They all look pretty beaten up. What do you do?"
Why did the goblins take our heroes captive? A good question. The players in this game have LOST, but they don't have to die. Intelligent foes might take you prisoner. The giant spiders might wrap you in cocoons for later. Other monsters might be scared off...or just wander away without eating you. Heck, even the undead might just walk on by once you're no longer a threat.
Of course, if hit points are meat, you're going to die. But if instead they simply represent combat capability, then 0 hp means "unconscious" not dead. You could wake up hours later, bereft of equipment and left for dead. And really, really itching to get even.
Is that DM fudging? Sure, maybe. But who would complain?
Player1: "We lost our first fighter? Oh no! Run away!! Head down that hallway!"
Player2: "Oh crap, they brought reinforcements..."
Player3: (to DM) "What're you trying to do? Kill us?"
Player4: "We can't escape, fight to the last...*urk*"
Player5 (the aforementioned fighter, 3 rounds later): "Well, that encounter led to a TPK. So, who's ready to make new characters?"
DM: "Not so fast. Regdar, the blackness lifts from your eyes as you find yourself coming to consciousness. From the pounding in your head and the soreness in your limbs, you guess you've lying on this floor for hours. Your armor is missing and your sword is nowhere to be seen. Mialee, Tordek, Jozan and Lidda are lying unconscious in the same cell. They all look pretty beaten up. What do you do?"
Why did the goblins take our heroes captive? A good question. The players in this game have LOST, but they don't have to die. Intelligent foes might take you prisoner. The giant spiders might wrap you in cocoons for later. Other monsters might be scared off...or just wander away without eating you. Heck, even the undead might just walk on by once you're no longer a threat.
Of course, if hit points are meat, you're going to die. But if instead they simply represent combat capability, then 0 hp means "unconscious" not dead. You could wake up hours later, bereft of equipment and left for dead. And really, really itching to get even.
Is that DM fudging? Sure, maybe. But who would complain?