Arnwolf666
Adventurer
My group still plays that zero hit points is dead with no exceptions, and their is no revivify spell.
The assumption is that PCs argue regarding DM decisions while NPCs don't. I don't worry much about PC arguing about my choices for NPC morale. They can have their say but it should be brief and polite, and I should be able to not give them a full, under-the-hood explanation because it may have impact on the game later on. If they can't do that then it's time for them to find a new game.
If characters are never at risk of dying, then many players will find the game less rewarding and possibly downright dull. Here is an excerpt of mine from another thread regarding my suggestions on handling character death...
"Part of the art of DMing is (and shhh don't share this with your players) creating the illusion of a threat that is greater than the reality of that threat. The risk of a wipe should sometimes seem all too real, but should very rarely materialize. The risk of individual death should be almost omni-present in dangerous situations, but death should only occasionally actually happen. The risk of perma-death should be a very real concern for the player, but in most cases, given the appropriate time, money, and effort put forth, should omit the "perma" even if there are lingering effects for some time."
YES! The PCs are trolls who also happen to be immune to acid and fire.
I entirely disagree.
The DM's job is not to deceive the players.
Everyone is playing a game together. What that game is should be clear to everyone involved.
A TPK is also not a bad thing. It's just a thing. It's a story event. If a TPK happens it doesn't have to be anyone's fault.
This doesn't mean that every encounter needs to have a high risk of TPK for it to have tension. The nice thing about D&D, 5e especially is that it is built on depleting resources over time (many encounters per long rest). So if the very first encounter of the day goes badly, PCs aren't likely to die but the players are more likely to think 'oh no, we're probably in for it later'. Maybe they can turn things around by having some great encounters, maybe they will choose to abandon the quest for the sake of safety, or maybe they will all be wiped out.
That is part of the fun.
So winning is a given eventually. Losses may cause setbacks but since the characters always make it through, they can can just try try again until successful. That kind of makes not only dying, but the whole process of taking damage not worthy of concern. Why should a character fear the powers of enemies if he/she KNOWS that it is only a bluff?
There is no need to heal wounds, or even worry about getting enough rest, food, or water because nothing can cause any real harm.
Even should the party fail to stop the big bad from destroying the world, its no biggie because while the world dies, they are OK because they didn't give Mr. bigbad permission to kill them.
You don't get a second chance at defending a village from gnolls, even if you know that your character will come to hours later in the smouldering ruin of the town square.
So the PCs can't die unless they want to, but it's perfectly fine for any NPC to die without consent, and you're blaming the players for not treating the NPCs like people? Do you not see the problem with that?Like, I get where you are coming from, but the concerns you raise are only going to be a problem if you are sitting down to play with players who refuse to emotionally engage with the narrative world, refuse to treat NPCs like people, or refuse to consider anything but their character's ability to survive in a very basic way.
If characters are never at risk of dying, then many players will find the game less rewarding and possibly downright dull. Here is an excerpt of mine from another thread regarding my suggestions on handling character death...
"Part of the art of DMing is (and shhh don't share this with your players) creating the illusion of a threat that is greater than the reality of that threat. The risk of a wipe should sometimes seem all too real, but should very rarely materialize. The risk of individual death should be almost omni-present in dangerous situations, but death should only occasionally actually happen. The risk of perma-death should be a very real concern for the player, but in most cases, given the appropriate time, money, and effort put forth, should omit the "perma" even if there are lingering effects for some time."
So the PCs can't die unless they want to, but it's perfectly fine for any NPC to die without consent, and you're blaming the players for not treating the NPCs like people? Do you not see the problem with that?
So the PCs can't die unless they want to, but it's perfectly fine for any NPC to die without consent, and you're blaming the players for not treating the NPCs like people? Do you not see the problem with that?