Ah, do you mean the rule where you die if you take enough damage to reach negative your hit point max?
Correct. Adventurer's League follows RAW with no optional rules allowed (Although they sometimes include funky seasonal rule variants).
Ah, do you mean the rule where you die if you take enough damage to reach negative your hit point max?
Correct. Adventurer's League follows RAW with no optional rules allowed (Although they sometimes include funky seasonal rule variants).
Since this was AL, you did the correct thing. A DM running a non-AL game has a lot of lee-way with the rules and even "fudging" dice. At an AL event, however, the DM is expected to be a neutral arbiter of the game. The only thing you could have done is explain that unfortunately death is a possibility in the game, especially at lower levels.
Even in AL, the GM has some leeway. The GM's guidelines emphasizes the golden rule - make rulings and decisions to enhance the fun of the the adventure. Plus, there's always the unconsciousness rule - if you take a creature to 0 or below, you can always decide to KO instead of kill.
But the big question - did that player ever come back? Does the OP have any idea whether or not that player ever continued playing? If yes, then the player was resilient enough to shake it off and get back up with a new PC. If not or unknown, the OP will always have that nagging feeling, "Was it because of that kill?"
Why not? Doesn't take long - 5 minutes tops to tell any new players "this is how things work: bad things, including death, can and likely will happen to your characters at some point(s); we go by the rules-as-written; and [any specific table social rules regarding e.g. interruptions, phones, snacks, etc.]." No discussion involved - take it or leave it.I hit basically the same scenario as the OP on my first AL game. I wouldn't do it again in a public game. I don't really care if "it's the rules" or not, in a public game you can't have a session 0 to discuss preferences on death and dying.
True, when they don't know it's coming - which makes that 5-minute intro all the more important; so they do know it's (maybe) coming and are thus not so taken aback if-when it does.One hit dead is not fun for most people
In a home game you can do this. In organized play? Not sure if that's entirely kosher...we play the game for fun. So personally? I'd either just fudge the roll or ask the player what their preference was.
Yeah time'll come, you'll look back fondly on the day that was your worst regret as a DM.The look of disappointment and confusion on her face haunts me to this day.
What's your biggest DM regret?