D&D General Could a real human survive your D&D adventures?

[Zubatcarteira]

So, I started thinking about the title while reading a Reddit thread about adventurers with disabilities, many people there were claiming it was a ridiculous concept, since they couldn't possibly survive the dangers in dungeons and such. I initially thought it was silly argument, since in the games I've played even a completely healthy person would probably die a hundred times over between all the fights with giant monsters, being hit by lightning, fire, explosions, bullets, and waves of poison, getting beaten to a pulp and completely recovering in a night, etc. The PCs only survive due to superhuman abilities granted by their classes and general D&D mechanics, all of which a disabled character would have as well.

But that's not necessarily how people play, and a lot of games have more grounded situations for the players to face, so I figured I could ask here what people think. Could real people survive in the games you've played or DM'd? A party with normal human limits, with no class abilities, magic, luck, divine favor or any game-granted ability that wouldn't be possible in real life. They can't use any modern technology or metagame knowledge, but they can be as capable as a real person could physically be (so 200 IQ Navy Seals are fine), and any magic items a regular party would find along the way are fair game as well.

Could they complete your adventurers, or at least survive all the challenges? If not, where do you think they'd fail?

 

[GMMichael]

A real person could survive my adventures, since 1) I don't limit the number of solutions to a problem, and 2) fleeing is (almost) always an option.

However, since some real people and some heroes are going to get eaten alive no matter what they do, there's a small but distinct chance of catastrophe no matter what the characters do. Like in real life.

 

[Theory of Games]

So, I started thinking about the title while reading a Reddit thread about adventurers with disabilities, many people there were claiming it was a ridiculous concept, since they couldn't possibly survive the dangers in dungeons and such. I initially thought it was silly argument, since in the games I've played even a completely healthy person would probably die a hundred times over between all the fights with giant monsters, being hit by lightning, fire, explosions, bullets, and waves of poison, getting beaten to a pulp and completely recovering in a night, etc. The PCs only survive due to superhuman abilities granted by their classes and general D&D mechanics, all of which a disabled character would have as well.

But that's not necessarily how people play, and a lot of games have more grounded situations for the players to face, so I figured I could ask here what people think. Could real people survive in the games you've played or DM'd? A party with normal human limits, with no class abilities, magic, luck, divine favor or any game-granted ability that wouldn't be possible in real life. They can't use any modern technology or metagame knowledge, but they can be as capable as a real person could physically be (so 200 IQ Navy Seals are fine), and any magic items a regular party would find along the way are fair game as well.

Could they complete your adventurers, or at least survive all the challenges? If not, where do you think they'd fail?

Sure. Sure they can.

 

[Cap'n Kobold]

So, I started thinking about the title while reading a Reddit thread about adventurers with disabilities, many people there were claiming it was a ridiculous concept, since they couldn't possibly survive the dangers in dungeons and such. I initially thought it was silly argument, since in the games I've played even a completely healthy person would probably die a hundred times over between all the fights with giant monsters, being hit by lightning, fire, explosions, bullets, and waves of poison, getting beaten to a pulp and completely recovering in a night, etc. The PCs only survive due to superhuman abilities granted by their classes and general D&D mechanics, all of which a disabled character would have as well.

But that's not necessarily how people play, and a lot of games have more grounded situations for the players to face, so I figured I could ask here what people think. Could real people survive in the games you've played or DM'd? A party with normal human limits, with no class abilities, magic, luck, divine favor or any game-granted ability that wouldn't be possible in real life. They can't use any modern technology or metagame knowledge, but they can be as capable as a real person could physically be (so 200 IQ Navy Seals are fine), and any magic items a regular party would find along the way are fair game as well.

Could they complete your adventurers, or at least survive all the challenges? If not, where do you think they'd fail?

I think it depends on where you are drawing the "normal human" limit.
Many fighters and rogues do not have any abilities that are not possible in real life. When you start going into higher-level games, the characters tend to advance from "mundane" to "action hero", but outside of magic, there are a lot of capabilities that real world warriors and martial artists have that martial classes in D&D can't do.

So depending on the tier of the threat, I think that it would be possible for a real life person to survive in low-level content. A lot will depend on the genre that you want to emulate and the way you run your games. If you're of the "hit points are meat" insistence, then I can see those mechanics causing cognitive dissonance. Presumably this mundane human won't be getting better at this at the rate of a D&D adventurer levels up and similar?

 

[Micah Sweet]

A real person could survive my adventures, since 1) I don't limit the number of solutions to a problem, and 2) fleeing is (almost) always an option.

However, since some real people and some heroes are going to get eaten alive no matter what they do, there's a small but distinct chance of catastrophe no matter what the characters do. Like in real life.

Perfect. I have nothing to add.

 

[Tonguez]

Real people have survived some incredible things, even fireballs. so sure special forces fighting werewolves, goblins and trolls might be okay.

Healing and subsequent quality of life is the real question - especially after being scorched by dragonfire

 

[Arilyn]

The fire, lightning, acid, repeatedly being stabbed and slashed... No, not even in my fairly light combat style.

 

[KYRON45]

Nope. My players would drive them insane.
But you probably didn’t mean it in that sense.

 

[billd91]

Honestly? Not a chance in hell. Virtually ALL D&D player characters are superhumanly resilient, particularly to the mental elements of trauma.

It may seem kind of weird to read about people wanting to adventure with characters with significant disabilities - even ones that aren't typically in the heroic literature (like blind swordsmen). But this is fantasy and the people really wanting to do it are probably looking to see someone like themselves with their own disabilities inserted into the adventuring setting. So my advice is to lean into their desires with some adaptations that will let them get by. People without disabilities wouldn't be any more likely to survive a typical adventure than the ones with disabilities.

 

[mellored]

Does the person get modern military equipment?