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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Czhorat" data-source="post: 1219661" data-attributes="member: 13826">Most of my characters tend to survive for a long time. The key is to play them with survival as a goal. I agree with Djeta that hit points aren't the most important thing. My last two characters, a mage and a bard, were never leaders in hit points. We did have one mostly-unavoidable death (a sorceror killed in a flame strike), but most are avoidable. Being a couple of levels behind is a big strike against you, but doesn't have to be a kiss of death. Some thoughts:1) As a wizard you should NEVER get anywhere near melee combat. If the group is faced with ranged combat, get cover and use spells like shield or mage armour.2) Make sure you keep yourself fully healed. Buy potions if you have to. True, you're not going to take as much damage as the tanks in the party, but you don't have that many to lose. A cure light wounds potion now could be the difference between negative 8 HP and minus 10 later.3) Talk to the others in your party. Make sure they all see stabilizing unconcious comrades as a priority. This way you'll be there to fight another day and they'll not have to pay to have you raised.4) Think about tactics. Avoid "fireball formation" when possible. Try to strike a balance between spreading out so far that the group is easilly separated and clustering so tightly together that one spell could kill all of you. Were your group spread out a bit, the Naga might not even have used a fireball. If you have to take a small boat across a river in hostile territory, scout around a bit first to make sure it's safe. Use defensive spells if possible.Failure to level up was perhaps a big issue. A level 5 spellcaster has access to level three spells. If you had suspicions that an ambush was coming, perhaps a fly spell could have put you in a safer position, for example. I don't know about your spell selection - have you taken things like invisibility, expeditious retreat, or anything else that'd get you out of a tight situation? If not, perhaps that's something to consider.Were there clues that such a dangerous and unusual monster as the Naga was in the area? If not, perhaps your party should spend more time scouting and gathering information. A level four divininer isn't all that good at learning about the surrounding area, but perhaps the barbarian has some wilderness knowledge that would help in the future. Perhaps you can even ask the DM if there are any clues you missed so you can prepare better next time.Good luck!</blockquote>

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