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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Orryn Emrys" data-source="post: 4573650" data-attributes="member: 6799">I agree that there is nothing wrong with running games where nobody dies, particularly if you're all having a good time, but I'd be remiss if I didn't share what I have gleaned from my own experiences.I've been DMing for about 20 years.  In the early (Monty Haul) days, character death wasn't overly relevant.  Characterization was minimal, so all the player was losing was the clump of stats he'd worked on for the prior however-many-months... he'd just bring in a new one.  But some time during the early 90's, I noted a shift in play-style inspired by an injection of new blood into my standard group... they were becoming *gasp* roleplayers.Over the next few years, as I got consistently more addicted to my players' investment in their characters as people, I became ever more reluctant to allow characters to die.  I took some pains to create the opposite illusion, fudging to save characters from certain death whilst letting them freak out as they lingered within a couple of hit points of demise in the midst of a dangerous fight.  But eventually, gradually, my players got wise to the situation.  Most of them never really seemed to lose their edge, but a couple (and it only takes a couple) began to behave in a manner that demonstrated that they believed themselves relatively invincible.  They were more willing to take ridiculous risks.On the surface, this doesn't seem so bad... it led to some over-the-top heroics, feats of derring-do, etcetera... but it also led to outright recklessness.  When it finally struck me that this was all my fault, I reacted kinda badly.  I became a killer DM for a short time.I eventually found my balance.  I do still occasionally take steps to avoid pointless death, but I try never to avoid it when it counts.  Character death should, I think, be an acceptable risk of play, and is a vital component of the risk/reward element of the fundamental challenges of D&D.  Players who never dread the potential expiration of their characters are less capable of truly appreciating their survival and hard-won accomplishments.  I've consistently seen some of the most extraordinary bonding between players and their characters during moments when they were mere inches from death, desperately trying to survive against suddenly overwhelming odds.I hate it when a PC dies.  Nowadays my players are so intricately involved with their characters... their lives, their needs, their personal agendas... that when a PC dies, it damages the mood of the session.  I've had to develop a set of coping tools to try and keep things moving in such an event, but I don't keep it from happening.Though I do try to make it dramatic.It sounds like this is more of a circumstantial issue for you, having simply never been through it.  I wouldn't honestly suggest altering your play-style significantly to start killing PCs, but you might consider a little experimentation.  If a fight seems to have a certain dramatic potential, and your players are into it (or could be, if its simply a matter of getting their attention), and a PC is engaged in a very dangerous situation, you might drive the character to the brink... and see how the player reacts.  Find out if the assumption of a suddenly inescapable demise is enough to engage the player more than they've ever been.If you can subtly help them survive in a situation where they honestly believe they're about to die, you might find your players taking a renewed interest in their characters' survival.</blockquote>

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