Are you a "Killer DM"?

[the Jester]

My game has a reasonably high fatality rate. I usually run a very large party, though, so there's almost always enough backup and party power to handle encounters even 3-4 EL above the party.

My current game is pretty high magic- some of the pcs are just this side of Epic, with one of them about a third of the way through 20th level xpwise. (And last night's session got the cleric to miracle-casting level.) So it's possible to use the various dead-raising spells because a pc has access to them. I tend to think of high-level clerics as being pretty rare otherwise, though, based on the demographics in the dmg.

In my old campaign, the god of death made it difficult to raise the dead; if you tried, you had to justify it to a death judge, and it would often ask you to trade a life for the dead person's return.

 

[King_Stannis]

I have a reputation, somewhat unjustly deserved, of being a killer DM. I view it more as letting the dice fall where they may and scaling my adventures to a higher degree of difficulty. I also don't allow resurrections (just once in many years of playing).

But I also give my players many ways that they can cheat fate. I allow them to purchase those "swashbuckling cards" that were on the boards a while ago. I also give them tangible awards for good roleplaying in the form of markers (poker chips painted silver). With them they can re-roll, make me re-roll, give themselves a +2, etc.

So, even though I'm a tough DM, I don't think I'm a killer DM. I want my players to succeed, but I want them to earn it.

Incidentally, I keep a bunch of Jolly Rogers (skull and crossbones) on my DM shield for every PC that has been killed since we started 3E. There's probably about 12 of them, so far.

 

[NewbyDM]

I DM now for 2-3 years and i don't think im that harsh, but there are a "lot" of dead people in my game.(about 8-9)
I think the main reason of it, is that my players are NOT carefull or just plain unlucky.
Running in a burning tavern with 2hp, or a wizards who wants to be on the front, people who roll triple 1's on balance checks.... i just let te die roll and see what happens.

Last time i used a "smart" encounter and the result was 3 dead people .

Owell, i never get complains

R

 

[Dire Wolf]

PC's don't die often in my games and I do allow raising for the most part. I did notice though that the "save or die" effects are much more common at higher levels and the chance of a TPK against a monster or NPC spellcaster with these abilities is a definite possibility.
I recently had a FR realms campaign with mid level characters where the party chased a lich into Undermountain, managed to defeat the lich with about 1/2 the party dying. The other 1/2 of the party were dragging the bodies out of the dungeon and for dressing I threw in a Gelatinous cube. Needless to say a succession of 1's were rolled by the party and all perished.
D&D is like a box of chocolates....

 

[Plane Sailing]

I have had a PC death in 4 out of the last 5 sessions. The party level ranges from 8th - 11th.

Characters of this level are much more vulnerable than they were in previous editions (tougher ST's, more damage from monsters, etc) and it is making it harder for the players to judge the risk (especially when a troll or girillon can rend for awesome amounts of damage if it gets two hits).

Cheers

 

[Dirt]

I haven't had many PC deaths over the years, but it does happen. They are adventurers, and death is one of the hazards of the job. If the threat of death were not there, I think that the encounters and combats wouldn't be as thrilling for them.

I only allow 1 raise in my campaign (and even that is at an expense MUCH higher than those currently listed....or the raise requires a quest).

 

[FreeTheSlaves]

I recently killed the half ogre cleric with a pack of vampire spawn. He strode on into their lair while the others stood back and watched and was then jumped.

His AC was too low, didn't retreat when on few HPs and the others used missile weapons. Thing is, a double move would got him out into sunlight...

I am a killer dm because I concentrate attacks as the foe thinks they are effective. I am also a killer dm because I show no mercy to a dysfunctional party.

We had talks over the stupid tactics but I expect to see more dead in the sessions to come.

 

[psychognome]

I've never killed a PC in a campaign. Never. Doesn't mean that I couldn't kill them, 'cause I can be a devious tactician if I want to.

Anyway, I watched Disney's Hercules a couple of weeks ago, and now this thread gave me an idea on how to get a dead character back: go and get them from the Underworld!

 

[Felix]

I haven't DM'd since a long time ago, and then only once, so I can't speak for myself.

I would think that if you want to talk to a DM who has had many PC deaths, talk to any DM who has run RttToEE. On these boards, the name Doc Midnight somehow springs to mind........

 

[Horoku]

I try not to kill off characters too often, but I tend to just go with the flow of the dice and see what happens, so sometimes it goes bad. I do, however, try to make it memorable. One party death that every member of my group still remembers occured about 3 or 4 years ago. It was a classic dungeon dive, and the party was walking through a fairly inconspicuous hallway, when they ran into a gelatinous cube. It didn't catch them by surprise, they could see it reflecting the torchlight. The mage stayed back and threw a couple magic missiles, and everybody else charged it. The party managed to kill it and get away, but not before the rogue was absorbed and digested to death.

The reason it was so memorable was because of all the crap that they went through in the battle. They kept rolling critical fumbles, while the paralyzed rogue sizzled in the cube's acidic innards. It was really kinda funny. By the time they killed the thing, the only thing left of the rogue was a skeleton with some odd bits of entrails hanging off of it. It was only like 10 minutes into the session, so I showed some mercy and allowed them to raise him, but it cost them a whole lot extra because of the intensive reconstruction process.