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<blockquote data-quote="DEFCON 1" data-source="post: 7014356" data-attributes="member: 7006">My games are always more &quot;story first&quot; than &quot;game first&quot;, so death is usually not likely of an outcome.&nbsp; It CAN happen, but usually it's because dramatically and story-wise it makes sense.&nbsp; As I don't see &quot;death&quot; as the &quot;#1 cool result&quot; of PC failure... I don't use it as such.&nbsp; If PCs fail at something, there are a myriad of ways for that to happen... death certainly being one of them, but not #1 of them.So my PCs won't usually find themselves getting cacked by a wandering monster just because a player rolled horribly during that encounter.&nbsp; More often than not... something else would occur instead, one that was more appropriate to the story the PCs were currently involved in.&nbsp; Now of course I say &quot;usually&quot;, because as always, perhaps story-wise the death might make sense (and usually it is lower-level PCs for whom the vagaries of death are more likely to catch them.)&nbsp; So there's no hard and fast rules for me here.&nbsp; I don't write them down at the start of a campaign, and I don't hand rules to my players saying &quot;Here's where you could die, here's where you most certainly wouldn't...&quot; etc. etc. etc.I've been acting and directing improvisation for more than 20 years, so for me my instincts are always &quot;Be in the moment&quot; and &quot;React truthfully&quot;.&nbsp; And thus I don't personally need to spell out my rules, because the truth of a scene will come out based upon who the characters are that are involved, what they are doing, what they want, and what helps to &quot;Yes, And&quot; the scene and the game going forward.&nbsp; If that means a PC dies on that third failed death save?&nbsp; Okay.&nbsp; If that means something else more dramatic or interesting for the scene and game happens?&nbsp; That's okay too.&nbsp; And it's really those rules that my players know and accept as my way of doing things.&nbsp; And those that don't like it?&nbsp; They don't tend to continue playing in my games and find their enjoyment elsewhere.&nbsp; Which I am wholeheartedly in favor of... my improv and theater communities in the 'burbs of Boston tends to find potential players being pulled out of the woodwork all the time, so I'm never at a shortage (a privilege I never look in the mouth.)</blockquote>

[QUOTE="DEFCON 1, post: 7014356, member: 7006"] My games are always more "story first" than "game first", so death is usually not likely of an outcome. It CAN happen, but usually it's because dramatically and story-wise it makes sense. As I don't see "death" as the "#1 cool result" of PC failure... I don't use it as such. If PCs fail at something, there are a myriad of ways for that to happen... death certainly being [I]one[/I] of them, but not #1 of them. So my PCs won't usually find themselves getting cacked by a wandering monster just because a player rolled [I]horribly[/I] during that encounter. More often than not... something else would occur instead, one that was more appropriate to the story the PCs were currently involved in. Now of course I say "usually", because as always, perhaps story-wise the death might make sense (and usually it is lower-level PCs for whom the vagaries of death are more likely to catch them.) So there's no hard and fast rules for me here. I don't write them down at the start of a campaign, and I don't hand rules to my players saying "Here's where you could die, here's where you most certainly wouldn't..." etc. etc. etc. I've been acting and directing improvisation for more than 20 years, so for me my instincts are always "Be in the moment" and "React truthfully". And thus I don't personally need to spell out my rules, because the truth of a scene will come out based upon who the characters are that are involved, what they are doing, what they want, and what helps to "Yes, And" the scene and the game going forward. If that means a PC dies on that third failed death save? Okay. If that means something else more dramatic or interesting for the scene and game happens? That's okay too. And it's really [I]those rules[/I] that my players know and accept as my way of doing things. And those that don't like it? They don't tend to continue playing in my games and find their enjoyment elsewhere. Which I am wholeheartedly in favor of... my improv and theater communities in the 'burbs of Boston tends to find potential players being pulled out of the woodwork all the time, so I'm never at a shortage (a privilege I [I]never[/I] look in the mouth.) [/QUOTE]

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