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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Fanaelialae" data-source="post: 8833288" data-attributes="member: 53980">Death can be an unsatisfying conclusion to a character's story, but it is a conclusion nonetheless (or it might simply be a speed bump, if resurrection is on the table). All of those hours spent playing that character are still there.Whereas the mechanics that I referred to as punitive are designed to maim the character, and to essentially undo the hours (likely days) of hard work to get to that point.You start with Willy Rat Whacker,  a 1st level fighter. Over many, many, many hours of play he grows into Willy the Dragonslayer, a 7th level fighter with a signature sword of dragon slaying. But then Willy runs into a few wraiths and a rust monster, and the dice turn against him. Suddenly, all those hours of play are gone and he's Willy Rat Whacker again. It's basically like adding insult to injury.At least with Perma death you get to start over with a fresh sheet of paper. With such punitive effects you're saddled with playing a mockery of what your character once was. One that likely can't effectively contribute to the party he belongs to anymore, because it's unlikely that the level drain was evenly distributed throughout the party. One that's far more likely to die than his companions, but without so much as his legacy intact.I disagree that those types of effects are designed to challenge or even kill characters. IMO, they're designed to ruin characters, and that's why I have a very strong dislike of them.</blockquote>

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