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Death and Storytelling
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<blockquote data-quote="GMMichael" data-source="post: 7452620" data-attributes="member: 6685730"><p>Enough said. With the exception of the D&D 5e rules (death saves and max hp), I was using a general RPG perspective.</p><p></p><p>Obviously, I hope, low-level PC death is not <em>completely</em> avoidable in D&D 3x. I mean, if you don't fudge the rolls, you might say that 1 out of every 20 attacks (from anything larger than a goblin) is going to be a lethal critical hit that will probably take out an average PC...or the party wizard who wasn't smart enough to actually stay far away from sharp things.</p><p></p><p>3x implemented some nice defensive tools to assist - cover, concealment, full defense, fight defensively (whatever that is) - but when the DMG recommends 5% of encounters be overpowering (good memory, I referenced the 3.0 DMG), low/1st level PCs face a TPK whenever that 5% comes up.</p><p></p><p>I'd rather see a different conversation though:</p><p>Why is PC death an issue, when</p><p>don't even do that much fighting? Drizzt, Aragorn, sure, lots of fighting. But Bilbo? Not exactly a hard charger. I think he had a lot of deus ex machina on his side too. Just watched Conan the Barbarian, and I recall him doing a lot more sneaking around than fighting. Were King Arthur's knights knee-deep in combat? In Game of Thrones, characters tend to die when they fight. Dirk the Daring died. A LOT. And wouldn't you know it: he wasn't part of a book. He was part of a game.</p><p></p><p>In this light, there's no reconciling to do between PC death and storytelling. If fights happen, death happens.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="GMMichael, post: 7452620, member: 6685730"] Enough said. With the exception of the D&D 5e rules (death saves and max hp), I was using a general RPG perspective. Obviously, I hope, low-level PC death is not [I]completely[/I] avoidable in D&D 3x. I mean, if you don't fudge the rolls, you might say that 1 out of every 20 attacks (from anything larger than a goblin) is going to be a lethal critical hit that will probably take out an average PC...or the party wizard who wasn't smart enough to actually stay far away from sharp things. 3x implemented some nice defensive tools to assist - cover, concealment, full defense, fight defensively (whatever that is) - but when the DMG recommends 5% of encounters be overpowering (good memory, I referenced the 3.0 DMG), low/1st level PCs face a TPK whenever that 5% comes up. I'd rather see a different conversation though: Why is PC death an issue, when don't even do that much fighting? Drizzt, Aragorn, sure, lots of fighting. But Bilbo? Not exactly a hard charger. I think he had a lot of deus ex machina on his side too. Just watched Conan the Barbarian, and I recall him doing a lot more sneaking around than fighting. Were King Arthur's knights knee-deep in combat? In Game of Thrones, characters tend to die when they fight. Dirk the Daring died. A LOT. And wouldn't you know it: he wasn't part of a book. He was part of a game. In this light, there's no reconciling to do between PC death and storytelling. If fights happen, death happens. [/QUOTE]
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