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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Stumblewyk" data-source="post: 5558535" data-attributes="member: 67606">Back in 2e, I wasn't one to kill my player's PCs.  I felt like I owed it to them to provide them a good time, and that included not killing the PC they worked on and invested so much time in playing.  The closest I got to a PC kill was the death of a Dwarven Beastmaster's giant lizard mount.  (Though, I did "force" a paladin into retirement when he met with the unfortunate aging effect of a 2e ghost, and went from being a fit and trim 25 year old, to a nearing-retirement 65 year old in the drop of a hat.)  I didn't want to be responsible for killing a beloved character.Then I upgraded to 3.5e, and with using a new system, I made a few mistakes.  2 PCs died in one encounter.  I realized...it wasn't the soul-crushing experience I was afraid it would be.  I wore it as a badge of honor.  I killed 2 PCs.  The party still survived the encounter, but barely.  By the time that campaign came to a close, 2 more PCs would die, and I wouldn't care.  (I did feel bad that one player ended up losing 2 PCs in the same campaign, but hey, "thems the breaks", as they say.)With 4e, I just don't care.  The dice fall.  If you die, you die.  I've killed 2 PCs in about 30 sessions of 4e.  (If you don't count my complete TPK in our second session of 4e that I turned into a "you got captured, now escape!" scenario...)  Sure, it's not insanely lethal, but the players know if the dice tell me you're dead, you're dead.  And you know what?  No one cares.  (Except the guy who lost his 3rd PC under me a few sessions back - I'm not picking on you Bryan, I SWEAR.)  They know I won't pull punches, and my players respect me for it.In fact, I just killed another PC in a zombie survival D20 Modern game last weekend.  I didn't bat an eye or flinch a bit.  The chainsaw-wielding, modern day she-warrior bit the dust after being swarmed by zeds.  It's to be expected.  Though...it's regrettable that the player in question was a relative newbie, she learned a hard lesson - there is no such thing as plot protection.PC death is not something to be feared or avoided.  It's part of the game.  I've been part of 2 TPKs as a player, and after the initial shock wears off, I pick up my dice, dust them off, and roll up a new PC.</blockquote>

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