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<blockquote data-quote="Sound of Azure" data-source="post: 3630090" data-attributes="member: 40749">The main DM I had when D&amp;D 3e first came out was much like what the OP has suggested is best. We lost a lot of PCs, and we realised that we weren't having a lot of fun getting mowed down all the time. So we upped the game.There's a short story by Alastair Reynolds named Diamond Dogs, where a bunch of people have to solve mathematical problems in order to advance through an alien tower. If they fail, there is lethal result. The people resort to extreme measures to increase their brain power, they reduce the need for sleep, they even eventually replace their entire bodies so that they can continue to advance through the ever smaller rooms of the tower.Our group's PCs became like that. Our characters became ciphers, extremely specialised tools to &quot;win&quot; the dungeon. They were just there to fulfil our role in the dungeon, and that's all. While this process certainly helped me understand the rules of the game a heck of a lot better, it wasn't very healthy. It's also the reason both my best friend and I started our own games. We simply needed a break from the tension.Such a play style is great for specific play environments, but not all of them. Being &quot;on the game&quot; 100% of the time is grating, and tiresome IMO. Like a film, book, or computer game, RPGs should have what's called pacing. For me, ideally there should be some moments of intensity (like the OP), but also other slower moments too where the PCs aren't under assault.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Sound of Azure, post: 3630090, member: 40749"] The main DM I had when D&D 3e first came out was much like what the OP has suggested is best. We lost a lot of PCs, and we realised that we weren't having a lot of fun getting mowed down all the time. So we upped the game. There's a short story by Alastair Reynolds named Diamond Dogs, where a bunch of people have to solve mathematical problems in order to advance through an alien tower. If they fail, there is lethal result. The people resort to extreme measures to increase their brain power, they reduce the need for sleep, they even eventually replace their entire bodies so that they can continue to advance through the ever smaller rooms of the tower. Our group's PCs became like that. Our characters became ciphers, extremely specialised tools to "win" the dungeon. They were just there to fulfil our role in the dungeon, and that's all. While this process certainly helped me understand the rules of the game a heck of a lot better, it wasn't very healthy. It's also the reason both my best friend and I started our own games. We simply needed a break from the tension. Such a play style is great for specific play environments, but not all of them. Being "on the game" 100% of the time is grating, and tiresome IMO. Like a film, book, or computer game, RPGs should have what's called pacing. For me, ideally there should be some moments of intensity (like the OP), but also other slower moments too where the PCs aren't under assault. [/QUOTE]

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