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Message: <blockquote data-quote="+5 Keyboard!" data-source="post: 3631329" data-attributes="member: 48586">Just want to say that the original post struck me as utterly ridiculous and the kind of game I would immediately get up from the table from and walk out the door. Yeah, I've had that kind of DM before, too. He got his kicks off of killing PCs... several each session. And, yeah, it became a game of "OK. What character should I bring in this week? What does the party need?" Not that I don't like a really challenging game. I do. But run competently.All of the things mentioned in the OP about how you would run a game are almost the qualities of a challenging DM. I say almost because you seem to miss the point about what a balanced game is all about. You are SUPPOSED TO throw overpowering encounters at your party about 5% of the time. SUPPOSED TO... meaning it's not just that you are a cool hardcore bad ass DM for doing this sometimes. And 15% of the time you're supposed to throw encounters at your group that have an EL 1-4 times higher than your party's level. These are the ones that really kill PCs because they are deceptively challenging. We're talking high level monk kobolds, sorcerers, or barbarians kind of deceptive. These kind of encounters kill at least half of the party... nearly all the time. 50% of the encounters should be on a level with the party and they are supposed to be challenging. NOTE: challenging in the DMG doesn't mean push over encounters. Even these are deadly when you run them effectively and consistently and your players make stupid decisions or are just poorly prepared for them. 20% of the time you should have encounters that are lower than the party's level (anywhere from 1-5 lower than the party level), but if the PCs don't figure out the trick to handling it the "easy way", it can turn deadly or force them to flee. Then only 10% of the time you are supposed to run easy encounters that have an EL lower than the party's level.It's also worth noting that a good challenging game doesn't have to always be combat and shouldn't. How boring. PCs should be challenged with difficult role-playing situations, puzzles to make those brain juices flow, and mystery solving situations as well.If you actually play by the rules, your game should be just as tough as can be. Note: the DMG described this kind of balance as part of a "well-constructed" adventure.</blockquote>

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