DMs - how often do you get nervous that a big encounter will be a TPK?

[JDJblatherings]

I don't worry about it too much. My players (6 leveled 4-9th level, with 4 npcs 1to 7th level) decided to attack a village o'evil and are currently fighting about 200 orcs, goblins and humans along with a half dozen trolls, a high level cleric and about a dozen other class/level NPCs. They might be able to get a 100 or so neanderthal slaves to help them but that opportunity could have passed.

 

[Jhaelen]

I run quite a lot of combats that have the possibility of being a TPK. Do I worry about it? Never.

First of all, my players are brilliant and cunning. They can be counted on to find a way to defeat almost every encounter I place before them, no matter the difficulty. It may not be pretty. I might be certain that several of them are going to die. But they nearly always find a way.

Ha, that sounds pretty much exactly like my situation! I certainly had encounters that would (most probably) have resulted in a TPK had my players decided to take on the fight. But normally they'll realize soon enough if they're in over their heads and retreat or try a different approach right from the start.

And if they don't? Well it's happened once. And we just have a laugh about it and start talking about what their next characters will be. Both players and GM are resiliant enough to roll with the consequences.

That's however not really like my players, well, some of them would see it that way but I think the majority would be pretty annoyed.
Unfortunately, some of them don't take it well if their character dies. In fact some of them are really doomsayers: "Woohoo, we'll never make this. This is way too hard." Of course after they've beaten the encounter they'll sound differently, but first there's lots of righteous indignation.

 

[CleverNickName]

I like battles to be gritty and difficult, and I always want the PCs to be challenged as much as possible. But I try to avoid TPKs, simply because they make a lot of extra work for me on the story-side of the game.

That said, sometimes I write TPKs into the story. There are battles that aren't supposed to be won.

 

[Grazzt]

I run quite a lot of combats that have the possibility of being a TPK. Do I worry about it? Never.

First of all, my players are brilliant and cunning. They can be counted on to find a way to defeat almost every encounter I place before them, no matter the difficulty. It may not be pretty. I might be certain that several of them are going to die. But they nearly always find a way.

And if they don't? Well it's happened once. And we just have a laugh about it and start talking about what their next characters will be. Both players and GM are resiliant enough to roll with the consequences.

This. I've been through a few TPKs (DM and/or player). Didnt mean the end of the campaign. We (or the players) simply rolled up new characters. In one case I remember, the new PCs were hired by family members to go retrieve the bodies/possessions of the previous party (PCs).

 

[Grazzt]

That said, sometimes I write TPKs into the story. There are battles that aren't supposed to be won.

And this. Though I usually give the PCs a way to exit/escape. If they choose not to take it, then what happens, happens. Most flee however. (Perhaps because the ones I play with are from the 1e days when running away was an acceptable solution and not every encounter had to be "winnable" by the PCs.)

 

[Rel]

This. I've been through a few TPKs (DM and/or player). Didnt mean the end of the campaign. We (or the players) simply rolled up new characters. In one case I remember, the new PCs were hired by family members to go retrieve the bodies/possessions of the previous party (PCs).

What was funny about the time that I had a TPK was that I didn't change anything and the players thought I changed everything. It was an Eberron campaign and they had been hired by a Kalashtar guy to go on a mission to Xen'Drik to obtain an artifact that he could use against Sarlona. On the journey there the PC's got TPK'd on an island.

When we rebooted the campaign, the PC's were already in Stormreach and were hired by this Half-Orc to go and bring artifacts out of the lost Giant Cities of Xen'Drik. The Half-Orc was really just the Kalashtar wearing a Hat of Disguise to stay hidden from his enemies. He sent them on the same mission that the PC's were originally going to go do. At the end of the campaign he revealed his true identity and the players were astonished that the new PC's had unwittingly carried out the mission of the previous ones.

 

[Jhaelen]

When we rebooted the campaign, the PC's were already in Stormreach and were hired by this Half-Orc to go and bring artifacts out of the lost Giant Cities of Xen'Drik. The Half-Orc was really just the Kalashtar wearing a Hat of Disguise to stay hidden from his enemies. He sent them on the same mission that the PC's were originally going to go do. At the end of the campaign he revealed his true identity and the players were astonished that the new PC's had unwittingly carried out the mission of the previous ones.

This reminds me of what I did after the first TPK in my campaign:
The npc that had been responsible for the TPK of the original party was the one who hired the replacement party and accompanied them for their next adventure. This was quite interesting because it took the players a while to realize this while their characters had no way of knowing anything about it... So they were constantly looking out for signs of betrayal which helped to keep tensions high. Fun!

 

[Olli]

Not to get into the fudge or not-fudge debate again, but I never worry about TPK's (and I've never had one). As the GM, I have absolute control of whether this happens or not. If a TPK would "ruin" my campaign, then a TPK just isn't going to happen. Simple as that.

This!

Also, I think as all DM that i have meet usually roll behind their screen (me included), I think an unplanned or undesired TPK is totally impossible with a certain playstyle!

In an ongoing campaign where a few (or a lot!!) hooks depend on PC backstory, i would fudge a bad crit from a monster without pause, if it would benefit the campaign. As a DM, i have to provide fun scenarios to my players, and I don´t think it´s fun to loose a PC with a lot of time and background invested to a string of unlucky dierolls!!

In a dungeoncrawler or if the PC do something really stupid (or if the dice dictate it, and it does not interfere with the ongoing campaign) or a campaign where there is a little more Characterturnover plausible, i am not worried a bout a TPK, because...

let the dice fall where they may

 

[Rel]

Also, I think as all DM that i have meet usually roll behind their screen (me included), I think an unplanned or undesired TPK is totally impossible with a certain playstyle!

If you wish to count me as having "met" you (online obviously) then I go against this trend. I always roll in the open and the players know whether they got missed or critted. I find that it heightens the drama and makes the game exciting when they are low on hit points and any roll I make could be their last.

 

[pawsplay]

I flirt with a TPK every other session or so. If I don't, the players will find a way... Still, I've only had one in the last three years. But the memory of that TPK, plus my well known policy to let the dice fall where they may, keeps my players on their toes.