D&D 5E Do PCs at your table have script immunity?

[Micah Sweet]

No shade, but I just wouldn't play in that game. You just said not to play the part of the game I like.

Writing backstories is the part of the game you like? Interesting. What makes that the most engaging part for you?

 

[Vaalingrade]

Writing backstories is the part of the game you like? Interesting. What makes that the most engaging part for you?

Playing a character with meaning and importance as a person is the part I like most. I like creating the story and how that sculpted the personality and capabilities. I like getting attached and getting to know them and their connections with the rest of the party.

Just like with a show that kills characters a lot, I check out when it becomes clear I can't do that due to all the permanent interruptions.

 

[jmartkdr2]

So they can show off all their cool powers, of course!

Not for nothing, this (combat as performance) seems to be a pretty popular style of play.

 

[el-remmen]

Absolutely not (and there is no "script"). However, the 5E campaign I am running for coming on two years is the first time I have run a D&D campaign that ran that long without a PC dying (all of them have gotten close - two failed death saves - at least once). It makes me wonder how this group of mostly new players (or players who have not played in decades) will handle death. I have told them several times it is on the table and it has gotten close (as I mentioned above), so they know it to be a fact, but you never know until you know.

In my last campaign before this (3E), only 1 PC died in two years time, but in the one before that four PCs died (including one twice) or 5 if you count the PC who purposefully sacrificed himself to destroy an evil artifact (but then was returned to life at campaign's end with a wish). I had a 2E campaign with something like 13 PCs died + a TPK at the end over a period of 3 years.

To me death is a part of any D&D I want to play or run, but for other games and other genres, it really depends. For me death is a cornerstone of the "D&D" genre - but I guess I understand why it isn't for everyone.

 

[Nefermandias]

No shade, but I just wouldn't play in that game. You just said not to play the part of the game I like.

Yes, I make a point to scare away everybody who's not on board with my style before the campaign begins. Every once in a while I check with my players if they are still okay and always tell them that they are free to walk away at any time.

 

[Blue]

In D&D, I absolutely want death on the table, both as player and as DM. When I run, that's part of what I present. Death can happen, and I design hard - but at the table I'm the player's biggest cheerleader. Last completed camapign (4.5 years), we had no character deaths in combat. We had one character act as a martyr to save another character during a challenge, but that character had recently completed a big arc and the player was looking to retire him anyway. That said, there were plenty of times where the characters through bad planning or bad luck got very close to dying, and knew they could die.

That said, D&D 5e has plenty of ways to bring people back. Death is a speed bumb past a certain level, not a show stopper.

Now, sure there are local differences. I'm doing a teaching game with kids. You know what, they have plot armor vs. actual death, unless they have a character with revivify (they don't) and that would be to just allow that character to show off their awesome ability.

Only time in the last decade of running I had a player disconnect in terms of lethalness as a DM is someone playing a Beastmaster Ranger who would send her pet (from Tasha's, so easy to bring back) into melee all the time, but then got upset when it got killed. Triggered "pet death" vibes, which wasn't good.

I've had disconnects several times as a player - if I feel that why actions are effectively immaterial because we can't lose, I don't see a point in playing. At that point we're just going to accomplish what the DM feeds us. In Death House early in CoS I had a character bleeding out at the bottom of a pit and the others were just arguing something that started about how to get me out but devolved into some other discussion. I had failed two death saves (whispered to the DM on Roll20 when he asked me to make them). I whispered to the DM that if my character died I was fine with it (it was our 2nd session) and it would really push home how deadly Barvaria is. He replied "don't worry, I won't let you die" and didn't call for any more death saves for the remainder of the other PC's conversation or coming down to get me.

I've also told DMs that they were throwing easy encounters at us and there wasn't really any tension, asked them to throttle it up some. Last time that went over well, the DM took it constructively and ramped up for more tension but without going too far, and others in the group noticed and enjoyed, not knowing it was requested.

There are plenty of systems out there. I don't expect character death to be on the table for say a superhero game except in the most dire circumstances, and probably as an intentional martyr by the player. If it's not on the table several times a session in Paranoia I'd be disappointed. If I wanted no character death, I would avoid game systems like D&D where lethal combat is a common solution to the types of challenges presented. It really seems like the wrong system to pick if you want your characters to be immune from death because of that.

 

[LordEntrails]

There is no one true way. I will say that my current home game that I formed after moving has some old school gamers that have expressed how awesome it is that they're 15th level now and how much fun it's been to have the same group of PCs for the campaign. That they've never had a campaign with such a low lethality rate and didn't realize what they were missing. So I think the attitude is changing, but it doesn't mean that people with different preferences are "wrong". People like what they like. Some people like PCs dropping like flies. Like you, I don't and never have.

I'm one of those DMs where death is a reality. In our current campaign going on 3??? years we've had 3 or 4 PC deaths that mattered. i.e. before they had resources for resurrection (and one 'failed' reincarnation). Now after a near PC loss that means the party now keep the components they need on hand (everyone carries a diamond!) But all those deaths were before probably 6th level or so. At least to me, that's a pretty low-lethality game

Though the players are looking forward to reaching 20th level, and none of them have made it to our current 14th level more than once or so in 5E. In the end, it's a good time for us.

If characters don't die, why have combat rules at all?

Failure can take many forms. Not only in losing a combat, but the consequences of that, such as a lost McGuffin or a dead village.

Playing a character with meaning and importance as a person is the part I like most. I like creating the story and how that sculpted the personality and capabilities. I like getting attached and getting to know them and their connections with the rest of the party.

Just like with a show that kills characters a lot, I check out when it becomes clear I can't do that due to all the permanent interruptions.

You should try Play By Post. I used to play those types all the time, and in depth characters were the norm. It's a great format for really diving into character development.

 

[Vaalingrade]

You should try Play By Post. I used to play those types all the time, and in depth characters were the norm. It's a great format for really diving into character development.

My group is really good about giving room for development, so I don't really need it. I've played and run PbP before and the pace also just isn't for me.

Also, I'm actively annoyed at how often people are insinuating that without death there are no consequences or loss. Death isn't even a consequence for the character at all because they don't actually have to deal with it. It's just a consequence for the player.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Why would you ever do that? If you’re starting at low levels your character hasn’t done anything worth writing a backstory about. You’re a farmer fresh off the farm or a noble fresh off the estate. That’s a few sentences of backstory at most.

One major reason not to do character-centric games.

So, weren’t you talking about how every game you run is all power gamers all the time? Maybe this outlook contributes to that?

No shade, but I just wouldn't play in that game. You just said not to play the part of the game I like.

Same.

 

[el-remmen]

Every dead PC in my old homebrew from 1996 to 2009