Do the PCs ever die in these playtest reports?

[Khur]

Hmm... [Snip] And if they cover things like "The bugbear grabs you and interposes you" in a way that's fair (rules based), then 4e has, IMO, scored a serious Win Point.)

Ding! Score one for us! Poor Rob Heinsoo . . . that ranger never had a chance. I can't wait to see how the strangler works in my game.

[Snip] I doubt that testers/devs have to submit their blogs for pre-approval, but I'd find it VERY hard to believe they don't have pretty strict guidelines as to what they say. Further, they are all committed, for obvious reasons, to making 4e sound like the best thing since 3e (and I do not fault them for this) . . .

Saying "The devs want to present their baby in the best possible light" isn't conspiracy theory -- it's common sense.

We don't have strict guidelines. But it is relevant to point out that the reports and blogs are, in and of themselves, supposed to be entertaining. And brief.

 

[Shroomy]

I just popped over to the Paizo board and found this anecdotal comment from Rodney Thompson:

For those interested, in Chris' campaign these rules come up a lot. Since there are 7 players, he likes to throw big, bad stuff at us. So far we've had two deaths, and thus far no "pop up on a natural 20" rolls. While we may get a couple of nat 20's over the course of the session, we've get to have one during play. That's anecdotal, but I think it's something to think about. If I get only a few nat 20's per session (if that many), it doesn't make me feel like I've wasted a 20 when that comes up.

So far, I like the new death/dying rules, as they're kind of building off of the 3.5 rules but with a more flexible death window to account for increasing monster damage. Besides, every now and then it's good to have a "You though I was dead, but don't forget about me!" moment for your characters, a la Merry-stabbing-the-Witch-King..

 

[Bluenose]

I think the biggest problem with running is that many opponents are faster than the PCs. If you are a dwarf with MV 20 there aren't many things you can outrun.

You don't have to outrun the opponents. You just have to outrun the slowest member of your party.

Which in the case of the MV 20 Dwarf means the wizard you just trip-attacked.

 

[med stud]

You don't have to outrun the opponents. You just have to outrun the slowest member of your party.

Which in the case of the MV 20 Dwarf means the wizard you just trip-attacked.

That leads to powergaming where everyone has either Run or Improved trip as feats

 

[Keenath]

Somebody earlier mentioned that these are probably experenced players and thus able to avoid the pitfalls of TPKs.

That's an interesting point and probably correct, but there could be more to it.

I recall reading an article on the WOTC website a while back, about the nature of the TPK -- the author said that TPKs usually start when things turn icky, and people start looking down.

That is to say, the players stop thinking as a team and start staring at their character sheets, thinking, "Can this spell help? No. Can this spell help? No. Can this item help?" etc. -- Even when a player said, "Okay, we shoudl run now," everyone agreed and then continued doing the same thing, trying to find a bullet that would save them all.

It may be that the changes to the design of the game simply help remind players to work together, and thus encourage players to follow through on suggestions -- or they might do so because they ARE more experienced players.