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Message: <blockquote data-quote="clark411" data-source="post: 458302" data-attributes="member: 4768">In games I've run and games I've played, death has been a real part of it.  Sometimes I've felt like the DM was choosing who lived and who died (fudges) and other times I've felt like the DM was turning the randomness of his dice and ours into a fair scenario.  I prefer the latter far more than the former- as the former can really strip players of the suspension of the belief that they really really really have a say in what happens, either through luck (or unluck) and choice.  I'd rather a crit on the head be a crit on the head for all involved, rather than it being a crit on the head -2 damage here or there for the PC's who are getting low on life.Beyond the removal of the illusion (and the idea that we're only alive because its DM wishes), I also dislike the creation of a safety bubble around me.  If I go out in DnD land with a sword, and fight other people with swords, I expect two things: First- I expect to poke bad people with my sword, and Second- I expect bad people to poke me with their swords.  If I can handle my pokes killing, I should be able to handle their pokes killing as well with the exact same efficiency.  My only caveat to this idea extends to magic; I hate, hate, hate instant death / no save spells.  While I respect losing to a better foe in a Mage Duel, or in a plain ruckus on a tavern floor (with many a beer spilt and dwarven tear), there's absolutely nothing more unsatisfying than hearing "Okay- you're dead.  No, you don't have to roll.  You're dead."  (As a note- telling Thor that his hammer was a means of compensating for other things, well... there's an exception.)Now that I've said all this, I should also note that situations where PC's face death should be somewhat few and far between (at least imo), at least in the long run.  In the early levels, yes- death is practically always close- as players go through a teething stage- the weak, and ill fated will die as it should be (if the weak and ill fated opt for anything other than merchant-craft or farming).  Later on, death should be less common not due to direct DM interference but rather due to the circumstances the PC's find themselves in on a regular basis.  One thing that I can't understand is the idea that everytime characters level up, every hostile thing they encounter somehow manages to be no less than capable of draining their resources 20%.  Upon reaching an APL of 10... the usual encounter they meet is.... 10.  Does this make sense?  In the DMG maybe, but if we look at a campaign world population as a triangle (with the teeming masses of unexperienced fodder and the pinnacle being your typical deity or elite cadre of NPC adventurers / super villains) it makes sense that the higher level you get, the more things you should face that will cause you less and less difficulty.  Does it just so happen that all the lower difficulty things are given 2 weeks notice to vacate the premises?  To use an extreme, how often did Mr. Sorbo's Hercules reallly have a hard time womping his foes?  Rarely.  Yea, he'd break a sweat, and yes, he was worried for the little guys- but deep down, we never really feared for his rear save on one or two occasions.  The same can, and in my opinion, should, hold true for PC's (even without being demigods).  Rather than them feeling safe in the knowledge that they have a DM Bubble around them, let them feel safe knowing that, as they grow, there's less and less in the world for them to be overly concerned with (rather than "uhoh, we're level 5- that means the once-deadly Kobold horde is making way for the now-deadly hobgoblin empire... which in several levels will be replaced by the now-and-later deadly troll kingdom!").As for Resurrections and Raise Dead, yes- they do pretty much swipe out the drama in later levels.  Instead of "Alas, poor Jerome!  His was a good soul!" we have "I've got to get this pinky to a high cleric, STAT!" followed by a romp across the countryside before a soul is gone for good.  Heck, it happened to me two weeks ago- my character led to the annihilation of ~80 Dark Elves at the hands of a fiesty Tiamat, and in regret I confessed to Bahamut (Yea, I hang with a lofty crowd) and was summarily disintegrated by his Godzilla breath.  Fast forward a few minutes, and everyone's rushing me across the countryside in a glass jar to a temple.  Depending on your campaign setting (high / low fantasy), options can range from the blunt and obvious (every town in the land was given a lone obelisk that can save any life, once) to the political (each person aligns themselves with one church or directly with a deity, who s/he must then devote his / her life to lest s/he not be given chances to continue it).  In games I've run, I've had Raise dead be neigh impossible to find, and had one or two people on the continent capable of Resurrections.  It led to deaths being permanent, but only once in the campaign did people die (a TPK mind you- never haggle for quarter with a bloody bladed-rogue while your party bleeds out beneath you.)  In such a setting, I made the most powerful weapons capable of doing more to an opponent than simply normal damage.  One evil item of immense power would tear out hearts- that instantly removes any chances of Raise dead- game over for 99% of the population that lacks access to Resurrection.  And that's that.  Note to self- cut back on morning coffee.</blockquote>

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