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Message: <blockquote data-quote="wwanno" data-source="post: 6801930" data-attributes="member: 6775160">You are judging too high the ability of a DM to properly set stakes. If he had always such ability, he could always lead the PCs and the game where he wants. He could design a whole campaign and play it as written from start to end with no needs to change or adjust it on the run.We all know that this is not how it works.The DM set the stakes so that those stakes are reasonably challenging (average result of the dices will lead to victory/success) for the party. This means that the party will feel the risk of failure, and if failure equals death (and it is usually true when we are talking of fighting), he will feels the risk of death. How can you feel the risk of death if you are not even threatened?You can't.So, or we avoid combat at all (because setting stakes too low in order to avoid PCs' deaths deny all the pathos), or we take in account that death may happen.But death is not good, not for the PCs, nor for the DM who worked to design his plot.So, yes, death may happen, but sometimes, if it ruins the game for all, putting an end to the whole campaign, the DM has to fudge.</blockquote>