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Message: <blockquote data-quote="iserith" data-source="post: 6814381" data-attributes="member: 97077">I don't think it could ever be a mistake to put a particular monster before the PCs. Cautious PCs are choosy about what they fight and have ways to assess difficulty. That is a player skill.As for dice, players should be taking into consideration the fickleness of a d20 when deciding what to do - another player skill.In this particular example - and I addressed it upthread - is that the DM is reducing difficulty instead of removing challenge. (Challenge and difficulty aren't the same thing.) That is, if the DM leaves the failure conditions as a possibility. But one wonders why the DM should care at all if a PC goes down in Round 1 to a critical hit. It still sounds like the DM is not bought into the stakes. If you go down in one of my games in round 1, boo-flumphing-hoo, get your backup character out and play on.I'm not interested in "real life" comparisons as we're talking about a game. I'm interested in fairness and challenge being present in the game I'm playing (or running). Being clear about the stakes and bringing them into play when an outcome is fairly produced is a good thing in my view. This is what happens if you win. This is what happens if you lose. Now go forth and try to win and let's all have fun and tell a good story in the doing.</blockquote>