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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ahwe Yahzhe" data-source="post: 4503815" data-attributes="member: 55229">Ask the players maybe- Maybe I should ask the players how they're still feeling the dramatic tension if they go into dying territory (increasingly rare) during combat.  They're certainly not worried about being bloodied.  As for stupid monsters, maybe I am holding back... I haven't had a bad guy try a coup-de-grace yet, with 50+ encounters in just this campaign.   But I have to disagree with you about monsters relaxing, with so many healing options available: the dwarven fighter with minor action Second Wind, a couple of potions of healing, the paladin with lay on hands and temporary hit points coupled with his encounter attacks, to say nothing of the cleric with two ranged healing words per encounter, plus cure light wounds and cure serious wounds at 6th level.  Even if they've got a character on the ropes and cut off from his allies, a heroic character will willingly take the attack of opportunity (just a basic attack, after all) to bring him back.  So they save these powers to take advantage of the healing "bonus" (the damage taken from zero to negative whatever is free healing) from using these powers once they've dropped instead of when they're bloodied. Then again, if a character drops, the bad guys immediately move on to attack the most dangerous standing character instead of pausing for the coup-de-grace. What I'm getting from a lot of great responses is:-- Your combats are more dramatic than you as DM think, even though they are not worried about dying.-- Combat isn't the only source of drama in the game (yes, I know.)-- Don't punish players for playing well tactically (Trust me, I'm not- I'm rewarding them for kicking ass.)-- Don't be limited by strict monster roles - pull out all the stops tactically.  (No stupid monsters.)-- Don't fear the coup-de-grace.-- Don't cut healing capability; instead put more encounters in the game day by enforcing the 12-hour limit on extended rests, make quests time-constrained, and throw encounters at PCs if they try to wait it out.  (I've been trying this, and the verdict's still out on this one after only a couple sessions...-- Of the options I floated, most don't favor fiddling with the rules, except for upping the damage on monster attacks by +1/+2, or not healing all hit points after an extended rest, just healing surges. Any other recommendations are welcome- I just wish I could watch one of all these other games with all the TPKs and character deaths, just so I can see how it this actually unfolds. -AY</blockquote>

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