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<blockquote data-quote="HeavenShallBurn" data-source="post: 4064260" data-attributes="member: 39593">Generally at lower levels I average 3-4 PC deaths per session.&nbsp; Beyond 12th level it tapers off to about 1 every two to three sessions, would be higher but my group knows how to powergame and does it well.&nbsp; I get around it with a very old school technique, the &quot;raiding party&quot; which is essentially 4-6 PC parties traveling as a dispersed group.&nbsp; Basically the idea is low level PCs are well aware of how crunchy they are and travel in larger groups so that losses can be soaked and individual groups rotate from the hot zone to be replaced by a fresh group if needed.&nbsp; Around 10-13th level these groups break up into component parties as the surviving members have become forces in their own right and less squishy.&nbsp; By this time player favorites will have developed and these can be the group the campaign follows with short jaunts to the other parties of the old raiding group if things bog down or they feel like a change.&nbsp; Odd given that it's the very definition of randomness.&nbsp; It's purely luck (dice) driven and has results that no character action can mitigate.&nbsp; That's a fallacy, my encounters tend to be quite tough, and I like to see them creatively worm through a brutal encounter.&nbsp; But without that extra spice of random capricious death being possible my group doesn't find encounters to be brutal.&nbsp; the find them too predictable and not possession the required impression of risk.I've done hordes of monsters through 3 editions now.&nbsp; I do large encounterers just fine in 3e, and could do them in another system just as well (Okay not GURPS Vehicles but that was just sadistic).&nbsp; I don't need 4e rules to do what I already manage, and I don't like the changes to monster design philosophy in the new edition.&nbsp; So it's anything but a draw.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="HeavenShallBurn, post: 4064260, member: 39593"] Generally at lower levels I average 3-4 PC deaths per session. Beyond 12th level it tapers off to about 1 every two to three sessions, would be higher but my group knows how to powergame and does it well. I get around it with a very old school technique, the "raiding party" which is essentially 4-6 PC parties traveling as a dispersed group. Basically the idea is low level PCs are well aware of how crunchy they are and travel in larger groups so that losses can be soaked and individual groups rotate from the hot zone to be replaced by a fresh group if needed. Around 10-13th level these groups break up into component parties as the surviving members have become forces in their own right and less squishy. By this time player favorites will have developed and these can be the group the campaign follows with short jaunts to the other parties of the old raiding group if things bog down or they feel like a change. Odd given that it's the very definition of randomness. It's purely luck (dice) driven and has results that no character action can mitigate. That's a fallacy, my encounters tend to be quite tough, and I like to see them creatively worm through a brutal encounter. But without that extra spice of random capricious death being possible my group doesn't find encounters to be brutal. the find them too predictable and not possession the required impression of risk. I've done hordes of monsters through 3 editions now. I do large encounterers just fine in 3e, and could do them in another system just as well (Okay not GURPS Vehicles but that was just sadistic). I don't need 4e rules to do what I already manage, and I don't like the changes to monster design philosophy in the new edition. So it's anything but a draw. [/QUOTE]

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