Favourite Mortality Rate by Edition

[DeusExMachina]

I can't pick one either. A player dies every 10 hours of gaming time in my 4e campaign so far. I am pretty sure that's a higher mortality rate than I had in both 2e and 3.x.

Whereas in 12 4e sessions our group is casualty free, in contrast to 1 death per 3 or 4 sessions back in 3.5e...

It just depend way too much on player/DM style to make a meaningful relation between edition and mortality...

 

[El Mahdi]

I chose 4E (although I have chosen to stay with 3E). I don't think that 3E, or any other previous edition had a set mortality rate hard-coded in either, but 4E has addressed this, both mechanically and concept/adjudication wise. From reading the 4E books, I do think the implied concept is that death should only happen when plot relevent, and the death and dying mechanics help facilitate this. It's one of the mechanics of 4E that I really like, and ganked for use in my 3E games.

However, I've been DM'ing all of my games this way anyways, even in 2E and 3E. It doesn't necessarily need to be codified into the rules in order to be doable, but I think it does help. And I do think that 4E is the first D&D edtion to make this the defacto norm.

 

[justanobody]

You are lucky to be alive in the first place, so don't bring the wrath of the blue bolts down upon yourself.

Where is that option at?

 

[CleverNickName]

I prefer the feel that 3E has, but we sort of cheat...we houseruled it to where you lose 1 point of Constitution, instead of a level. Easier for everyone.

 

[Agamon]

Beer and pretzels game, dying is fine. Trying new PCs is cool and they're easy to introduce.

Serious campaign, dying sucks, for both the players and the DM.

 

[Hunter In Darkness]

Well that's about play style not edition.

 

[Lord Mhoram]

Did you fudge a lot of die rolls?

Very rarely. Just was very good about encounter design. I would have in the back of my head a "If the players are cakewalking too easy, I'll bring in re-inforcements" going on. So not fudging die rolls, but encounter challenge on the fly. Pure Gamists who want a tactical challenge to overcome would hate my GMing style.

I also have very good players.

And good chunk of that was in a system where death wasn't the default defeat, but being Knocked out was.

But I am the same way in D&D.

 

[Lord Mhoram]

You are lucky to be alive in the first place, so don't bring the wrath of the blue bolts down upon yourself.

Where is that option at?

Wouldn't that be WHFRP?

 

[Wombat]

For the most part, I feel the tone of the campaign should set such matters.

I dislike the current (4e) decision -- this is like playing a game with the cheat-mode on. If there isn't a serious fear of death, there is nothing to limit a character, nothing to make him real struggle against. OTOH, I disliked the OD&D running tally of the dead -- we lost half the characters nearly every session, so you never got a real sense for them.

I was probably most comfortable with the 3e version, but even that felt off. Once again, I prefer rules that fit to settings rather than forcing settings to fit the rules. If I have a gritty game planned, the rules must work with that; if I have a light-hearted, low-death game planned, ditto.

 

[TerraDave]

I can't pick one either. A player dies every 10 hours of gaming time in my 4e campaign so far. I am pretty sure that's a higher mortality rate than I had in both 2e and 3.x.

4Es deadliness remains grossly underated.