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"Fear of Monsters" back into 4th Edition
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<blockquote data-quote="Jhaelen" data-source="post: 7216294" data-attributes="member: 46713"><p>That may be true in real life, but in an RPG? Not so much.</p><p>There's a lot of things that are worse than death (even in real life...).</p><p></p><p>Rust monsters are often cited as being the scariest D&D monsters, ever. While I'm not sure I agree completely, it's clear to see why:</p><p>Destroying a pc's most valuable magic item(s) is something that can severly cripple them, invalidating many sessions worth of achievements.</p><p></p><p>Level-draining monsters, like vampires, could have a similar effect (and are in fact the monsters I used to dread most in earlier editions).</p><p></p><p>In D&D 3e, the magic number for me was '13'. This was the (encounter) level where the pcs started to regularly encounter monsters with save-or-die (or worse) powers: Beholders, Mind Flayers, etc.</p><p>It effectively put an end to regular character advancement - at least in my campaign.</p><p></p><p>If you were using the full range of rule supplements, this trend could be somewhat reversed, though.</p><p>In almost all high-level combat encounters, one or more pcs would be dropped dead at some point, only to be almost instantly raised by the party's cleric again.</p><p>Death was no longer much of a threat at that point.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Jhaelen, post: 7216294, member: 46713"] That may be true in real life, but in an RPG? Not so much. There's a lot of things that are worse than death (even in real life...). Rust monsters are often cited as being the scariest D&D monsters, ever. While I'm not sure I agree completely, it's clear to see why: Destroying a pc's most valuable magic item(s) is something that can severly cripple them, invalidating many sessions worth of achievements. Level-draining monsters, like vampires, could have a similar effect (and are in fact the monsters I used to dread most in earlier editions). In D&D 3e, the magic number for me was '13'. This was the (encounter) level where the pcs started to regularly encounter monsters with save-or-die (or worse) powers: Beholders, Mind Flayers, etc. It effectively put an end to regular character advancement - at least in my campaign. If you were using the full range of rule supplements, this trend could be somewhat reversed, though. In almost all high-level combat encounters, one or more pcs would be dropped dead at some point, only to be almost instantly raised by the party's cleric again. Death was no longer much of a threat at that point. [/QUOTE]
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