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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 5106992" data-attributes="member: 42582">On the issue of fudging to prevent unsatisfying PC deaths which compromise the fun of play: isn't it a design weakness in the game if the application of its mechanics (character build, encounter design, action resolution) has anything other than an utterly miniscule likelihood of producing this sort of outcome?DMG2 has a bit to say about this, in its discussion of dead plot branches and costly victories (pp 9-10). In the case of a mistake in encounter preparation or improvisation which is likely to kill PCs in a way that will stall the story, it suggests either secretly setting the DC to 1, so that the PCs succeed, or openly making the PCs' success automatic, by describing a change of circumstances that lets them overcome the obstacle, perhaps at cost - maybe a rescuer appears and extorts a reward, or a crack opens up in the cavern floor and the monsters fall through, together with about the same amount of treasure as a Raise Dead ritual would cost to perform.The first option is fudging (of stats, not die rolls) but the second looks like it can work even for a non-fudging GM.</blockquote>