I will ask after each session what the player's liked and disliked. Sometimes I get surprised such as doing something that frustrates a player but makes perfect sense within the game because they made an assumption. I thought that the player hated it but it turned out to be something he liked about my games. I made him stop and think of another plan.
One of the important things about running a combat heavy game is does the combat make sense and what are the combatants reaction going to be later on. Such as if you wipe out a large group then the people who remain in that organization will start hunting you. Maybe instead of direct assaults they will fight dirty and call the police on you every time you leave your house with anything larger then a pocket knife. Maybe they will fight with bombs. Suddenly perception tests become important.
Another you might want to consider is if your group is testing to see if you will kill their characters off. Sometimes players will test the grittiness of their GM by going hog wild and seeing how far they can push him. It is a test to see if this world that you are creating is logical and dangerous or if you will keep them alive simply because they are your players. It is a hard thing when you first GM and haven't crossed that line. Until then you are a bit afraid of hurting them too much or taking too much away. They may be pushing to see how far you will bend over backwards to keep them alive and that is just as boring as anything else.
Killing off PCs has to be fair. I think that it should be a result of their own stupidity. If they do something that they know in the real world would get them killed then kill their character. If the system doesn't really make it very easy to die then you need to either change systems or just cheat and kill off the character anyway.
For example if you have a high level character that decides he can take a fall off a cliff because he has a lot of hit points, warn him that his character thinks this is too far. Give him a warning ahead of time. Then if he says he goes anyway kill his character - even if the game says differently. Unless he has some ability to fly or glide then he dies.
If you have to make it a house rule: Any attempt to commit suicide by a PC succeeds and no rolls are made. This supersedes any other rules or the hit points of the PC.
Then all you have to do is say that their character thinks that action would be suicide and your players know a boundary in your world. If they say alot about statistics then tell them that the act of doing something you know to be suicidal means that you are not really trying to not take the damage. You have accepted it on some level. Also their character is apparently crazy.
One of the important things about running a combat heavy game is does the combat make sense and what are the combatants reaction going to be later on. Such as if you wipe out a large group then the people who remain in that organization will start hunting you. Maybe instead of direct assaults they will fight dirty and call the police on you every time you leave your house with anything larger then a pocket knife. Maybe they will fight with bombs. Suddenly perception tests become important.
Another you might want to consider is if your group is testing to see if you will kill their characters off. Sometimes players will test the grittiness of their GM by going hog wild and seeing how far they can push him. It is a test to see if this world that you are creating is logical and dangerous or if you will keep them alive simply because they are your players. It is a hard thing when you first GM and haven't crossed that line. Until then you are a bit afraid of hurting them too much or taking too much away. They may be pushing to see how far you will bend over backwards to keep them alive and that is just as boring as anything else.
Killing off PCs has to be fair. I think that it should be a result of their own stupidity. If they do something that they know in the real world would get them killed then kill their character. If the system doesn't really make it very easy to die then you need to either change systems or just cheat and kill off the character anyway.
For example if you have a high level character that decides he can take a fall off a cliff because he has a lot of hit points, warn him that his character thinks this is too far. Give him a warning ahead of time. Then if he says he goes anyway kill his character - even if the game says differently. Unless he has some ability to fly or glide then he dies.
If you have to make it a house rule: Any attempt to commit suicide by a PC succeeds and no rolls are made. This supersedes any other rules or the hit points of the PC.
Then all you have to do is say that their character thinks that action would be suicide and your players know a boundary in your world. If they say alot about statistics then tell them that the act of doing something you know to be suicidal means that you are not really trying to not take the damage. You have accepted it on some level. Also their character is apparently crazy.
