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Message: <blockquote data-quote="dreaded_beast" data-source="post: 1474690" data-attributes="member: 11185">If you figure out you are one of my players during the reading of this thread, please stop, hehe.  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" /> I've started running a group and have gotten a few sessions under my belt. The core group consists of 3 players with a 4th on-and-off player. The next session, there will be a possible 3 more players that may join the group.I was originally a player in this campaign, but the original DM had real-life "problems" and could no longer DM. So, I volunteered to DM.The group started off at 2nd level at the start of the campaign and has managed to work their way to 3rd following the end of last session. However, along the way, I have somewhat been "fudging" the dice, to prevent them from being killed outright or having the bad guys do a little less damage than their roll would indicate.As the DM, I would like there to be some kind of "storyline" for the campaign, with the characters being the stars. This is my personal preference and none of the players, except one, has expressed any interest in having a "story arc". However, if one of the stars is killed, it may disrupt the flow of the story.I'm still getting a feel for what the group likes and dislikes.In addition, I guess I don't want to feel bad if a player loses their character. At this point in time in the campaign, raise dead and ressurrection are not available, at least not easily. So, if a character dies, that may be it.Also, with the new players coming in, I don't want them to die during their first session.If the encounter is relatively "mundane", I don't want them to die from this mundane encounter.2 examples:The first encounter of the session: the party is making their way through a swamp and encounter a group of dire rats, which I believed they should be able to handle with minor difficulty. However, midway through combat, the cleric is brought to negatives. This is bad because, if the cleric dies, they will have no healing for the rest of the adventure. In addition, the party rogue is brought to 0 HP. So I come up with some story as to why the ranger of the party happens to have a healing potion is his backpack.Near the end of the session, the party has cleared a large hookwing nest ( a tiny flying reptile in the Scarred Lands ) in a tall dead tree. The rogue spider-climbs up the tree to search for treasure and then drops a rope over the edge for anyone that wants to climb up. The dwarf, wearing some pretty heavy gear, amazingly makes it up to the nest. However, I say the nest can't support their combined weight and have them make Reflex saves to avoid falling and taking damage. They succeed, but I also have the characters directly under the nest make a save as well, to avoid being hit by debris and branches. Unfortunately the cleric doesn't make it. I ask the player how much HP he has before saying the damage, but he doesn't reply with a definite number. I figure he has enough hit points, so I give him the total and find out that he is once again brought to negatives. However, the ranger is able to stabilize the cleric. Unfortunately, there is no healing available now that the cleric is out. I come up with a suggestion for the party to return to their homebase if they hustle and make some quick Survival rolls with some penalties since they are hustling, to avoid the hazards of the area.Anyway, everyone made it home safely and the session ended, but by this time, I think they figured out that I was "pulling-my-punches" somewhat.The thing that is really bad, is that I believe my players have found out, come to the conclusion, discovered, etc., that I may have been "pulling my punches" in order for them to survive. I guess part of this could be my constant nagging of "How much HP do you have left?" right before I tell them how much damage they receive.So, how do you deal, cope with, or decide when it is "appropriate" for a player to die?</blockquote>

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