Nebulous
Legend
And it is nasty, and arguably one of the scariest attacks in the game. It makes certain undead rightfully terrifying.
D&D 5E How do you kill a 10th level character?
- Thread starter Schmoe
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And it is nasty, and arguably one of the scariest attacks in the game. It makes certain undead rightfully terrifying.
For an auto-kill, the character has to go to -max HP in 1 shot. It resets to 0 after each damage source.
You can just use the -10 rule if you want, losing 1 hp per round if below 0. That would be much better than trying to decide if you should have monsters attack PC's when they're down.
If you want something that most characters should be afraid of, have an army of wizard initiates cast magic missile at 1 character. 10 damage per wizard. 13 would kill a character with 100 hp. Have them go off a signal and all the shots hit in the same turn. That is how I lost my first character. Level 4 and there were bits of him everywhere after the 11 wizards shot him.
the Jester
Legend
Softy. I start all new pcs at 1st level with standard first-level starting gear.
If you can't handle losing a character in a game in which there are rules for losing a character, perhaps you're playing the wrong game. Or perhaps you need to find a group that is more aligned with your playstyle. There's nothing wrong with that.
What's wrong is insisting that yours is the only correct playstyle. Let's just stop that, please.
Only that you let new pcs start at 10th level.
Not in my (5 editions + basic, 34 year long) experience. Pcs come and go. I've never lost a player this way. Not once. And just about every player I've ever had in my games, with maybe a couple of very short-term players as exceptions, has lost one or more pcs over time.
The fact is, I have had people move to a new town to get back into my game after I relocated. I've got a guy who wants to fly me across the country to run games for him. I've got a waiting list of people wanting in my game, and that's despite the fact that I'm running two separate groups of players and four different groups of pcs concurrently, and I've always had a waiting list, excepting a few months when I was in a new town and hadn't yet built up a network of people.
Do you realize that, in the old days, a TPK was the typical way that a given group ended? There wasn't much of the modern "we finished the story, hurray!" stuff until 2e. Before then- for well over a decade- D&D groups played until they dissolved (cuz life) or until they TPKed. And you know what happened then?
Everyone grabbed the dice and rolled new characters. Oh noes! We have to make new pcs! Well, I've always wondered what a dwarf fighter/thief would be like.
I'm sorry to hear that. You had a really bad DM.
Nebulous
Legend
Ok, so that's just not going to happen at high level D&D, i don't think anything does that much damage even with a crit. Maybe I'm wrong, but in general, it is very unlikely. Like with the 160 hp example above.
I'd like you to stop, please. You're giving new players the wrong impression, and you'll ruin the game for some if you don't stop it.
Naw, he is a really good DM. Funny, good voices, imaginative scenarios. He was just a bit bored with the Wednesday night Encounters scenarios in the Sundering and was a bit bloodthirsty. In the end I took over that group as DM.
I was actually being tongue in cheek through my last post. But I wasn't lying about the DMG suggestion for a 10th level character. It's on page 38. It suggests 500 + 1d10x25gp and no magic items as the suggestion for starting a 10th level character. Personally, I will give any player that starts a character above 1st level enough magic items to catch up somewhat with the group. I would say to any DM that killing off a mid-level character will open a discourse with the player where problems can occur. If the player doesn't agree with the wealth you provide the new character, you will have to iron fist your decision or compromise with the player. The player may simply redo the character and give it a different name. An inexperienced player might switch to another class and play it poorly because he didn't play the class through the levels. These things can cause complications no matter how well the DM and the players work together. This is also why it's not as easy to do as killing off a first level character. The most important thing to make sure of is that when that 10th level character dies, the player knows exactly what his options will be afterward.
Not necessarily. A character that has only a few hit points left in that example would only need a hit of Max HP + those few hit points. Any of the methods described earlier would do one in during that scenario.
I'd say the most likely causes of death for 10th-level PCs are:
1. Being attacked by a monster while unconscious (either to prevent healing or because the monster is just spiteful).
2. Getting caught in the blast of an area attack while unconscious.
3. TPK.
Maybe your table prefers not to do it, and that's fine, you play however works for you. At other tables, however, the players want the DM to pull no punches, and in that case you absolutely should do it.
My own attitude--as a player and as a DM--is that the monsters should fight to win, using all the smarts and tactics available to them. Normally, monsters don't attack downed PCs for the same reason PCs don't attack downed monsters: In-combat healing is quite rare, so usually it's a waste of time to be slitting throats instead of concentrating on active threats. However, intelligent monsters who see clerical healing going on will take steps to prevent it. That includes a) targeting the cleric, and b) finishing off downed foes.
Of course, not all monsters are cool, rational tacticians. A monster of animal intelligence won't ever "figure out" healing magic; it'll ignore downed foes even if they have repeatedly bounced back up. Conversely, some monsters are just mean. They'll go for downed enemies even when it's not tactically advantageous, out of hunger or sheer spite. Ghouls and gnolls are good examples.
Fiinally, some monsters can't tell when foes drop unconscious, and will just keep noshing on 'em. A swarm is the most likely example. (Of course, it can't tell when the foe is dead, either. Putting your pack animals in front of you is a good way to distract swarms.)
1. Being attacked by a monster while unconscious (either to prevent healing or because the monster is just spiteful).
2. Getting caught in the blast of an area attack while unconscious.
3. TPK.
What, it's taboo because you say so?
Maybe your table prefers not to do it, and that's fine, you play however works for you. At other tables, however, the players want the DM to pull no punches, and in that case you absolutely should do it.
My own attitude--as a player and as a DM--is that the monsters should fight to win, using all the smarts and tactics available to them. Normally, monsters don't attack downed PCs for the same reason PCs don't attack downed monsters: In-combat healing is quite rare, so usually it's a waste of time to be slitting throats instead of concentrating on active threats. However, intelligent monsters who see clerical healing going on will take steps to prevent it. That includes a) targeting the cleric, and b) finishing off downed foes.
Of course, not all monsters are cool, rational tacticians. A monster of animal intelligence won't ever "figure out" healing magic; it'll ignore downed foes even if they have repeatedly bounced back up. Conversely, some monsters are just mean. They'll go for downed enemies even when it's not tactically advantageous, out of hunger or sheer spite. Ghouls and gnolls are good examples.
Fiinally, some monsters can't tell when foes drop unconscious, and will just keep noshing on 'em. A swarm is the most likely example. (Of course, it can't tell when the foe is dead, either. Putting your pack animals in front of you is a good way to distract swarms.)
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Ahrimon
Bourbon and Dice
No we're talking about a play style that has been used and popular for over 30 years.
We get that you don't agree. But honestly, yours is not the one true way to play DnD. Feel free to tell people that you disagree and give advice on what you prefer. Just please stop trying to tell us that we've been playing it wrong all this time.
Henry
Autoexreginated
Actually, if he's entertaining his players as well as himself, I'd say he's doing just fine. Not all have the same style of game, and no one is obligated to accommodate all styles of play.
the Jester
Legend
Are you serious?
Because if you are, my answer is an unequivocal "NO". If you don't like reading my posts, there's an "Ignore User" button made just for you.
As for "ruining the game for some", if someone having a different perspective ruins the game for someone, I'd suggest that they ought to A. Not play in my game, B. Not read my posts, or C. Accept that there is no One True Way to D&D.
EDITED TO ADD: I'd equally like you to stop asserting- nay, insisting- that you're absolutely right and that there's only One True Way. I think that ruins more games for more people than acknowledging that people play D&D in different ways. Yet I'm not asking you to do so. I'm engaging you in discussion instead, acknowledging that your style is fine for groups that enjoy it, yet isn't the only playstyle on the table. Who's the reasonable one here really?
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AmerginLiath
Adventurer
Should we include Quivering Palm (as a death effect) and Falling Damage (as a source of potential massive damage)?
"I should have memorized Feather Faaaaaaaaaall..."
"I should have memorized Feather Faaaaaaaaaall..."
Nebulous
Legend
Oh...what about drowning and suffocation?
For a group of level 10 characters a Roc is a very dangerous enemy, I don't know about the rest of you DM's but I have mine swoop down attack a single character and once one is grabbed fly up, very far up and then let them go. Dragons have been known to do the same thing from time to time.
Everyone at the table is there to have fun playing an adventure game. If it weren't dangerous it wouldn't be called an adventure. Being nice is expected, nerfing everything takes the adventure out of it.
The game is designed with the possibility of character death in it, thus adding the tension and suspense that generates excitement.
For the example of the gnolls being especially nasty, someone already mentioned cluing the players in through an NPC pointing that out, and there's no rule requiring the extra attack in all instances to be lethal. The gnolls could use it to grapple and then they could all begin carrying off the first downed PC, giving reason to rescue the prisoner, or pay a ransom.
As a DM, I don't design things to deliberately be deadly, though I do expect the players to know when it might be best to run, and I let players know ahead of time that some encounters might be very dangerous.
Mistwell
Crusty Old Meatwad (he/him)
Wow. OK I gotta ask - how long have you been playing D&D? And I guess which editions have you played? It sounds to me like you're not experienced with a wide variety of play tables and playstyles, but perhaps that's a mistaken impression.
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