4 pages of comments and nobody's mentioned disintegrate? Forcing a true resurrection or wish is brutal for a 10th-level character. They shouldn't have 25,000gp to burn on it (ignoring the difficulty in finding someone to cast it), and even if the party as a whole had 25,000gp, about 1/4 of that (assuming an average sized party) just got turned into a small pile of ash on the floor.
D&D 5E How do you kill a 10th level character?
ExploderWizard
Hero
Depends on the monster and the situation. A large stupid beast in search of a meal might snatch up a fallen PC for a snack and leave the battle altogether. Their interest in attacking was for food, not to try and challenge the party. A ghoul might start feasting on downed foe too.
Many intelligent enemies will probably want to eliminate all threats before attending to fallen foes but even they might consider the time it takes to finish off an enemy worth it if healing magic that can bring an unconscious fighter back into fighting shape in the space of a round exists.
Fair? Who says life is fair? Where is that written?
Evil will always triumph because good is dumb has a bit of truth to it for a reason. If evil played by the rules then they wouldn't be EVIL.
If evil brings good down to its level, then it has won. The ultimate evil is to submit to the evil.
Would do if it was Lawful Evil. They would also have written the rules. In blood. Yours of course.
ExploderWizard
Hero
If you only knew the POWER of the dark side!
the Jester
Legend
Speak for yourself. If the monsters don't act like- well- monsters- if they don't behave monstrously, if they don't use their special abilities, why are you using those monsters in the first place?
I never softball pcs in my game. Never. And I don't have a problem with players walking away; in fact, I have the opposite problem, of having too many would-be players queued up to get into my game. I have a waiting list. And I run a high-lethality game. This won't drive players away; it will make them feel like they earned their victories.
Obviously, YMMV, and the type of players you have influences how this will go. But a blanket declaration that this is the "surest way to lose your players" is simply not correct.
the Jester
Legend
Or play with people who understand that D&D characters don't always get to have it their way, and sometimes die.
the Jester
Legend
I'd be more inclined to walk away from a game where the DM is soft like this than I would one where the DM plays the monsters honestly and dangerously. Again, YMMV, but please don't assume that everyone likes a game where the pcs always, and automatically, win, or one where there is no real risk to the pcs. To me, that's just plain boring.
pming
Legend
Hiya!
Well, there are RAW ways, sure...but for me death usually goes something like this:
DM (Me): You get clawed for [22] damage.
Player: Crap! I'm down.
Other Players: At least that bought us some time...
DM: The monster begins feasting on your unconscious body. At least you don't feel it. You're dead.
Player: Dang it...
Other Players: OK, so, we keep running, looking back to see if it's following us.
DM: Nope, no sign of it. Looks like the rest of you got away...this time...
In a nutshell...does it makes sense, world/campaign/setting sense (not necessarily rule-sense) for a character to be just outright 'dead'? If the answer is yes, I just inform the player his/her character is dead, regardless of how many HP's he had or didn't have. This is agreeable nine times out of ten. If the player and other players disagree, they give me their reasons, suggestions, or thoughts on why the character might live. Usually we go with my decision, sometimes with theirs, and other times we let the dice decide.
The point is..."realistic campaign consistency" trump rules every single time. My players would all MUCH rather have consistent, "logical" (game logic), than to never know if the DM was going to "let them live or not". And, honestly, just deciding "Yeah, well, uh, the demon stands over your body, victorious...and then, uh, leaves I guess..." is the same thing as saying "Oh, well, don't worry if you all hit 0 hp in this fight...he won't kill you if he wins, he'll just leave". Either way is the same thing as playing Tic-Tac-Toe against someone who always lets you win.
So...RAW, there are things that will kill a 10th level character....the DM just has to have the jewels to play the viciousness, alignment, and Intelligence of the enemies. Always. Ever time. Without compromise or malice. If the DM is neutral and fair, things almost always turn out for the best....sooo......always look on the bright side of life. Always look on the light side of life. If life seems jolly rotten, there's something you've forgotten, and that's to laugh and smile and dance and sing....When you're feeling in the dumps, don't be silly chumps!...just purse your lips and whistle, thats the thing! ...Sooo....
*ahem*
Fair. Consistent. Sensable from a campaign/story perspective is always better than following the letter of the rules. IME, at any rate.
^_^
Paul L. Ming
Well, there are RAW ways, sure...but for me death usually goes something like this:
DM (Me): You get clawed for [22] damage.
Player: Crap! I'm down.
Other Players: At least that bought us some time...
DM: The monster begins feasting on your unconscious body. At least you don't feel it. You're dead.
Player: Dang it...
Other Players: OK, so, we keep running, looking back to see if it's following us.
DM: Nope, no sign of it. Looks like the rest of you got away...this time...
In a nutshell...does it makes sense, world/campaign/setting sense (not necessarily rule-sense) for a character to be just outright 'dead'? If the answer is yes, I just inform the player his/her character is dead, regardless of how many HP's he had or didn't have. This is agreeable nine times out of ten. If the player and other players disagree, they give me their reasons, suggestions, or thoughts on why the character might live. Usually we go with my decision, sometimes with theirs, and other times we let the dice decide.
The point is..."realistic campaign consistency" trump rules every single time. My players would all MUCH rather have consistent, "logical" (game logic), than to never know if the DM was going to "let them live or not". And, honestly, just deciding "Yeah, well, uh, the demon stands over your body, victorious...and then, uh, leaves I guess..." is the same thing as saying "Oh, well, don't worry if you all hit 0 hp in this fight...he won't kill you if he wins, he'll just leave". Either way is the same thing as playing Tic-Tac-Toe against someone who always lets you win.
So...RAW, there are things that will kill a 10th level character....the DM just has to have the jewels to play the viciousness, alignment, and Intelligence of the enemies. Always. Ever time. Without compromise or malice. If the DM is neutral and fair, things almost always turn out for the best....sooo......always look on the bright side of life. Always look on the light side of life. If life seems jolly rotten, there's something you've forgotten, and that's to laugh and smile and dance and sing....When you're feeling in the dumps, don't be silly chumps!...just purse your lips and whistle, thats the thing! ...Sooo....
*ahem*
Fair. Consistent. Sensable from a campaign/story perspective is always better than following the letter of the rules. IME, at any rate.
^_^
Paul L. Ming
I just feel I have to say to every newcomer out there, don't listen to these guys unless you are an expert and you really know your players would be okay with it ahead of time.
