Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Blue" data-source="post: 6965383" data-attributes="member: 20564">5e combat, because it's designed to be over in a few rounds, can be rather swingy with a run of luck for one side.&nbsp; That said, it's ridiculously easy to stand up a downed PC and going down is almost no risk unless the rest of the party goes as well.Now, context is everything - you put the heroes in ten tough battles with maybe a single short rest and resources are low, and then there's a swingy combat you could have a TPK - but the series is not an accident, just what happens at the end.Note:&nbsp; a too-tough encounter that has ample means of retreat that TPKs becuase the party won't retreat isn't an accident.&nbsp; An encounter where players do stupid things even though they know better isn't an accident.&nbsp; (It could be great roleplaying - I'll be a martyr to kill the demon, or base stupidity.&nbsp; It's just not an accident.)On the flip side, if you misjudge designing a combat, say make a non-retreatable combat and put in foes who are particularly effective against the party (or just a whole lot of them), you can have a TPK.&nbsp; And if you didn't mean to do it then technically it's an accident.&nbsp; But the accident wasn't on-the-table, it was the design before the session.So exceptions:&nbsp; changing some of the grittiness factors with variants in the DMG can up chances of accidental TPK.&nbsp; If you intentionally run a high risk/high lethality game (which can be a blast, no judgement here) then the line to slip over for a TPK is a lot closer.&nbsp; Question if that's accidental or just the nature of the beast at that point.But you really need to work at it to have an accidental TPK in 5e.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Blue, post: 6965383, member: 20564"] 5e combat, because it's designed to be over in a few rounds, can be rather swingy with a run of luck for one side. That said, it's ridiculously easy to stand up a downed PC and going down is almost no risk unless the rest of the party goes as well. Now, context is everything - you put the heroes in ten tough battles with maybe a single short rest and resources are low, and then there's a swingy combat you could have a TPK - but the series is not an accident, just what happens at the end. Note: a too-tough encounter that has ample means of retreat that TPKs becuase the party won't retreat isn't an accident. An encounter where players do stupid things even though they know better isn't an accident. (It could be great roleplaying - I'll be a martyr to kill the demon, or base stupidity. It's just not an accident.) On the flip side, if you misjudge designing a combat, say make a non-retreatable combat and put in foes who are particularly effective against the party (or just a whole lot of them), you can have a TPK. And if you didn't mean to do it then technically it's an accident. But the accident wasn't on-the-table, it was the design before the session. So exceptions: changing some of the grittiness factors with variants in the DMG can up chances of accidental TPK. If you intentionally run a high risk/high lethality game (which can be a blast, no judgement here) then the line to slip over for a TPK is a lot closer. Question if that's accidental or just the nature of the beast at that point. But you really need to work at it to have an accidental TPK in 5e. [/QUOTE]

Verification