D&D General How Often Should a PC Die in D&D 5e?

[ezo]

Seems easier to upgrade old school then downgrade 5E. IMO

Sure, but the larger problem is WotC "shiny toys" for PCs. Since that cat has been taken out of the bag (and we know it is in fact alive...), it is harder to put it back.

Always good to see when someone's avatar and tagline have some real-world basis.

Theirs or mine?

Yes.

Yeah... ok. So, whatever?

 

[KYRON45]

Sure, but what they are really asking is: how deadly do you like your games to be. I think you could answer that one.

For me personally, I don't care. I can play and enjoy any type of game. However, I like to DM a very deadly game where in my players rarely or never die.

I'm saying that i like my game to be so deadly that anyone can die at any time with no way to calculate how often that is.
I'm not arguing with anyone i'm stating my opinion based on the actual wording of the poll.

 

[dave2008]

..., but RAW by design the game is just less lethal and in easy mode if you run it as intended (6-8 encounters of medium to hard per adventuring day, for example).

It is interesting the people are still saying the 6-8 encounters as an intended design when they specifically removed that in the 2024 rules and said it was a mistake to include that from the get go. It was not "as intended," it was a mistake.

 

[dave2008]

I'm saying that i like my game to be so deadly that anyone can die at any time with no way to calculate how often that is.
I'm not arguing with anyone i'm stating my opinion based on the actual wording of the poll.

Why be shackled by a poorly worded poll when there is a much more interesting discussion to be had?

PS - I agree with your preference.

 

[ezo]

It is interesting the people are still saying the 6-8 encounters as an intended design when they specifically removed that in the 2024 rules and said it was a mistake to include that from the get go. It was not "as intended," it was a mistake.

Not that interesting really, since it is still 5E. Evenso, then it is one of a long list of things they realized was a mistake. And yet, I didn't want to touch 2024 because now you have new things that help keep it in "easy mode" (though perhaps not as easy? I could not say and never will since 2024 is already dead to me).

 

[KYRON45]

Why be shackled by a poorly worded poll when there is a much more interesting discussion to be had?

PS - I agree with your preference.

I felt it would be rude to point out that the poll is bad.

 

[Reynard]

That is unfortunate, as there should be chance of character death but TPKs are something I feel should be avoided.

For games where there are lots of deep individual character stories, a TPK is almost easier to deal with than a single character death (at least fort he GM). You can pick of the A plot with a new group of heroes more easily than you can figure out what to do with all that unresolved B plot, IMO.

 

[Imaro]

I think we get the point.
Unless you are planning PC deaths, there is no "schedule" for how often they die.
I've had PCs die in the first session and i've had PCs last for a hundred sessions.

Its not asking what "schedule" you prefer but instead at what frequency of PC death does it reach your particular desire of lethality?

 

[Crimson Longinus]

For games where there are lots of deep individual character stories, a TPK is almost easier to deal with than a single character death (at least fort he GM). You can pick of the A plot with a new group of heroes more easily than you can figure out what to do with all that unresolved B plot, IMO.

Hard disagree. It is not about some plot independent of the characters, the game is about the characters. And if one of their friends and comrades dies, that will affect the rest. How do they react, how do they feel? That is good source of drama. But if they all die? Then it seems rather pointless, as there is no one left to reflect on it.

 

[TiQuinn]

I think people are missing the point. Death happens when it happens in the game, when the dice say so and when poor decisions put PCs in untenable situations.

The question is on average how often in a campaign do you think that should generally be coming up.

I don’t think we’re missing the point - we’re not mind readers. The question and more importantly the poll choices are very clear.