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Message: <blockquote data-quote="EzekielRaiden" data-source="post: 9559174" data-attributes="member: 6790260">Not necessarily "big epic," but certainly something with some meaning to it. As an example, a heroic last stand against hordes of demons so the rest of the party can escape? Awesome. That's a beautiful and well-earned death.I told them at the start of the game: "If you want to keep playing your character, then I will work with you to make that happen. I won't take your character away just because the dice were crappy at a dumb time. This doesn't mean your characters cannot die ever. But we can talk about it and try to figure something out." I have included the ability for my players to figure out safety measures I have woven into the story, such as the earrings they have which were made for them by their gold dragon ally, Shen. With those earrings, they know that (1) they allow the PCs to communicate, and can be used to "call" Shen to them in dire need; (2) a small part of Shen's soul is invested into them, meaning he is always present with them, but keeps a polite distance (e.g. he's not watching their every move, just has a sense of their current situation unless they communicate with him); and (3) he is grateful for their past assistance and sees them as something between close friends and adopted (adult) children, so he would not let them suffer a cruel fate if he could do something about it. If they were to investigate the magic in the earrings, they would learn that Shen could use them (consuming the magic in the red earring) to resurrect the wearer, but he would need to make new copies if that happened. They have not investigated the earrings and simply accepted them as cool gifts from a powerful friend.I've also told my players things like that I love heroic last stands and think that that is a beautiful and noble way for a character to exit a campaign. Conversely, I think dying because a random mook got you between the ribs is dull as dirt, so unless the player says otherwise, that's not going to be the end of that character's story if that should ever happen. Further, I described to them my concept of "chiaroscuro fantasy": not "dark" fantasy, nor sear-your-retinas bright fantasy where nothing bad ever happens etc. etc., but fantasy where true goodness/light exists, and so does true evil/darkness, and the two struggle against each other, with many shades of grey thrown off by that struggle. The world has plenty of wonderful, beautiful, worthy things in it, things worth fighting to save, things worth fighting to restore or purify or redeem, but those things are under threat. Heroes brave and true are part of what makes the difference. Of course, heroes brave and true cannot solve everything. That doesn't mean they're useless trash or harmful delusions getting in the way of real change. Instead, it places them as catalysts of change, or as the tip of the spear. The tip is useless without the haft, but the haft cannot achieve its goals without the tip. Heroes and humble human(oid)s complement one another, achieving far more in concert than either could alone.We discussed this and many more things during Session 0. I tried to be as specific and clear as I possibly could, because I understand painfully well how much of a problem it is to only learn that the world doesn't work the way you thought it did 20 sessions in, when you're already invested and leaving would mean letting your friends down and giving up something you care about.</blockquote>

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