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<blockquote data-quote="Bullgrit" data-source="post: 5195953" data-attributes="member: 31216">When talking about TPKs, many people comment that they avoid, or try to avoid them. They capture the PCs or pull out some other &quot;penalty&quot; for failure.In my experience with TPKs -- and I've DMed over a few in my 30 years of D&amp;D -- there really aren't many early warning signs that one is coming. I've seen combats go from &quot;challenging fight&quot; to &quot;Total Party Kill&quot; in 3 rounds. Or even less. Hell, I've seen combats go from &quot;supposed to be a cake walk&quot; to TPK.Just like we've all seen parties defeat the BBEG with one lucky shot/spell in the first rounds of a fight. Just like we've all seen parties on the brink of losing, suddenly come back and win. Sometimes the situation just bottoms out suddenly and I don't realize this *is it* until suddenly I see that *was it*.As a DM, what warning signs have you seen to alert you that a TPK is going to happen before there's no time left to think about how to prevent it?As a Player, do you regularly have a plan for avoiding a TPK -- even if it's just an escape plan for your PC only?What are some of the most dramatic &quot;suddenly it's a TPK&quot; moments you've been a part of?Bullgrit</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Bullgrit, post: 5195953, member: 31216"] When talking about TPKs, many people comment that they avoid, or try to avoid them. They capture the PCs or pull out some other "penalty" for failure. In my experience with TPKs -- and I've DMed over a few in my 30 years of D&D -- there really aren't many early warning signs that one is coming. I've seen combats go from "challenging fight" to "Total Party Kill" in 3 rounds. Or even less. Hell, I've seen combats go from "supposed to be a cake walk" to TPK. Just like we've all seen parties defeat the BBEG with one lucky shot/spell in the first rounds of a fight. Just like we've all seen parties on the brink of losing, suddenly come back and win. Sometimes the situation just bottoms out suddenly and I don't realize this *is it* until suddenly I see that *was it*. As a DM, what warning signs have you seen to alert you that a TPK is going to happen before there's no time left to think about how to prevent it? As a Player, do you regularly have a plan for avoiding a TPK -- even if it's just an escape plan for your PC only? What are some of the most dramatic "suddenly it's a TPK" moments you've been a part of? Bullgrit [/QUOTE]

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