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Message: <blockquote data-quote="clip" data-source="post: 5203217" data-attributes="member: 85760">I ran a 4E Tournament recently, with 3 teams all playing the same 6 encounters simultaneously. As there were prizes at stake, a proper scoring system was introduced (loosely based on NASFRAG). But ultimately, it didn't matter. You see, one party has a TPK, another narrowly avoided one, and the third party barely suffered - all players chose from the same pools of identical characters.So, this is as close as you can get to test conditions in D&D. What happened? Well, speaking to the DMs, it appeared that the winning party had the best balance, most available healing, and stuck together at all times. The losing party started badly in what should have been a minion duck shoot, and thereafter lurched from disaster to disaster, trying to rescue the situation with far too few healing surges, and not enough capability to use them.Like I said, the teams all played identical encounters, but their approaches and positioning at the beginning of the combats seemed to be the second most important factor (after party balance). The very first encounter featured a deserted village, where diseased villagers jumped out Resident Evil style at the party. Most of those were minions, and it should have been a warm-up act. However, some players insisted on a me-me-me approach, telling the DMs "I do this, I do that, I explore the inn, I stick my head down the well", and spreading out all over the place. When the minions attacked, the tactical situation was untenable.In other encounters that fared badly, the party was ill-suited to the situation - invokers aren't really AoE kings, and when swarms and minions attack together, that can spell trouble.Finally, the DMs reported that when TPK did (or nearly) occurred, it was after abandoning combat plans. Things were going badly, but not catastrophically, but the party would give up on focussing on a particular monster, and all act individually for a round. This then turned the battle decisively away from the PCs.Away from the tournament, and in my own experience, 4E TPKs tend to occur when a battle is not going well, and someone decides to "role-play" - normally a euphemism for doing something dumb. Maybe the ranger breaks ranks to rush and rescue a fallen friend (when the paladin would do a much better job next turn) or a fighter homes in on a "hated" foe. This tends to break party cohesion, and the rest rally to try and rescue the situation, but are hopelessly positioned to do so.In regular campaigns, I've seen 3 TPKs, all of which went down the same way (as above). To use a sporting analogy, the regular 4E combat team could be described like a Football Offense. The defenders are the defensive linemen, the leaders/controllers are the quarterback,  and the strikers are the offensive backs.Now, in a regular play, things can go bad but can normally be rescued. But what would happen if after the snap, the centre just decided to quit and attack one of the mascots or cheerleaders? There would be a big hole and the quarterback will get his butt kicked. Same in D&D - things aren't going too well, but instead of sticking to the plan - characters act chaotically.</blockquote>

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