I had them in the palm of my hand...

[derelictjay]

Plenty of times. I used to do this on a regular basis. Then one of my players called me on the carpet for it. So I quit doing it, for a while. The body count for the PCs was pushing ten by 5th level, so I again dialed it back , but made sure the players didn't really notice, and as far as i can tell, they haven't yet.

My players love the realism of their characters dying, though don't like spending the effort to create another meaningful character, which is why I started playing soft again. Heck, most would love a more grim and gritty atmosphere, instead of the heroic they're used to.

 

[iwatt]

I'm a big fan of occasionally taking people captive; I think a lot of players hate it more than character death, and it's a lot more fun in the long run.

Yup. Players will usually freak out when I start doing subdual/nonlethal damage.

IME, the ranking of DM rat-bastardness in order of increasing anoyance is:

4. PC Death (Res magic and chance to play other characters takes the sting out of this)

3. Gear Destroyed (always a bother but better than 2 )

2. Gear Stolen. Pcs always want to recover stolen loot, even neglecting better gear found later in an obsessiveness that sometime sis scary.

1. PC captured. Cause it involves a loss of control over the PC as well as getting Gear stolen.

 

[LostSoul]

3. Gear Destroyed (always a bother but better than 2 )

That's because gearless PCs are worse than dead PCs. With a dead PC, you can bring in a new one who's effective for his level; a PC without gear is a big loser for his level. People don't like to play PCs who a big losers.

1. PC captured. Cause it involves a loss of control over the PC as well as getting Gear stolen.

That's because you often don't have a chance to do anything, and you have to sit there until the DM concocts some scheme to save your PC.

 

[iwatt]

That's because gearless PCs are worse than dead PCs. With a dead PC, you can bring in a new one who's effective for his level; a PC without gear is a big loser for his level. People don't like to play PCs who a big losers.

What I meant is that my players prefer to get their items destroyed than stolen. Destroyed means getting it replaced. But my players become obsessive hunters when something is stolen. They don't follow hooks to get a better weapon, instead trackin down the halfling that stole his +1 sword. So as a DM If I want to get rid of an item for whatever erason, I usually destroy it rather than steal it.

 

[TheYeti1775]

Had a Rogue/Mage die by Giant rat at 3rd Level. We still refer to that Rat as 'Splinter'.

It was a classic 'rat' clearing of a tower, where a wererat had laired. First couple of rooms open door blast rats with Burning hands wand, then we encountered Splinter. Splinter is the only rat to make his save, after my entrance Splinter launched into an attack. The DM rolls, chuckles says '20', rolls to confirm, another '20' (all in front of us too no less), third roll (and we were playing triple 20 kills), another d@mn '20'. Essentially it was stated the rat tore my thoart out soaking everyone and everything in blood. What made it funnier was this rat than proceeded to live another 8 rounds with everyone missing it and it's one hitpoint.

Yeti

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

I so rarely try to capture the PCs - NPCs almost never have any reason to do so. (Think of it this way - how often do my PCs capture NPCs? And if they do, how long does that NPC last?)

If I catch them in a death trap, it boils down to "have they been stupid?" If yes, execute. If not, create a weakness and hope their Smart Hero can skill check his way out of it.