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It's so hard to die!
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<blockquote data-quote="MNblockhead" data-source="post: 8271319" data-attributes="member: 6796661"><p>It is a common observation. It is a different philosophy than the OD&D and 1e era. Players are more invested in their characters and the story. If death happens, it should be meaningful. </p><p></p><p>Death is much more likely in the first three levels. But this is why it is also common to see many campaigns start at level 5, because many players today don't want squishy characters and don't want to play for many hours before they get to the cool abilities. </p><p></p><p>There is nothing wrong with that. </p><p></p><p>For my current campaign, I used a funnel system with each player having four level 0 characters. Of those that survived, the players created two characters, one main, and one backup that would stay back in a safe area and would level up at 2 levels below the main character. </p><p></p><p>I'm running a mega dungeon known to be deadly. You can quickly get over your heads. But my players are experienced and have been risk adverse so none of their main characters have died yet. But at least the knowledge that, unlike most official 5e adventures, they could easily run in something that can readily kill them has lead to a style of play that involves conducting intelligence, faction diplomacy, prepping and planning means of escape, etc. </p><p></p><p>If I wanted a deadlier game that still felt like D&D, but a bit smoothed out and with a bit of modernization, I would run Swords and Wizardry. </p><p></p><p>If I want to kill my players' characters regularly and have them like it, I would run Paranoia. I thought it would be fun to run a Paranoia game where the troubleshooters are stuck in a deadly fantasy simulation. Paranoia rules but D&D like setting.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="MNblockhead, post: 8271319, member: 6796661"] It is a common observation. It is a different philosophy than the OD&D and 1e era. Players are more invested in their characters and the story. If death happens, it should be meaningful. Death is much more likely in the first three levels. But this is why it is also common to see many campaigns start at level 5, because many players today don't want squishy characters and don't want to play for many hours before they get to the cool abilities. There is nothing wrong with that. For my current campaign, I used a funnel system with each player having four level 0 characters. Of those that survived, the players created two characters, one main, and one backup that would stay back in a safe area and would level up at 2 levels below the main character. I'm running a mega dungeon known to be deadly. You can quickly get over your heads. But my players are experienced and have been risk adverse so none of their main characters have died yet. But at least the knowledge that, unlike most official 5e adventures, they could easily run in something that can readily kill them has lead to a style of play that involves conducting intelligence, faction diplomacy, prepping and planning means of escape, etc. If I wanted a deadlier game that still felt like D&D, but a bit smoothed out and with a bit of modernization, I would run Swords and Wizardry. If I want to kill my players' characters regularly and have them like it, I would run Paranoia. I thought it would be fun to run a Paranoia game where the troubleshooters are stuck in a deadly fantasy simulation. Paranoia rules but D&D like setting. [/QUOTE]
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