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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Sacrosanct" data-source="post: 7853573" data-attributes="member: 15700">I don't think the game was designed to be more heroic.  See Maxperson's post.  It was designed for PCs to live longer and be easier, with much less PC death (which is what people wanted, because most people did not like their D&D to be "fantasy f**** Vietnam" as the saying goes).  That doesn't automatically mean heroic.  I think it's about context.  Heroic means to be bold, brave, overcome great odds that most people can't.Look at it like this.  I'm gonna use a military analogy because I'm a veteran, and it's easier for me to put it like this.Two guys run into each other at a coffee shop, and the barista tells them both, "Thank you for your service.  You guys are heroes!  What did you do?"The first guys says, "I was stationed in Korengal, and we did daily patrols trying to root out the Taliban and provide protection for the local farmers.  We got shot at every day, and often an IED would go off.  One day we got ambushed on a hill, and SGT Moore got killed.  The Black Hawks raced in under heavy fire to extract SGT Moore, but they couldn't get to the hospital in time during the golden hour."The other guy says to the barista, "Thank you.  It was rough for me too.  I was on an aircraft carrier.  We had to hot bunk, and had freeze dried eggs instead of fresh eggs.  We had a horrible battle with each other to see who could get to the showers first before the other guys "did their thing" and made it gross.  And if you weren't careful during your dance routines on deck, you could fall overboard.  Can you believe it!"Both guys had some risk.  But it's not really heroic unless the risk is significant.  I'm not saying 5e is without risk.  I'm not saying it's without risk of dying.  And I'm not saying the DM can't tweak it.  And I'm not saying one edition is objectively better than the other (because preference).  But what I am saying, is that out of the box, it feels more heroic to survive great risk and challenge than it is to survive the "Great battle of the Showers" because in all things, not just RPGs, the level of heroism is related to the risk/challenge/greatness of the task that was overcome.   It feels more heroic to survive a battle against a cockatrice that you had a 50% chance of permanently dying than it does to survive a battle against a cockatrice where you have virtually no chance of permanently dying.  Having your mission suffer setbacks is not like dying.  That's a false equivalency, and makes one sound like the sailor above.   Having my dinner plans ruined is not nearly as bad as getting sent to the hospital from a major car wreck.  They aren't comparable.</blockquote>

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