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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Arkhandus" data-source="post: 3286493" data-attributes="member: 13966">Except that, in almost any scenario, it should be the people at the front of the group who end up stirring monsters/foes and getting their attention, inadvertently or not.  The physical weaklings have no reason to be near the front of the group, and thus shouldn't be getting attacked first.  Even if the group is bunched up, the frontmost individual is likely to be attacked first, generally.I know, and I did mention this regarding CR; that if caught completely unaware or unprepared, they should be considered to be facing a much higher CR in the case of Shadows.  The DMG gives mention that significantly favorable or unfavorable circumstances alter the CR (or EL, I just forget which), treating an encounter as more deadly or less so.  As such, it would be the DM's fault if he had some 3rd-level PCs surprised by a Shadow, knowing full well that incorporeal undead are extremely nasty at such low levels, and that it deals significant, deadly ability damage with ease.Moreso bushwhacking one of the group's most gangly, feeble members (probably a mage or skill-monkey) from out of nowhere, when, as stated, the frontmost teammates are most likely to stir the attention of hidden foes.  Now if the players just stupidly keep their mage/thief/whatever at the front of the group where he/she is nice and vulnerable, then as I mentioned earlier, they're doing something blatantly foolish or brazen to earn whatever horrible fate befalls their PCs.Nope, not involved.  Just as I said, I've noticed this kinda stupid DM mistake all too often (not just against me, mind; it's resulted in TPKs too), and it's a rather glaring sign that the DM is either very much a newbie (acceptable, for the first instance), or otherwise most certainly a fool, jerk, or lazy bum that doesn't want to bother thinking about any campaign material, like encounters, before dropping it into the PCs' laps.  It's just so terribly easy to see that incorporeal undead are not something you throw randomly at low-level parties without any forethought.PCs die in my games when they go into battle with something tough and get horrible luck, or make bad tactical decisions, or otherwise blunder/charge into dangerous situations without some common sense or restraint.  Making stupid choices or being brash will sometimes get PCs killed, but they can be certain in my games that they will NOT get slaughtered at random, by some surprise-ambush critter that is Uber for its CR, or by random virtually-unavoidable traps.  If they get ambushed, and they didn't do something stupid to cause a really nasty ambush, then they can expect I will not have them all slaughtered in their sleep, or ambushed by enemies they can't possibly fight off at the time.A few PCs have died in my Rhunaria game, one of which was able to return (thanks to a one-time favor by an NPC they actually decided to make nice with, rather than ignore or p**s off).  One or two died in my Oriental Adventures campaign before that.  Don't recall any other PC deaths, don't think there were any.  I make sure they understand before the game that I am not out to get them, but their PCs will die if they make foolish mistakes in dangerous places; they're generally quick to start healing themselves/each other as soon as one of them gets mauled by attracting the attention of too many enemies, or too-big enemies, otherwise they'd have lost several more PCs by now (crits happen!).I think there may have been one single time I fudged a die roll to allow a PC to survive, what would've been a deadly critical hit (making it a normal but highly damaging hit).  And only, if  I recall correctly, because it was from a fairly average orc (2nd-level warrior or something), in a fairly routine battle in an unimportant place (i.e., no glory to be had in dying there, such an ignonimous death as to be pitiful).</blockquote>

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