ad_hoc
(they/them)
This is everyon's task. Everyone is playing the game.
Lying to your friends is a bad thing to do.
D&D 5E Not dying?
This is everyon's task. Everyone is playing the game.
Lying to your friends is a bad thing to do.
Huntsman57
First Post
Since I would never lie to my players, it sounds like we're in agreement. I love agreeing on the internet.
pming
Legend
Hiya!
Nope. I did "try it" many decades ago...didn't like it. Not one little bit. My players didn't either. I felt like I was "cheating" as a DM, and "cheating" my players of the best possible "D&D" experience...and, turns out, they kinda felt the same way.
In fact, the vast majority of players I've DM'ed over the decades (if they play with me for more than only a handful of weeks/months), end up re-learning how they view the whole PC death thing. Some (many?) have come from 2e or 3.x games where the DM did, basically, "coddle them" to the point where death was never really a thing to be considered. If/when a PC died, it was only a minor inconvenience as the DM would have some wandering cleric show up and cast Raise Dead on the PC corps(es) for "a good meal and a place by their campfire for the night" or some equally stupidly common thing. That's just how they 'learned to play'.
They usually got a very cold slap to the...er..."sensitive organs"...when they had a PC die in my game. The look of surprise is usually worth the price of admission, and after about 15 minutes when I look at them and say "Uh, aren't you going to roll up a new character? Or are you done for the night?", the look of absolute confusion followed quickly by terror is just a bonus feature. I usually hear via my other players that week some story about how they were shocked that their PC died...and stayed dead...and of how all their previous DM's either didn't kill their PC's (as in EVER) or how it was easy to get them raised no matter the PC's level.
Some never return, opting for more...shall we say..."Safe" games or ones where they don't care about "world believability" so much as "character story building time". No worries on my part, to each their own. Some people are far more into planning a PC's 'story' and then trying to 'build' that story to see it come true. But the ones that do stick around do so because they like the feeling of being in control of their characters lives more than "the DM's storyline".
I'm a "Killer DM", so to speak. I used to deny it waaaaay back in the early 90's (mostly). But then something dawned on me a couple years after that. I *was* a "killer DM". And you know what? I'm damn proud of it!
Now when a player has a character live to 7th level (or more) over the course of a year's worth of weekly play...both I, and the group (especially the PC's player in question) are damn proud of the accomplishment! Am I an unfair Killer DM? No. Not at all. Sometimes my players will confront me at the end of the session, but after I explain the why's and wherefores that they were unaware of, they usually "get it". Sometimes they don't, and they convince me that I messed up. We then come up with a "plausible reason" for fixing the error on my part. Not very often, but it does happen.
Bottom line: If I go out of my way to try and keep the PC's alive...what's to stop me from doing the same for important NPC's? Or important monsters? Or important "plots"? At what point does a DM decide "THIS PC's story is more important than THAT PC's story" if two PC's stories conflict? What about NPC's and their plots and machinations? Who's more important to "The Story", in the grand scheme of things? ... ... No. Not at my table. If you want your character to live, make smart decisions to keep him/her alive or stay true to their personality, make the less-safe decision, and let the chips fall where they may. No matter what happens, it's part of the story. And, IMNSHO, a story that happens is always more memorable than one that was planned to happen.
^_^
Paul L. Ming
Nope. I did "try it" many decades ago...didn't like it. Not one little bit. My players didn't either. I felt like I was "cheating" as a DM, and "cheating" my players of the best possible "D&D" experience...and, turns out, they kinda felt the same way.
In fact, the vast majority of players I've DM'ed over the decades (if they play with me for more than only a handful of weeks/months), end up re-learning how they view the whole PC death thing. Some (many?) have come from 2e or 3.x games where the DM did, basically, "coddle them" to the point where death was never really a thing to be considered. If/when a PC died, it was only a minor inconvenience as the DM would have some wandering cleric show up and cast Raise Dead on the PC corps(es) for "a good meal and a place by their campfire for the night" or some equally stupidly common thing. That's just how they 'learned to play'.
They usually got a very cold slap to the...er..."sensitive organs"...when they had a PC die in my game. The look of surprise is usually worth the price of admission, and after about 15 minutes when I look at them and say "Uh, aren't you going to roll up a new character? Or are you done for the night?", the look of absolute confusion followed quickly by terror is just a bonus feature. I usually hear via my other players that week some story about how they were shocked that their PC died...and stayed dead...and of how all their previous DM's either didn't kill their PC's (as in EVER) or how it was easy to get them raised no matter the PC's level.
Some never return, opting for more...shall we say..."Safe" games or ones where they don't care about "world believability" so much as "character story building time". No worries on my part, to each their own. Some people are far more into planning a PC's 'story' and then trying to 'build' that story to see it come true. But the ones that do stick around do so because they like the feeling of being in control of their characters lives more than "the DM's storyline".
I'm a "Killer DM", so to speak. I used to deny it waaaaay back in the early 90's (mostly). But then something dawned on me a couple years after that. I *was* a "killer DM". And you know what? I'm damn proud of it!
Now when a player has a character live to 7th level (or more) over the course of a year's worth of weekly play...both I, and the group (especially the PC's player in question) are damn proud of the accomplishment! Am I an unfair Killer DM? No. Not at all. Sometimes my players will confront me at the end of the session, but after I explain the why's and wherefores that they were unaware of, they usually "get it". Sometimes they don't, and they convince me that I messed up. We then come up with a "plausible reason" for fixing the error on my part. Not very often, but it does happen.Bottom line: If I go out of my way to try and keep the PC's alive...what's to stop me from doing the same for important NPC's? Or important monsters? Or important "plots"? At what point does a DM decide "THIS PC's story is more important than THAT PC's story" if two PC's stories conflict? What about NPC's and their plots and machinations? Who's more important to "The Story", in the grand scheme of things? ... ... No. Not at my table. If you want your character to live, make smart decisions to keep him/her alive or stay true to their personality, make the less-safe decision, and let the chips fall where they may. No matter what happens, it's part of the story. And, IMNSHO, a story that happens is always more memorable than one that was planned to happen.
^_^
Paul L. Ming
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