I've killed off a PC or two in my day, but have also had heroic fights with the last PC standing a wizard that ducks under the table for cover and kills the bugbear with their last magic missile with barely enough time to save her compatriots.
I've had PCs sacrifice themselves valiantly, and their story is now part of the lore of the world.
Death is rare, and I've probably had nearly as many characters die as I've killed off. The only time I felt bad about it, or adjusted the game to nudge it to the favor of the PCs was when it was obvious that it was just plain dumb bad luck for the PCs. When I'm rolling all 20s and they're rolling all 1s.
I do like pushing parties to the edge, or more likely allowing PCs push themselves to the edge of what they can handle because I think it makes for a better game. But I don't generally hit people when they're down. I don't put PCs into no win situations. Every once in a blue moon the city guard arrives just in the nick of time.
I think this is something you should really discuss with your group. Do they want to play on "don't kill me?" or do they want to play on "today is a good day to die?" Either style can be fun.
I've had PCs sacrifice themselves valiantly, and their story is now part of the lore of the world.
Death is rare, and I've probably had nearly as many characters die as I've killed off. The only time I felt bad about it, or adjusted the game to nudge it to the favor of the PCs was when it was obvious that it was just plain dumb bad luck for the PCs. When I'm rolling all 20s and they're rolling all 1s.
I do like pushing parties to the edge, or more likely allowing PCs push themselves to the edge of what they can handle because I think it makes for a better game. But I don't generally hit people when they're down. I don't put PCs into no win situations. Every once in a blue moon the city guard arrives just in the nick of time.
I think this is something you should really discuss with your group. Do they want to play on "don't kill me?" or do they want to play on "today is a good day to die?" Either style can be fun.