Not Wanting to Kill Characters

[Wraith Form]

I like the J. Tweet rule of going to -(10 +character level) for PC death.

I like. *yoink*

 

[Endur]

Before you kill off the PCs in a TPK, make sure your mad scientist/necromancer takes a cell sample of each PC, so that you can clone them and kill them off many, many times in incredibly imaginative ways.

Of course, one or more of the cloned PCs will eventually escape a fiendish deathtrap and the campaign can continue.

 

[Oryan77]

I like the J. Tweet rule of going to -(10 +character level) for PC death.

I'm sort of like the OP on PC death.

I actually house rule that you don't die until you reach -CON score. So if you have a 15 Constitution, you don't die until you reach -15

It helps give the PC's a little more backup and allows me to be more flexible on the amount of damage I can deal.

 

[Abe.ebA]

I only pull my punches at the low levels of long-running campaigns. If I plans for the characters that extend beyond 4 or 5 sessions and they're too low level to have access to ressurection magic, I'll fudge the numbers to keep them unconscious instead of dead. Once they get enough wealth/clout/magical-ability to bring fallen comrades back from the abyss then I let the blows fall where they may.

In line with the suggestions above about taking out critical hits:
I don't use crit ranges for NPCs and monsters. If it's the BBEG or a BigMook with a keen weapon then I'll pay attention; otherwise badguys only crit on a natural 20 regardless of their weapons and feats. Lessens the likelihood of accidentally dropping a character in one over-zealous swing without totally eliminating the threat of unexpectedly prodigious damage and reduces the amount of bookkeeping on my part.

 

[sydbar]

I've been running Age of Worms, and all the pc's have an armband that they can use to send the whole group to a tavern, where they have to go into a random dungeon and retrieve an item, then they can go back to where they were or to a friendly town that they know of. They haven't used it yet, but they have had a few almost TPK's, but have stuck it out and won. The armband also lets them be raised once, but the 2 that have died have decided not to be raised, and brought in new characters. I don't try to kill pc's, but i don't work too hard to prevent it, unless it looks like a TPK, when i will let the monsters make decisions that may not be the smartest, but the dice still get to decide the fate of the pc's.

 

[Wraith Form]

Before you kill off the PCs in a TPK, make sure your mad scientist/necromancer takes a cell sample of each PC, so that you can clone them and kill them off many, many times in incredibly imaginative ways.

Of course, one or more of the cloned PCs will eventually escape a fiendish deathtrap and the campaign can continue.

Alternately, why not have that shadowy good guy group ( *coughHarperscough* ) that you have secretly watching them save them? When the party gets chopped down & the bad guy walks away, the spy slips (or "forces down the throats of") the party some resurrection magic?

 

[Numion]

Also remember that most opponents won't fight to the death unless cornered. If you decide to keep critical hits, consider having your opponents flee after the first critical hit. For example, whenever a mook receives a critical hit, they flee. Once more than half of the mooks have died and/or fled, the remaining flee. When all the mooks flee then their commanders will flee also. This also sets up recurring villains.

I would find this tactic frustrating as a player. While it might be a bit more realistic, I prefer closure over realism. Nothing annoys me more than the ones that get away.

Ok, it would be satisfying to gather a list of all the ones who escape and come back seeking them in, say, 5 levels. Divine the location, teleport, boom. One surprised coward