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<blockquote data-quote="DEFCON 1" data-source="post: 8226525" data-attributes="member: 7006">Now that I'm playing my first actual campaign in a long time (having DM'd or just did occasional one-shots over the past many years)... I've actually notice something very interesting.&nbsp; My PC is a bard and the only character in the party with any healing, so I've felt like it's a great deal my responsibility to keep my compatriots from dying.&nbsp; Which is good... it keeps me invested in what's happening when we have to get into fights.&nbsp; And I sacrifice my own safety to help them, because they're doing the heavy lifting in the combats.But as I think on this... I realize that when I was DMing, many of my players weren't this way... and had very much an &quot;every PC for themselves&quot; way of thinking, even if it was unspoken.&nbsp; So many times I'd see someone in the party drop to 0 HP and need to start making death saves while the fight was going on around them... and the other players oftentimes would do NOTHING to help that individual.&nbsp; Either they were too into doing their own fighting that they didn't want to use their action to stabilize a downed ally, or they were so afraid of their own PC getting hurt that they refused to wade into the combat where the downed PC was and possibly get hit with OAs or get surrounded themselves.&nbsp; Which now that I think back on it is kind of astounding.&nbsp; And just how afraid some players can be about their character dying.&nbsp; Better to keep their PC safe than to help a dying friend.Which means that as far as the poll is concerned... as a player were my character to die... I don't think my first instinct would be to get mad at the DM... it'd be to get mad at my fellow players from not actually doing much of of anything to keep me alive.&nbsp; Now obviously if I was killed having gone off by myself to do something and I was taken by surprise by an enemy or a trap or something and no one had a chance to get to me in time, then that's fine... my action-- my responsibility.&nbsp; But if I was like a tank for the group-- wading into combat to take all the hits for everyone else-- and then my fellow players didn't even bother to help me if/when I went down from taking all those hits for them... that's not on the DM, that's be on them.&nbsp; And they're the ones for whom any wrath should be directed.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="DEFCON 1, post: 8226525, member: 7006"] Now that I'm playing my first actual campaign in a long time (having DM'd or just did occasional one-shots over the past many years)... I've actually notice something very interesting. My PC is a bard and the only character in the party with any healing, so I've felt like it's a great deal my responsibility to keep my compatriots from dying. Which is good... it keeps me invested in what's happening when we have to get into fights. And I sacrifice my own safety to help them, because they're doing the heavy lifting in the combats. But as I think on this... I realize that when I was DMing, many of my players [I]weren't[/I] this way... and had very much an "every PC for themselves" way of thinking, even if it was unspoken. So many times I'd see someone in the party drop to 0 HP and need to start making death saves while the fight was going on around them... and the other players oftentimes would do NOTHING to help that individual. Either they were too into doing their own fighting that they didn't want to use their action to stabilize a downed ally, or they were so afraid of their own PC getting hurt that they refused to wade into the combat where the downed PC was and possibly get hit with OAs or get surrounded themselves. Which now that I think back on it is kind of astounding. And just how afraid some players can be about their character dying. Better to keep their PC safe than to help a dying friend. Which means that as far as the poll is concerned... as a player were my character to die... I don't think my first instinct would be to get mad at the DM... it'd be to get mad at my fellow [B]players[/B] from not actually doing much of of anything to keep me alive. Now obviously if I was killed having gone off by myself to do something and I was taken by surprise by an enemy or a trap or something and no one had a chance to get to me in time, then that's fine... my action-- my responsibility. But if I was like a tank for the group-- wading into combat to take all the hits for everyone else-- and then my fellow players didn't even bother to help me if/when I went down from taking all those hits for them... that's not on the DM, that's be on them. And they're the ones for whom any wrath should be directed. [/QUOTE]

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