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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Guest 7037866" data-source="post: 9578607">In the current game I can give you specifics (being OCD has some benefits lol!):We began on May, 10th, last year and have played most weeks since then 35 sessions.The PCs are 8th level, closing in on 9th this week or next.<ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Session 1, encounter #3, the Paladin dies instantly from a critical inflict wounds spell.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Session 9, encounter #38, the Sorcerer dies from a ghost. He was low in HP and went down while the others were dealing with animated statues. A failed death save and the ghost finished him off before anyone could get to him.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Session 13, encounter #52, a NPC dies after falling unconscious and by bad luck fell backwards into a lava flow.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Session 21, encounter #75, my "DMPC" dies when he failed his save vs a Sea Hag Death Glare. Like encounter #38 a failed death save followed by the Sea Hag holding the unconscious PC captive--trying to get the other PCs to back off--then killed the unconscious PC and fled (hoping the party would stop to aid their friend--two did, the third PC chased down the remaining Hag). This PC was later raised by a powerful cleric who set the party on their next quest as payment.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Session 25, encounter #92, another Paladin dies after being carried away by the adult black dragon. The only way the party avoided the TPK after the short rest was successfully avoiding the hunting dragon.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Session 30, encounter #97, the Wizard dies when accidentally confronting the "boss" of an adventure by upcasted Witch Bolt. The party was in the village, split up into pairs, and asking around when the boss-caster knew the jig was up and acted, hoping to take out both PCs. The rogue managed to escape and gather the other PCs, but the boss-caster had fled by then, but double-tapped the downed Wizard before fleeing.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Session 33, encounter #104, the Warlock is surrounded and killed by gnolls during a massive ambush which nearly resulted in a TPK (during an escort mission). Two PCs escaped with the protected "ladies" due to another PC's efforts to keep the remaining gnolls occupied before his capture. Warlock was later raised after one of the escaped PCs helped the captured one also escape.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Session 35, encounter #110, the Warlock (again) dies when overrun by quicklings. Again, not escaping or acting defensively was the issue.</li> </ol>#1 was bad luck. It happens at 1st-level.#2 was the player pressing is luck. He should have pulled back to the others instead of allowing himself to become isolated.#3 was also bad luck. A fireball took out the NPC, and only a 1 in 4 chance he fell backwards into the lava.#4 was also bad luck. It was just a DC 11 save and even with "Favored by the Gods" (which rolled low, only +3) I only needed a 3 or better to save. It was two saves (two Hags) and I made one, rolled a 2 on the other.#5 was due to the paladin nova-ing on the dragon, the dragon preceiving it as the greatest threat. The paladin had gone down, but the healer kept bringing him back up, so the last time the Paladin went down the dragon grabbed him and flew off. The drop from 100+ feet and a failed death save followed. The player should have pulled the Paladin back, but insisted on staying on the offense... I don't know if that would have saved the PC or not.#6 was due to the party splitting up and asking the boss the question which led to them being revealed as the bad guy. If the party was together, the boss would have fled instead of trying to fight first.#7 was again due to the player not pulling back and escaping. He had once, but moved forward instead and was surrounded again... Another PC mananged to get him out and back to the wagon, but we didn't have time to revivify him or the "ladies" would have likely been captured. Trying to take the one "extra round" to bring that PC back could have easily led to the others all dying and the rogue along escaping...#8 was the PC not going defensive, etc. so went down and was killed.#2, #5, #7, and #8 are all the same player. He insists on staying in the fight. Two players have never lost a PC, although they've both gone to 0 a couple times (but one is a Half-Orc who used relentless endurance, So, we've never had a TPK yet, but the dragon encounter and the gnoll ambush were both close! The upcoming Hag Coven will likely be a TPK or close to it.For the record, #6 (boss-caster), #7 (Gnoll swarm), #8 (quicklings) all had some form of "double-tap" to make sure the PCs stayed down. However, numbers 2, 4, and 5 combined a PC failing a death save and some action by the enemy contributing to the PC death.Overall, I've run about a dozen 5E campaigns and only TPK'd the group once. Now, obviously I have individual PCs die... My pleasure. I run games which can certainly be deadly, but with 110 combats so far, losing a handful of PCs (and a couple NPC or DMPC) doesn't seem too much IMO. The bulk of my encounters are hard, with an even mix of moderate and deadly, and then few (but even) mixture of easy and deadly+.</blockquote>

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