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<blockquote data-quote="iserith" data-source="post: 7490471" data-attributes="member: 97077">I just finished running Sunless Citadel a couple of weeks ago. Final death count was 6 PCs over the course of the adventure. Plus some NPC hirelings.Once a character is out of apprentice tier, it's rare to see them go down. In my experience, they either have to be surprised or be going into a tough fight very low on resources, which is typically only possible if there's time pressure or incentives (or both).Mortality is actually only one way to fail though and stakes can still be compelling even if death is not on the line. So if you can manage to set up goals the players and characters care about, then seriously threaten the achievement of those goals, it can be just as good as threatening the PCs' lives from a play experience standpoint. I also like including NPCs in the party that the players find useful or engaging and then threatening them constantly. It creates another resource sink and a sub-goal of keeping them alive and well while dealing with the threats.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="iserith, post: 7490471, member: 97077"] I just finished running Sunless Citadel a couple of weeks ago. Final death count was 6 PCs over the course of the adventure. Plus some NPC hirelings. Once a character is out of apprentice tier, it's rare to see them go down. In my experience, they either have to be surprised or be going into a tough fight very low on resources, which is typically only possible if there's time pressure or incentives (or both). Mortality is actually only one way to fail though and stakes can still be compelling even if death is not on the line. So if you can manage to set up goals the players and characters care about, then seriously threaten the achievement of those goals, it can be just as good as threatening the PCs' lives from a play experience standpoint. I also like including NPCs in the party that the players find useful or engaging and then threatening them constantly. It creates another resource sink and a sub-goal of keeping them alive and well while dealing with the threats. [/QUOTE]

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