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<blockquote data-quote="CleverNickName" data-source="post: 8890159" data-attributes="member: 50987">Those are a couple of big IFs.&nbsp; D&amp;D has always been just as &quot;hard&quot; or as &quot;lethal&quot; as the DM wanted it to be.Sure, the rules were different in each edition and had different odds and consequences for success and failure...and if they are interpreted literally without any DM at the table to adjudicate, the older editions are going to read as more &quot;lethal&quot; than the newer ones.&nbsp; If that's the question you are trying to answer, I'd say that 3E is more lethal than 5E but not as lethal as AD&amp;D 2E.BUT that ignores the first rule of every edition: the rule that states the DM can, and should, and sometimes must, make adjustments to the rules as needed to ensure everyone is having fun.&nbsp; Some of the older editions even encourage the DM to fudge the dice to build tension or keep the story moving.&nbsp;&nbsp; Even outside of the rules, the DM decides which monsters are placed and how many, which has more impact on the lethality of combat than the dice ever will.&nbsp; The DM decides which items and treasure you find, how much gold you have to spend, how much rest/recovery you get, etc.TL;DR: The DM is not a computer or an automaton, the DM is a human being with varied human feelings, biases, ideas, goals, judgments, and definitions of the words &quot;fun&quot; and &quot;lethal&quot;...and you really can't ignore that.&nbsp; But if you somehow could, 3E would probably be less lethal than 2E, but more lethal than 5E.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="CleverNickName, post: 8890159, member: 50987"] Those are a couple of big IFs. D&D has always been just as "hard" or as "lethal" as the DM wanted it to be. Sure, the rules were different in each edition and had different odds and consequences for success and failure...and if they are interpreted literally without any DM at the table to adjudicate, the older editions are going to read as more "lethal" than the newer ones. If that's the question you are trying to answer, I'd say that 3E is more lethal than 5E but not as lethal as AD&D 2E. BUT that ignores the first rule of every edition: the rule that states the DM can, and should, and sometimes must, make adjustments to the rules as needed to ensure everyone is having fun. Some of the older editions even encourage the DM to fudge the dice to build tension or keep the story moving. Even outside of the rules, the DM decides which monsters are placed and how many, which has more impact on the lethality of combat than the dice ever will. The DM decides which items and treasure you find, how much gold you have to spend, how much rest/recovery you get, etc. TL;DR: The DM is not a computer or an automaton, the DM is a human being with varied human feelings, biases, ideas, goals, judgments, and definitions of the words "fun" and "lethal"...and you really can't ignore that. But if you somehow could, 3E would probably be less lethal than 2E, but more lethal than 5E. [/QUOTE]

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