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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Cergorach" data-source="post: 9782882" data-attributes="member: 725">I'm going to be harsh here: You're really bad at encounter building!Especially D&D 3(.5)e was just a bunch of math for encounter building. Possibly modified by your specific party choices, something you would figure out via normal and eventually slightly more dangerous encounters. It also sounds like you're constantly searching that knives edge between challenging and deadly encounters, erring on the side of deadly. Deadly encounters indicate, that everyone could easily die.I'm currently DMing a D&D 5e 2024 game where I'm 'cheating' when the characters die, instead of rerolling, they wake up at a fixed date and time in the past (groundhog day), they keep their xp, but not their equipment. I've essentially made their deaths a resource they can spend, death is not without it's downsides, but it can also be a benefit.Why did I do this? A couple of reasons, one is inspiration by media like the movies 'Groundhog Day' and 'Edge of Tomorrow', a ton of anime and books. The other is that we've had some encounter 'imbalances' before during other DMs (we rotate) and I noticed that my fellow players tended to front load the resource economy (as a Warlock I was less effected by this). It also allowed me as a DM to experiment WAY more, I needed to mind less the 'balance' of the game, so I could give them special powers and weird magical items down the road without being concerned if my encounters would kill them or not. This would of course not work for every campaign, but it can for one big one.I can understand why many would not like this kind of thing, but people need to understand that pnp RPGs are generally not a simulator, they are a fun activity we share with a bunch of people. The goal is to have as many as people as possible to have fun and have a satisfying session. If that means letting go of certain 'holy cows' that only exist in our minds, then so be it. What I also found VERY important is to have a session zero. When we were younger we had oodles of time and we talked a TON with each other about the characters we were building and were going to play, so by the time we would start, everyone had adapted to each others characters. Now we're older, we don't have oodles of time anymore, and if we make our own characters independently, they might not fit together well or at all. I've learned that you don't just make a character you like, but that the whole group likes. That cooperative character building also helps in cooperation during encounters as everyone understands each others character better. We've seen the difference now and we've instituted that we'll have a session zero not for a whole new party, but also for when someone plays a new character. This is not only important for the players, but also for the DM, as the players are now more optimally equipped to confront your encounters.They're now 3 1st level characters going into Undermountain, (Dungeon of the Mad Mage), an adventure for 4 5th level characters... And they've done exceptionally well, died far less then I ever expected, they had a bit of luck, but mostly due to superior cooperation. And when they found out what happens when they die (it was a surprise to them), they slowly adjusted to the idea and are now also more willing to experiment during the session. I've added some other mechanics to the game so as to not make the same string of encounters they have to get through extremely boring, but that's all part of the story (the players just found out they are there to stop Undermountain from gaining sentience, and event that will make most of the Sword Coast fall into the sea).I'm already noticing that they are more aware about the D&D 5e 2024 resource economy as players. They know when they are encountering something incredibly dangerous that will probably kill them, where they were lucky, where they were skilled, and the difference between the two. We've in the past had situations where we as players realized the DM had F-ed up and made an encounter that was FAR too difficult, that absolutely kills the atmosphere amongst the players, especially when death means either rerolling your character or some invented cop-out because the DM realizes they F-ed up (been there, done that).</blockquote>

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