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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Psion" data-source="post: 3281242" data-attributes="member: 172">To be frank, that's not what I want out of a game. To me, that's part of what sets a game apart from a show, gives me something that a typical TV show fails to deliver.I recall an SF TV show where half the crew of the ship are caught inside a giant space monster, bemoaning how they are going to die. But I knew they wouldn't. It all came off so hollow.It's the same feel I get if I ever find myself saying "the DM won't kill us." After I noticed a palpable difference in my enjoyment level of a game in which the DM is willing to tip the PCs back on their heels, and even claim one or two, I adopted the technique and now, would never go back to the "holodeck safeties" approach. Everytime I read about astounding fights in the game that take many casualties like <a href="http://forum.rpg.net/showpost.php?p=897418&postcount=1" target="_blank">here</a> -- and experiencing breathtaking fights myself -- I find that too much of a safety net really prevents this sort of exhilarating game from happening.But there is more. I found that once you have such a session, the players get the point and don't casually assume their characters won't die. This means that without making every fight a knock-down/drag-out, the game takes on a more tense feel.This relates back to the topic at hand. If players know their PCs can die, there is a more palpable sense of dread. Creatures that have such abilities SHOULD inspire such a feel. I feel that stripping them of the capability to snuff out the life of a character robs creatures of some of the emotional content they bring to the game.Rejoining the topic of "not considering PC death a valid option", the typical RPG is not about the exploits of a single character, but a group. A "campaign halting character death" is not the death of a PC. It's a TPK. So long as once character remains, the group can go on. (And as barsoomcore demonstrates <a href="http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=69272" target="_blank">here</a>, there's even some wiggle room there.)</blockquote>

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