NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Raven Crowking" data-source="post: 5275117" data-attributes="member: 18280">In the story of Perseus and the Medusa, slaying the Medusa was the means to an end.  Perseus made use of the Save or Die effect to defeat opponents that he could not otherwise vanquish.Of course, this discussion is like many others we've had in the past, and it boils down to this (IMHO):  Are these things features of the world your game takes place in, or are they features of a story you are creating/telling?  If they are features of the world, they can be used like any other features.  For instance, the PCs who cannot beat Monster X can lure it into Death Trap Y.  Or they might just try to get the head of a medusa in a world where the petrifying gaze persists for some time after death.I also note a few other things:(1)  Being stuck on the sidelines (dead, paralyzed, held, whatever) while an encounter plays out sucks in direct proportion to how long it takes to play out an encounter.  When your average combat strays (far) over the 30-minute range, this becomes far less attractive.(2)  Dying in role-playing heavy games is no better or worse than dying in role-playing light campaigns.  Sooner or later, most every character passes away.  Because of death, because a new campaign starts, or whatever.  No one's story lasts forever.  That doesn't make it any less a story, or any less interesting.  "Call no man happy until he is dead" -- you cannot know the whole story of a character until that story is ended.(3)  Many of the people who don't advocate Save or Die also don't advocate character death.  Make of that what you will, but to me it indicates that SoD isn't the problem for them....D is.  With or without a S first.(4)  Dying sucks in direct proportion to how long it takes to get a new character ready/into the game.  When this takes on average (far) over 30 minutes, this becomes far less attractive.RC</blockquote>

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