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<blockquote data-quote="Sunseeker" data-source="post: 6062058">First off: Adventuring is like being a super-hero.&nbsp; You don't wear the mask to protect yourself, you wear the mask to protect the ones you love.&nbsp; It's good character development and RP when players realize that even their non-adventuring actions can have very serious consequences.&nbsp; Even if their reaction to those consequences is &quot;I refuse to love anyone ever again!&quot; that's still good!&nbsp; Those are the kind of players who may still become attached to developed and interesting NPCs.&nbsp; Now you don't have to universally use every single one of their loved ones against them, it may happen to Bob at first, and then maybe Joan later, possibly Frank last.&nbsp; It will work for some players, and it won't work for others, it's up to the DM to develop plot-hooks that catch the players.Secondly: getting captured doesn't necessarily mean the loss of everything a player holds dear.&nbsp; It might mean they lose their weapons and are locked in an anti-magic cell.&nbsp; Having a BBEG doesn't necessarily mean he's a genre-savvy villain, so he probably still relies on stupid henchmen who don't think things though and has a sexy counterpart who really has a soft-spot for the hero.&nbsp; Failure can mean a lot of things.&nbsp; It can mean losing your gear, it can mean losing loved ones, it can me failing to accomplish a given task, it can mean being beaten within an inch of their lives or even to death.&nbsp; Generally a villain appears not because he wants to battle the hero, but because he wants to accomplish some other goal, which the hero shows up to thwart.&nbsp; Few villains make the sound and reasonable decision to kill the hero, they just beat them up and toss them in a river and go back to what they were doing.&nbsp; That is also failure.Perhaps then the heroes are found by a small fishing village downstream, who nurse them back to health.&nbsp; The Villain, his goal now accomplished, realized he should have killed the heroes and goes searching after them, destroying everything in his path.&nbsp; The village now falls into the category of &quot;loved ones&quot; who may or may not be destroyed by the BBEG.&quot;kill or capture&quot; are not necessarily the only options for failure that leave your players breathing.&nbsp; Sometimes failure just means the odds were against them.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Sunseeker, post: 6062058"] First off: Adventuring is like being a super-hero. You don't wear the mask to protect yourself, you wear the mask to protect the ones you love. It's good character development and RP when players realize that even their non-adventuring actions can have very serious consequences. Even if their reaction to those consequences is "I refuse to love anyone ever again!" that's still good! Those are the kind of players who may still become attached to developed and interesting NPCs. Now you don't have to universally use every single one of their loved ones against them, it may happen to Bob at first, and then maybe Joan later, possibly Frank last. It will work for some players, and it won't work for others, it's up to the DM to develop plot-hooks that catch the players. Secondly: getting captured doesn't necessarily mean the loss of everything a player holds dear. It might mean they lose their weapons and are locked in an anti-magic cell. Having a BBEG doesn't necessarily mean he's a genre-savvy villain, so he probably still relies on stupid henchmen who don't think things though and has a sexy counterpart who really has a soft-spot for the hero. Failure can mean a lot of things. It can mean losing your gear, it can mean losing loved ones, it can me failing to accomplish a given task, it can mean being beaten within an inch of their lives or even to death. Generally a villain appears not because he wants to battle the hero, but because he wants to accomplish some other goal, which the hero shows up to thwart. Few villains make the sound and reasonable decision to kill the hero, they just beat them up and toss them in a river and go back to what they were doing. That is also failure. Perhaps then the heroes are found by a small fishing village downstream, who nurse them back to health. The Villain, his goal now accomplished, realized he should have killed the heroes and goes searching after them, destroying everything in his path. The village now falls into the category of "loved ones" who may or may not be destroyed by the BBEG. "kill or capture" are not necessarily the only options for failure that leave your players breathing. Sometimes failure just means the odds were against them. [/QUOTE]

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