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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Empirate" data-source="post: 5481703" data-attributes="member: 78958">I have a soft spot for my players. Worse, I have a soft spot for their characters. So letting them die in a stupid random encounter wouldn't ever occur to me. Character development (as in evolution of personality, not in leveling up) is the most important part of our game, and I have at least one player who could do as well without any combat in the game.That doesn't mean they don't get into scraps, or even epic battles, but I like to minimize the effect combat can have on character development. So most of the time, PCs don't die in my game.But on the other hand, I realize that death must be part of the world in order to make character development meaningful. Becoming a real hero without risk of dying is hard to do. Just making sure there's always a Raise Dead available is hardly satisfying, though. The revolving door of paradise is not part of my game. Much like the OP, we have banned Raise Dead - and nobody the PCs have ever met is powerful enough to cast Resurrection, it's a legendary effect.In order to keep death in the game without actually having it occur (outside of truly epic moments), my solution is the following: appear as if you're not pulling any punches.Be dramatic about the enemy's capabilities (good descriptions go a long way), warn the players beforehand that going where they're underway to is dangerous, disproportionately reward every bit of creativity the players show, and always leave an obvious avenue of escape. When it comes to lucky crits, don't use Scythes, and preferably no axes either. When it comes to disabling effects (Web, Hold Person...), use them to humiliate and toy with the PCs, not Coup de Grace them - it's ever so much better to inspire hatred for the BBEG than despair in your players. Be aware of each PC's HP total at any given time. When they get hit with something that would put them at -10 or below, ask in a dramatic voice: "How many HP did you still have before this?" Regardless of the answer, put on your meanyhead smile and say "Well, that leaves your friends exactly two rounds to save you from bleeding out, then...". Make sure they can do so in two rounds, if they so choose.Have your monsters/NPCs use their most powerful attack first - that can frighten the players like there's no tomorrow. They don't know that Mr. Monster can only do this 1/day, so they'll be conservative about their own HP.If the PCs use any debuffs or buffs, use these as a justification for fudged rolls: "You notice you'd normally be dead now - if it weren't for Brandeles' Haste spell! The Behir misses you by 1." No player will question that, it's just too much of a feelgood moment.Do not attack downed PCs any further. Be careful about AoE attacks.Establish an in-game solution to PCs who do die - but make very, very clear that it will work only once, and will not be consequence-free. That way, you keep a certain measure of control in an emergency. It's unlikely you'll need to use this, and it certainly won't occur more than once in a campaign where you watch what you're doing.For example, in an evil campaign we were playing, the party Rogue was watched over and sometimes guided by a demon lord. When the Rogue did die (suitably in an epic bossfight, BTW), the demon lord saw her soul plummeting into the Abyss, and caught her. He provided her with a new body (that of a Tiefling - he left his mark on her), and sent her back as his pawn.Perhaps most importantly, I don't care how much I punish my PCs, as long as they don't die. Death precludes further character development - having your Barbarian's Str score drained 5 points does the opposite. Furthermore, since I'm playing such a roleplaying-heavy game, the fate of beloved NPCs has real emotional consequences for my players. No reason not to kill a PC's father - in a public execution for being a Vecnan heretic, no less!Usually, this approach works well in my group. YMMV, of course.</blockquote>

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