Those groups where no one ever dies

[Hitokiri]

Different folks

Yeah, different people like different games, find out what your players expect, and try to at least stay near that, or else you will find yourself without a group. I've handled PC death any number of ways. Currently in WLD, I have told my PCs that death is not only possible, but likely inevitable in the game. Not a single player is still using his original PC, and everyone is having a blast. I*'ve also played a more cinematic game, where PC death is much less common. My general rule of thumb in these games are the PCs are heros, and can thus make amazing escapes and get away with more than your average person. I generally will fudge dice rolls to keep PCs alive, but also reserve the right to fudge them to hurt the PCs if I feel it will heighten the dramatic effect. Occasionally, a PCs life will hang in the balance of a single die, and nothing beats watching the entire table wait anxiously as I say something like "well, looks like your going to have a tough time pulling yourself up before you fall into that lava, you need a 16 to live here" and send that fateful d20 spinning through the air to land on the table. Finally, I've had a long standing rule in most of my games that I will not fudge any dice to save you if your actions are stupid. I do this to try to keep the PCs from relying on me too much, thinking I'll GM fiat them out of any mess they get into (and there have been a few times I've had to enact this rule).

Ultimately, as I said before, talk to your players. I've found that these systems work for me and can be great fun, but not everyone enjoys the same game.

 

[LazerPointer]

I wrote out my homebrew's 'brochure' last night; here's the part about PC death:

Reia is a dangerous place, and it is up to you to look after yourselves. Though your Storymaster weaves with the best intentions, it is your actions, luck, and prudence which will see you to the next dawn. You will encounter creatures that are beyond your ability to defeat, (or survive!) and knowing what to avoid and what to fight can make the difference between making it to the next prostitute, or becoming a snack. Also, a careful question or two in a tight spot, or a moments thought, might illuminate an exit where further fighting would mean Total Party Annihilation. (Doom Doom, go the Dwarven drums)
Sometimes people die far from a friendly resurrecting cleric, but some of those times it is possible to find a mighty druid in the wilderness. Some of those times he refuses to help, or demands the slaying of the twelve wyrms of Togg, (as if!) and some of those times a character may even find his own way back to his Reian body. But that’s really rare, and no Gnome has been recorded to have done it since Redgo Olodeck Frarsi K’ban, 2200 years ago.

I'll probably talk it over with them after they read it. What do ya think?

 

[IronWolf]

Reia is a dangerous place, and it is up to you to look after yourselves. Though your Storymaster weaves with the best intentions, it is your actions, luck, and prudence which will see you to the next dawn. You will encounter creatures that are beyond your ability to defeat, (or survive!) and knowing what to avoid and what to fight can make the difference between making it to the next prostitute, or becoming a snack. Also, a careful question or two in a tight spot, or a moments thought, might illuminate an exit where further fighting would mean Total Party Annihilation. (Doom Doom, go the Dwarven drums)
Sometimes people die far from a friendly resurrecting cleric, but some of those times it is possible to find a mighty druid in the wilderness. Some of those times he refuses to help, or demands the slaying of the twelve wyrms of Togg, (as if!) and some of those times a character may even find his own way back to his Reian body. But that’s really rare, and no Gnome has been recorded to have done it since Redgo Olodeck Frarsi K’ban, 2200 years ago.

I'll probably talk it over with them after they read it. What do ya think?

I think that is pretty good. It reads similar to mine or at least attempts to get across the same point. The campaign will be difficult and not every encounter has been designed to be battled. Some are best left alone or handled diplomatically. Overall I think it says, think about the situation and don't charge in sword drawn to every encounter.

 

[Lord Pendragon]

I think that is pretty good. It reads similar to mine or at least attempts to get across the same point. The campaign will be difficult and not every encounter has been designed to be battled. Some are best left alone or handled diplomatically. Overall I think it says, think about the situation and don't charge in sword drawn to every encounter.

Out of curiosity, how do the players recognize those fights they're supposed to run from, without using metagame knowledge? i.e. a 12th-level party that's never seen a giant before encounters two of them for the first time. How is the party supposed to know that the Hill Giant will be a walkover, and the Mountain Giant will be a TPK?

Just curious. I've seen many DMs post on these boards over the years that they intentionally create encounters that will crush the party if engaged. I'm wondering how the party actually figures out they aren't supposed to engage, other than jumping in and letting the body count be their guide.

 

[Doug McCrae]

Don't much like the term 'Storymaster'. What's wrong with GM?

 

[Doug McCrae]

You are totally responsible for the survival of your character.

Not if you're playing D&D you're not. An unlucky critical can easily kill a PC.

 

[Zappo]

In my campaigns, I avoid random deaths and always make sure that the PCs know when something is really dangerous. There are infinite ways to do that in the context of the story. Sometimes I let them hide and witness the BBEG cleave an ogre in one blow. Or have someone tell them that they saw the wizard cast meteor swarm. Or by killing off an NPC in a spectacular way. I think that walking into a TPK that they had no way of knowing about is about as random as it gets.

After that, though, no blows are pulled and no errors are forgiven. If they missed the hint, it's their problem. In my Warcraft campaign we had 15 sessions, 3 deaths, and 2 very close calls, and no coming back to life is currently available, so I don't think I can be considered a softie.

 

[Spatula]

Just curious. I've seen many DMs post on these boards over the years that they intentionally create encounters that will crush the party if engaged. I'm wondering how the party actually figures out they aren't supposed to engage, other than jumping in and letting the body count be their guide.

Step one is to not blindly attack creatures. People shouldn't be drawing swords at the slightest provocation or trying to kill everything they come across outside of cities. Especially in D&D-land, where a creature's power is not necessarily obvious from its appearance. Combat is deadly and should be avoided when possible, unless you know that you have the upper hand.

Step two is, utilize in-game resources. Knowledge skills in 3.5 specifically cover information about monsters, though some information might be commonly known (dragons are dangerous). Information on NPCs can be gathered from both knowledge (local, nobility, etc.) and social skills.

Step three is, don't game with a DM who's out to "win".

 

[Spatula]

I agree 100%. Why bother putting much effort into your character when you know he'll be dead within a few weeks?

Okay, if the DM says, "I am going to kill every character you make, no matter what you do," then there's no reason to play with that DM, obviously. Other than that, how do you know your character is going to be dead in a few weeks? There is a vast, vast middle ground between games where no one ever dies and games where you're rolling up new characters every week.

The fun is seeing your character advance, potentially from 1st-20th level.

Reward with no risk isn't very rewarding.

 

[LazerPointer]

Don't much like the term 'Storymaster'. What's wrong with GM?

Didn't notice that made it in there. When I was writing my handout, it just wanted to impersonate a travel brochure, so that was in keeping with the tone. Once I got into the meat of it that was toned down, and I used DM.