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Message: <blockquote data-quote="spunky_mutters" data-source="post: 271888" data-attributes="member: 5426">The thing I hate about fudging is that it destroys any sense of tension or challenge. If players feel that they can't die, that there's nothing on the line, they won't have the same feeling in the pit of their stomach when they see you pulling out the damage dice. I enjoy the tension also. Balancing the game is tough, and when your players ride that thin edge to victory, you know that you got it right.It's an amazing feeling when the players ignore your advice and turn the tables on you. On one occasion, my players had stumbled through a gate that I hadn't expected them to find for a few more levels. They were pretty much trapped on the bottom level of the largest dungeon on that world. There was another gate out, but it didn't lead home. They chose to explore. That was okay, as the area around the gate was pretty tame. But these 3rd level guys ignored all my advice to get out (they encountered the spirit of one of the previous inhabitants who detailed what they would be facing on the level above). They chose to attack a Derro outpost on the level above them.  This was almost certain death. The Derro had spellcasters, and they more than a match for them in combat. Things were going against the players, and the mage had taken a nasty hit. He was down to 2hp, and I gave him a heads up that on of the Derro was focusing on him (he had been casting against the Derro casters, and was their biggest threat). So the party basically concedes any opportunity to retreat, the mage doesn't forgoes ducking into a ruined building nearby and casts at the Derro again.  He knew he was going to die. He knew he was about to face a 7hd fireball. All I needed to roll was 11 to kill him (CON 9, using that as the threshold). He manages to disable a bunch of the Derro with a web or something, allowing the fighters to move on the mages. Then I throw down the damage dice in front of everyone...9 on 7 dice. He looked pretty smug and taunted me a bit, but I was relieved. The players ended up winning the combat, thanks largely to his actions. A retreat would have been costly at that point, most likely costing a couple of lives. They were nowhere near a place to get healed. I really wasn't sure what they would do.This is the kind of tension you don't get if players never die. All of our TPKs are tradeoffs for the feeling that you're flying by the seat of your pants, and that all of your actions matter.</blockquote>

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