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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Imaculata" data-source="post: 7964791" data-attributes="member: 6801286">If a baddy does not deal with a downed pc, that pc will get back up again. So from a strategic and mechanical point of view, it is more advantageous to kill a downed pc.  When I DM, I tend to focus especially on downed pc's, to scare the living daylights out my players. It is up to them to drag their downed buddy to safety, because otherwise they are monster food. Outright killing a pc also delivers a huge blow to their morale, and makes the rest of the group more likely to retreat.Now some of you may think 'Killing a pc is not fun for the players'. And that is true. But shielding your players from death, harms the suspense which also undermines their fun. What I do, is make it perfectly clear to my players that I will kill their characters if given the opportunity. This makes them extra cautious, and thus heightens the suspense. It is important that your players are aware what the stakes are. As long as they are aware that combat in your campaign is deadly, they will approach any battle with that knowledge in mind.I've even had a session where the players spent most of the day discussing their plans for a big battle and prepping accordingly. They were extremely invested, because they knew what was at stake. And it was still was a very fun session, even if it was but a prelude to the actual battle.</blockquote>