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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Fanaelialae" data-source="post: 7160513" data-attributes="member: 53980">I realize that in the OS there is no such thing as accidental PC death, but that was not the point. Death saves don't decrease the lethality of an OS game by much, if at all. Monsters will more than likely coup de grace downed players, and that will be that. It simply gives more control to those that want it (such as NS DM's). While I'm usually a "let the dice fall where they may" DM, if I down a PC whose player has been having a really bad string of luck, I'm liable to show a bit of mercy, and have the monster leave him to bleed out and go after another PC rather than finishing him off. Whereas prior to 4e, that might not have been possible (since the blow that felled him might also have taken him past -9). That is what I'm referring to with accidental death. It's funny you should say that, because ToH was exactly what I was thinking of when I wrote that. The dungeon has no sentience or malevolence in and of itself. The lich who built the dungeon is not in a mindful state during most of the adventure, and therefore cannot be said to possess any true malevolence for most of the adventure either. There is nothing about ToH that would cause me to assume that the PCs leave their brains at the door, and that they perform like some very poorly scripted AI unless the player is very specific in saying otherwise.Besides, if that's the case, then why even make it sporting? You could easily make it so that only teleportation will allow the players to reach the lich, but leave no clues that might direct them, making it effectively impossible. It would require only a minimal amount of creativity to design a nearly unavoidable and completely inescapable death trap. That seems to me like it would be the ultimate 'gotcha' (the only way to win is not to play). I mean, that seems quite realistic for what a powerful and intelligent lich might do. Why take any risks at all?I'm glad you live in such a safe neighborhood, but I would caution you. I lived in a very safe rural neighborhood myself growing up, and rarely bothered to lock my car doors. Which was fine until it wasn't. One night when I was 18, maybe 19, someone broke into my car and cleaned out all the change (thankfully, my gaming books on my back seat were untouched, as those were worth a few hundred).That said, characters living in a pseudo medieval setting are likely not from a quiet town in modern Canada. All but the most naive would know that thieves and brigands are out there. Personally, I would expect nobility to be the most familiar with locks (after all, they're the ones most likely to be able to afford them), and to be the most paranoid that someone will steal from them.That is not at all what I said. What you are talking about is dropping the players clues about what is most important. What I am talking about is about skipping an area where there is nothing of interest. Rather than describing the empty hallway with nothing in it and spending 10 minutes having the players examine it for this, that, and the other thing, I'd simply mention it in passing and move on. Then again, I'm not a fan of placing traps or secret doors in empty featureless hallways because it forces players to spend 10 minutes examining every empty featureless hallway they come across. That's neither fun for me nor them. If it's fun for you, great, more power to you.In a hallway with doors, my description would be quite similar to your own.Of course. As I've been saying all along, while I strongly dislike it, I'm not saying it's badwrongfun. Just not something I enjoy. It's only bad when a DM attempts to shove this playstyle down the throats of his players whether they want it or not (which, unfortunately, has been my experience with it). Hence why I think it's important to discuss it with your players beforehand.We don't use APs, so I can't really comment on this, beyond that we find most adventure modules to be a little too 'generic fantasy' for our tastes. That's not a criticism btw, simply personal taste; the offbeat fantasy that we enjoy probably wouldn't market to an audience as broad.</blockquote>

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