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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Afrodyte" data-source="post: 1366867" data-attributes="member: 8713">As a player who prefers story*, I too loathe instant death effects, except in the case of an obviously overwhelming opponent (like a great wyrm red dragon for 3rd-level characters) or flagrant stupidity on the part of the characters (charging an army of goblins).And, to put it bluntly, using capricious death as a threat all the time get boring after a while.  It's one thing in a game for a character to owe a mob boss money and having him threaten to kill him if said funds are not delivered by a certain time.  It's quite another to just happen to be in an office building when a disgruntled former employee decides to blow it up.There are other threats besides death that characters should be looking out for.  That is, if they have things they care about besides their own skins.  Loved ones can be put in danger.  Prized possessions can be stolen, destroyed, or taken away.  Losing one's freedom is not a nice thing either.  Aside from the elves and dwarves, being thrown in prison for 50 years is not most people's idea of a great vacation.  If characters have goals, having something that make that goal completely unattainable is a great threat too.  Even if you stick to the bodily harm example, how would getting a limb hacked off (for being thieves or associated with thieves), eye gouged out (for "seeing too much"), or tongue sliced off (for insolent speech) sit with most player characters?  What about magical VD for tavern-hopping with comely wenches or succubi?  If you think of all the ways you can make characters' lives harder, or even just completely miserable, death seems kind of wussy by comparison.  So many ways to inflict suffering onto characters (especially if they richly deserve it), why settle for death?  And imagine if all these things are a result of the characters' own carelessness, arrogance, and/or stupidity.  Far more effective than a random encounter.*By story, I do not mean a series of events predetermined by the GM that take all the decision-making from the players' hands.  That is railroading, and I hate it.  However, I do mean story in the sense of things like character, plot, theme, and conflict (not necessarily combat) coming together in a cohesive narrative.</blockquote>

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