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What is the worst piece of DM advice people give that you see commonly spread?
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<blockquote data-quote="James Gasik" data-source="post: 9000729" data-attributes="member: 6877472"><p>When people come to me for DM advice (I don't know why they do, they never listen, lol), and ask me about whether it's ok to kill the PC's, I simply ask them this:</p><p></p><p>"You've spent a week and a half prepping the night's session. It's going to be 5 encounters leading up to the final battle of the adventure. You've set it up so that the Cleric can finally confront her nemesis and recover the stolen holy relic.</p><p></p><p>On the second encounter of the evening the Cleric takes a critical hit and dies. The party is low on hit points, with the Wizard turned to stone, and only the Cleric could cast Greater Restoration. They decide to flee. </p><p></p><p>What do you do?"</p><p></p><p>How they answer this question is of great importance, as there are multiple lessons to be learned.</p><p></p><p>Is it wrong to set up narrative beats for specific characters?</p><p>Is it wrong to plan for a set number of encounters each session?</p><p>Is it wrong to potentially kill or remove characters from a session?</p><p>Is it wrong to treat characters as anything other than player avatars, easily replaced?</p><p></p><p>The answers are not the same for every DM, or every player, but it shows how if you commit to certain expectations of play, then you have to be prepared for the consequences of play. If the game falls apart because an important character dies (whether they are important narratively, mechanically, or in this scenario, both), then you need to either have a backup plan in place already that doesn't strain the narrative, or you might not want to kill characters mid-session.</p><p></p><p>I've played (and run) games where a key party member dies and the the session (and the resulting campaign) loses momentum and dies.</p><p></p><p>I've played in games where deus ex machina saves a character at a key moment and is either hailed as an amazing plot beat (or players groan because it's cheesy).</p><p></p><p>I've played in games where death and tragedy lead to further adventures.</p><p></p><p>Which you and your group prefer is something you need to consider at all times. It may be that you don't like players being entangled in the narrative (they should be random bozos and NPC's do all the heavy lifting in the story) or that you want them totally invested in every aspect of the game. Either way, how you handle death and other horrible fates has to reflect this. Keeping death on the table when it doesn't suit your style of gaming (which is what I used to do) can lead to sorrow and regret.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="James Gasik, post: 9000729, member: 6877472"] When people come to me for DM advice (I don't know why they do, they never listen, lol), and ask me about whether it's ok to kill the PC's, I simply ask them this: "You've spent a week and a half prepping the night's session. It's going to be 5 encounters leading up to the final battle of the adventure. You've set it up so that the Cleric can finally confront her nemesis and recover the stolen holy relic. On the second encounter of the evening the Cleric takes a critical hit and dies. The party is low on hit points, with the Wizard turned to stone, and only the Cleric could cast Greater Restoration. They decide to flee. What do you do?" How they answer this question is of great importance, as there are multiple lessons to be learned. Is it wrong to set up narrative beats for specific characters? Is it wrong to plan for a set number of encounters each session? Is it wrong to potentially kill or remove characters from a session? Is it wrong to treat characters as anything other than player avatars, easily replaced? The answers are not the same for every DM, or every player, but it shows how if you commit to certain expectations of play, then you have to be prepared for the consequences of play. If the game falls apart because an important character dies (whether they are important narratively, mechanically, or in this scenario, both), then you need to either have a backup plan in place already that doesn't strain the narrative, or you might not want to kill characters mid-session. I've played (and run) games where a key party member dies and the the session (and the resulting campaign) loses momentum and dies. I've played in games where deus ex machina saves a character at a key moment and is either hailed as an amazing plot beat (or players groan because it's cheesy). I've played in games where death and tragedy lead to further adventures. Which you and your group prefer is something you need to consider at all times. It may be that you don't like players being entangled in the narrative (they should be random bozos and NPC's do all the heavy lifting in the story) or that you want them totally invested in every aspect of the game. Either way, how you handle death and other horrible fates has to reflect this. Keeping death on the table when it doesn't suit your style of gaming (which is what I used to do) can lead to sorrow and regret. [/QUOTE]
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What is the worst piece of DM advice people give that you see commonly spread?
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