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<blockquote data-quote="iserith" data-source="post: 6528602" data-attributes="member: 97077">I don't see it as punitive or impractical. It's not for everyone though, obviously.Such a blanket statement is easily disproven by a single example to the contrary so here it is: I love playing the underdog, so I have no issue playing a character under-level or under-powered compared to the rest of the party. In a 15th-level D&amp;D 4e campaign my friend was running, I chose to be a minion (a monster stat block with 1 hp). I lived a long time of not sitting in the back - rather, I was often right up in the mix - and when that character finally did die, it was a very emotional moment for the group. People still speak fondly of that character years later.In the Before-Times, characters often had a train of hirelings and henchmen. Those NPCs could be &quot;promoted&quot; to PC status when a character bought the farm. This is actually very clever and is something that TV writers use. It's called a &quot;trap door.&quot; It's when the writers introduce a character that can step in to the main character's shoes should the actor no longer be on the show. That guy or gal is already established in the fiction, so it's no big deal to step them up from an extra or feature role to a lead.That sort of thinking strikes me as bad DMing. I'm not up for DMs who are out to &quot;teach lessons.&quot; I'm interested in DMs who want to tell exciting, memorable stories. Sometimes character death plays a role in that.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="iserith, post: 6528602, member: 97077"] I don't see it as punitive or impractical. It's not for everyone though, obviously. Such a blanket statement is easily disproven by a single example to the contrary so here it is: I love playing the underdog, so I have no issue playing a character under-level or under-powered compared to the rest of the party. In a 15th-level D&D 4e campaign my friend was running, I chose to be a minion (a monster stat block with 1 hp). I lived a long time of not sitting in the back - rather, I was often right up in the mix - and when that character finally did die, it was a very emotional moment for the group. People still speak fondly of that character years later. In the Before-Times, characters often had a train of hirelings and henchmen. Those NPCs could be "promoted" to PC status when a character bought the farm. This is actually very clever and is something that TV writers use. It's called a "trap door." It's when the writers introduce a character that can step in to the main character's shoes should the actor no longer be on the show. That guy or gal is already established in the fiction, so it's no big deal to step them up from an extra or feature role to a lead. That sort of thinking strikes me as bad DMing. I'm not up for DMs who are out to "teach lessons." I'm interested in DMs who want to tell exciting, memorable stories. Sometimes character death plays a role in that. [/QUOTE]

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