Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="pming" data-source="post: 7990704" data-attributes="member: 45197">Hiya!Well THAR'S yer prob....sigh...I'm saying that far to often nowadays. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />Specifically, "I have...reluctance to kill characters...". That's the problem. You, the DM/GM, are NOT the one "killing the characters". The game has rules for character death...you shouldn't be in favour or against them; your 'job' is to enforce/adjudicate them. In short, it is not your job to keep a PC alive or to kill them...that sits squarley on the Players shoulders. The sooner a DM comes to this revelation...as well as his/her Players...the sooner everyone at the table will start to relax and just enjoy the entire experience, be it for weal or woe for the stalwart adventurers.Don't mind me as I channel my "Inner EGG"... <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />..."yes, but only an inferior Dungeon Master would succumb to such a poor guideline for adjudication of the game rules. A DM may feel genuine fear, sadness, or even pity when it looks like Fate has determined that a PC's adventuring career has come to an untimely end, but the superior DM will rise above such things and do what is right for the campaign as a whole; let the dice fall where they may".<img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />In all seriousness though...that is my general "feeling" in regards to a DM wanting some particular outcome for the PC's (or NPC's!). It sucks when a well-played and entertaining PC finally shuffles off his mortal coil, or a beloved NPC for that matter, but the Campaign is what keeps the story going; not the PC's or NPC's. If Elminster gets eaten by a Grue, so be it. The Forgotten Realms won't suddenly implode, nor will all other NPC's cease to have goals, nor will the PC's adventuring careers be over. On the contrary, such a well-known NPC meeting his demise is JUST the kind of unexpected surprise that fuels and wonderful and memorable campaign for all!Well...IMNSHO, of course. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />A perfect example of "...in MY experience...". In MY experience...I was the primary DM; I DM'ed 90% of the time...and it didn't matter the game system (D&D, AD&D, Gamma World, Star Frontiers, Twilight:2000, etc). There was one other DM that took up the reigns the other 10% of the time. That lasted the first decade of my 'career'. In the early 90's I met someone who would become one of my best friends, and he loved DM'ing almost as much as me. He handled Warhammer FRP, MSHA (Marvel "FASERIP") and D&D sometimes. Oh, and Star Trek (FASA). That said...I did have a PC for when I did get to play; my PC became a "party NPC"...but I have had my PC die in a game I was DM'ing. Several times. It sucks, but hey...them's the breaks.Yes, and these types of players need to find an appropriate game system AND group. But this is just a "style preference", so no more needs be said.I'm what is considered a "Killer DM" by today's standards. Not back in the day, but I'd say, oh, since about the mid to end of 3e onward.I don't TRY to kill PC's by deliberately choosing difficulties for them to encounter; in short, I don't "build for the PC's". I have found that a successful suspension of disbelief (and a good campaign) MUST have the world be constructed and run in a consistent manner. If the PC's go into the "Darken-Wood" when they are level 3 and they fight nothing more than goblins, wolves and a somewhat sickly bear....then, a year later they venture through the "Darken-Wood" when they are 13th level, but now encountering multiple ogres with bears, or groups of giants, manticore's, and shambling mounds.... Well, lets just say isn't the way to go. IMNSHO, of course.Don't "build for the PC's capabilities" and you will start to see Players that see the campaign world through the eyes of their PC's. You'll stop hearing "We can't go there, we're only 5th level and the DC for Swimming in a swamp is too high for us"...and you'll start hearing "We can't go there! The Bottomless Swamp suffers none so foolish as to test it's dangers!" (...ok...maybe it's more like "We can't go there! Are you effing nutz man?! Too much water, swamp, bugs! DISEASES! Screw that! We're going around and taking the extra 4 days!" <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" /> ).In short... "I don't think your Laws really work for me or what I've experienced in my TTRPG'ing career. But thanks for the read anyway! <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> ".^_^Paul L. Ming</blockquote>

Verification