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Message: <blockquote data-quote="JamesonCourage" data-source="post: 5868382" data-attributes="member: 6668292">I do. Then again, I'd probably pick up on it. But, by not letting them die as easily, you're essentially exchanging one type of story arc for another. That is, they'll get the "this magic item does this awesome thing!" arc instead of "you lost a member who had to get left behind, or the whole party would have died!" arc.I personally like both, but I like when it unfolds naturally. That is, the item does that thing, and when it comes up, you get the "awesome magic item!" story arc. Later on, someone might need to be left behind (where they may get to make a dramatic stand, try to divert them, or just RP some cool cowardly actions), giving you the "member left behind!" arc as well.Essentially, by protecting the players, you're denying story arcs to them. You're okay with them dying in other ways, obviously, but certain things they may like experiencing they'll never get to because of the behind-the-scenes changes you make.Additionally, I'm not one to lie to my players about gaming style. If my group thinks their lives are on the line because I tell them from a meta standpoint (player to player) that it's the way I play, then I'm going to run the game that way. If I say, "I'm a hardcore GM, so be careful when you make decisions; and remember, every combat is dangerous in this game, and I don't pull punches!" then I mean it. I won't pull punches, and I will kill people without hesitation. I will sympathize with them, but I won't essentially lie to them about my gaming style, getting them to buy into a game that I'm not running.For me, if a GM told me those things and I noticed him fudging or using some deus ex machina techniques to save us, I'd feel tricked, and disappointed; it's not what I signed up for. We're all adults, there's no reason to essentially mislead me about the type of game I'm playing. I know what I like, so please, just tell me what type of game you're running, so I know whether or not I want to invest myself in it.That's essentially the difference that you don't see. It's kind of disrespectful to me. Other people expect that, I guess, and it's not. But that's the problem a lot of people have with it.It sounds like it. So does my brother, and he's a blast to play with (next to me, he's my players' favorite GM). As always, play what you like <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=":)" /></blockquote>

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