Your character died. Big deal.

[Silvercat Moonpaw]

I'd like to echo the sentiment that it's not (always) death that's annoying, it's having to waste time not playing for any reason. So as much as I think risk is okay I'd actually err on the side of making death and disabling harder so one can have more game time.

 

[justanobody]

But if an enemy wizard beats your initiative and fires off a death spell, many players feel they didn't have any real chance of avoiding it. One roll and they're done.

That is the risk you take every time you enter into a potential combat situation. Don't want to worry about it, don't play an RPG or other game that involves death, or lose of your playing piece. Monopoly even has the jail to slow down your play......

 

[Storminator]

I'd like to echo the sentiment that it's not (always) death that's annoying, it's having to waste time not playing for any reason. So as much as I think risk is okay I'd actually err on the side of making death and disabling harder so one can have more game time.

I noticed this oddity yesterday: Playing 4e, and my stupid dwarf is making death saves again... or in this case, failing death saves... So after I've failed two, the warlock stabilizes me. So now, when my turn comes up, I don't have anything to do!

PS

 

[ppaladin123]

That is the risk you take every time you enter into a potential combat situation. Don't want to worry about it, don't play an RPG or other game that involves death, or lose of your playing piece. Monopoly even has the jail to slow down your play......

Or you could play an RPG that has rules that prevent seemingly arbitrary, anti-climactic deaths. Death in an RPG can be quite satisfying if it is suitably epic, heroic, tragic, whatever....if the death has meaning, the character "wins." Maybe save-or-dies remind me too much of the random, senseless deaths that populate the nightly news....too existential.

 

[justanobody]

I'd like to echo the sentiment that it's not (always) death that's annoying, it's having to waste time not playing for any reason. So as much as I think risk is okay I'd actually err on the side of making death and disabling harder so one can have more game time.

So you throw a tantrum when it is another player's turn and not your own?

Or you could play an RPG that has rules that prevent seemingly arbitrary, anti-climactic deaths. Death in an RPG can be quite satisfying if it is suitably epic, heroic, tragic, whatever....if the death has meaning, the character "wins." Maybe save-or-dies remind me too much of the random, senseless deaths that populate the nightly news....too existential.

Death for a character is part of the game. If you didn't want to risk your playing piece to die, then play another game. Characters die for seemingly silly reason all the time. Ever made that wrong turn and fell into a deadly trap? You made a bad choice. That is your bad luck no different than if it had been bad luck on a die roll.

 

[Fifth Element]

That is the risk you take every time you enter into a potential combat situation. Don't want to worry about it, don't play an RPG or other game that involves death, or lose of your playing piece.

Another false dichotomy. There are more options than the two you have delineated. See ppaladin123's post for some applicable comments.

 

[ppaladin123]

So you throw a tantrum when it is another player's turn and not your own?



Death for a character is part of the game. If you didn't want to risk your playing piece to die, then play another game. Characters die for seemingly silly reason all the time. Ever made that wrong turn and fell into a deadly trap? You made a bad choice. That is your bad luck no different than if it had been bad luck on a die roll.

Death is part of many games, but not all games deal with it in the same manner and not all games are equally fatal. You are presenting a false dilemma.

 

[Fifth Element]

So you throw a tantrum when it is another player's turn and not your own?

That's a pretty egregious misrepresentation of the post you were replying to.

Ever made that wrong turn and fell into a deadly trap? You made a bad choice. That is your bad luck no different than if it had been bad luck on a die roll.

Indeed, since generally you get a save against a trap. But that hardly disputes the point, since that trap is a save-or-die effect, which is what we're discussing. So you're just providing another example of something that many players don't like.

And as for playing another game, I imagine you would consider D&D-without-risk-of-arbitrary-death to be a different game, so many people already do that. And have a great deal of fun doing it.

 

[WayneLigon]

Reading the article on character death (which, in 4e, you can pop out 500 gp for a low-level raise dead) and how people might feel bad if their imaginary elf dies, makes no sense to me. Yes, your character is cool. Maybe they have a personality, whatever. But that doesn't change the fact that they're an imaginary elf in a fake world. It's a game.

I suppose if you invest no thought or involvement in a character, it would not make much difference. It depends on the PC, for me. If he's someone I've had a flash of inspiration for and done seven pages of background story and all, yeah, it's going to disappoint me greatly if he dies, especially if he dies because of some stupid game-related rules quirk or 'gotcha' monster or trap. That's a lot of time and involvement I've put in that now I'll never see realized.

 

[justanobody]

No you are creating dilemma where there isn't any. Death is death, plain and simple. Trying to categorize it is silly. Your bad luck in making a choice, is no different than your bad luck in rolling dice. Either can lead to a quick death. The rest is moot. So removing the dice does not change the outcome for bad player luck. That is all the dice represent is another chance for luck where you don't have to be held accountable for your decisions within the game, you can just blame the dice instead.

If you got into a fight that caused instant death to you then I would blame your own decision for going to the fight, rather than a dice that gave you a chance to live.

Suck it up and make the new character and stop crying about how you died.