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Message: <blockquote data-quote="shilsen" data-source="post: 3957113" data-attributes="member: 198">Here's how I do it. I allow players to throw in swashbuckling cards to survive an effect which would kill the PC (whether through hit point loss, save or die spells, or any other kind). The PC drops to -9 hp and is stable, but can't be healed up till the fight ends, and can be killed if intentionally targeted. As for the other stuff you mentioned, my players would roll over laughing if you told them that I was taking it easy on their PCs. The main thing a game needs to remain exciting, as far as my tastes are concerned, are challenges and consequences for failure. Personally, I think of death in the game as a fairly boring result of failure, since it means the PC (who is now dead, after all) doesn't have to deal with the failure any more. I'd much rather have PCs remain alive to live with the consequences of their failure. There are dozens of other consequences a creative DM can have in the game besides death, and I use a large number of them. So the PCs don't die, but they're challenged and they suffer. Oh boy, do they suffer! In fact, a lot of the time, letting them die would be taking things easy on them. But I'm not nice enough to do that.</blockquote>