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Gaming
My “sweet summer child” of a D&D player had a bit of a grumble at me yesterday. Not for the first time, nor even the 20th time. I don’t know why he plays in my games if he doesn’t like the way I run them.
Long story: one of the characters in my game died (he came victim to a Beholder Zombie, which unleashed its death ray on him and reduced him to ashes) and though it wasn’t SSC’s character he said he didn’t play D&D for characters to die.
I understand that people don’t play D&D for characters to die willy-nilly, but I maintain it has to be one of the risks characters face. Otherwise, there’s no tension.
In another game, for example, where I’m a player, my current paladin character has nine hit points max (he started the fight with 48 max) a result of encountering a Wraith and doing battle with it. Which is what you’d expect a paladin character to do, despite the risk he’s facing. Wraiths have a Life Drain action which reduces you max hit points, and they’re quite hard to get back, needing particular high level spells or a lot of time. I did not whinge about it, though I am hoping he’ll survive long enough to get back to his max of 48.
In short, there has to be danger, and not just the danger of losing a few hit points.
Long story: one of the characters in my game died (he came victim to a Beholder Zombie, which unleashed its death ray on him and reduced him to ashes) and though it wasn’t SSC’s character he said he didn’t play D&D for characters to die.
I understand that people don’t play D&D for characters to die willy-nilly, but I maintain it has to be one of the risks characters face. Otherwise, there’s no tension.
In another game, for example, where I’m a player, my current paladin character has nine hit points max (he started the fight with 48 max) a result of encountering a Wraith and doing battle with it. Which is what you’d expect a paladin character to do, despite the risk he’s facing. Wraiths have a Life Drain action which reduces you max hit points, and they’re quite hard to get back, needing particular high level spells or a lot of time. I did not whinge about it, though I am hoping he’ll survive long enough to get back to his max of 48.
In short, there has to be danger, and not just the danger of losing a few hit points.
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Sigh. They were working for a group of powerful (if elderly) clerics, who could easily have cast a resurrection if the player could not cope.
Not happy with how I handled that. :-(
OTOH, by now no one expects me to kill a PC unless at one-shots, or if the player has declared they want the character to go -- maybe I should not start on some random Monday evening.
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On the other hand I do have a TPK under my belt. That was a Call of Cthulhu game (where death is part of the narrative) and all the dice rolls were out in the open where GM fudge was not an option.
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Then he shouldn't be playing the game.
He'd REALLY hate our D&D games. One of my fellow players regularly has to roll up a new character when the one he's playing dies (due, largely, to his reckless playing style, admittedly), and other memebrs of the party have died just durign the current campaign.... it's one of the risks of the game - I know it's "just a game," but, as you say, there has to be danger beyond the loss of a few hit-points.... Besides, as it is "jsut a game, " why would it be an issue of a character dies?
This griping player either needs to accept it's going to happen, or find someone elses games to pay in, and hope they don't encounter the same issue there.
Teddy
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Plus, one of his other games that he plays in is called "Tomb of Annihilation" and you'd think he'd get the hint by the title. I have that game and one of the things it says in the introduction is, "There is a risk that this group of scenarios will become a meat grinder."
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Teddy
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Teddy