How often do characters die in your games?

[TriOmegaZero]

Jiggy wrote:

Then how do you determine "when a combat starts"?

GM Fiat, mostly.

[Rogue Eidolon]

Jiggy wrote:

Then how do you determine "when a combat starts"?

This is actually one of the most challenging questions for GMs since 3.0 was written. Any GM who didn't come up with a good rule of thumb would wind up with an obnoxious player eventually who demanded to move at half speed and constantly ready actions outside of combat such that they would always act before an ambushing enemy (since they had supposedly "readied an action for the ambush").

Here's mine, and I don't take it to be the only way you can do it--I'd say whenever one side knows about the other one and has just taken an action that, at its completion, will have alerted the other side as well. To continue the non-spoilery example in my spoiler block, when the NPC wizard hears the PCs and casts buffs from so far away the PCs do not hear him, then combat has not started between the PCs and the wizard, but if the PCs do hear him casting his prebuff, then that "free" prebuff from before they heard him (but back when he knew about them) was a surprise round and we're into regular initiative.

[TriOmegaZero]

I can agree with that Mark. I think that is how I tend to run things.

[Lava Child]

Well, I've killed several of my wife's characters as DM. Just on Valentines day, at a con in southern california, I offed her elf druid with a brutal ju-ju zombie in PFS. She was mad, but I immediately gave her her Valentine's day card, which kept her from killing me until another player had her character reincarnated as a half-orc. Yeah, I get in trouble DMing. . .

[Finlanderboy]

Nicholas Milasich wrote:

Well, I've killed several of my wife's characters as DM. Just on Valentines day, at a con in southern california, I offed her elf druid with a brutal ju-ju zombie in PFS. She was mad, but I immediately gave her her Valentine's day card, which kept her from killing me until another player had her character reincarnated as a half-orc. Yeah, I get in trouble DMing. . .

I wished my wife played...

[Silbeg]

Finlanderboy wrote:

Nicholas Milasich wrote:

Well, I've killed several of my wife's characters as DM. Just on Valentines day, at a con in southern california, I offed her elf druid with a brutal ju-ju zombie in PFS. She was mad, but I immediately gave her her Valentine's day card, which kept her from killing me until another player had her character reincarnated as a half-orc. Yeah, I get in trouble DMing. . .

I wished my wife played...

Me too.

She did surprise me Friday night be bringing me pizza at the Con of the North, and stayed on to watch the first half of Bonekeep (which I was playing with my wizard, Angelo).

After, she commented that she didn't get at all what we were doing, or why were had fun doing it.

Oh, well, to each her own.

[YogoZuno]

My wife used to play, and read...up until she gave birth. Apparently, the desire to game and read were in the 25% of her brain that went out to the kids ;)

[kinevon]

Nicholas Milasich wrote:

Well, I've killed several of my wife's characters as DM. Just on Valentines day, at a con in southern california, I offed her elf druid with a brutal ju-ju zombie in PFS. She was mad, but I immediately gave her her Valentine's day card, which kept her from killing me until another player had her character reincarnated as a half-orc. Yeah, I get in trouble DMing. . .

Ummm. Isn't Reincarnate one of the spells that isn't legal for PFS?

[The Ki Master]

kinevon wrote:

Nicholas Milasich wrote:

Well, I've killed several of my wife's characters as DM. Just on Valentines day, at a con in southern california, I offed her elf druid with a brutal ju-ju zombie in PFS. She was mad, but I immediately gave her her Valentine's day card, which kept her from killing me until another player had her character reincarnated as a half-orc. Yeah, I get in trouble DMing. . .

Ummm. Isn't Reincarnate one of the spells that isn't legal for PFS?

Are you TRYING to get the guy in trouble with his wife again?

[kinevon]

The Ki Master wrote:

kinevon wrote:

Nicholas Milasich wrote:

Well, I've killed several of my wife's characters as DM. Just on Valentines day, at a con in southern california, I offed her elf druid with a brutal ju-ju zombie in PFS. She was mad, but I immediately gave her her Valentine's day card, which kept her from killing me until another player had her character reincarnated as a half-orc. Yeah, I get in trouble DMing. . .

Ummm. Isn't Reincarnate one of the spells that isn't legal for PFS?

Are you TRYING to get the guy in trouble with his wife again?

Better to admit it now, with flowers and candy, then get caught by surprise at a game when a GM notices that the PC used to be X and is now Y...

Then again, I still have fun explaining how my human archer used to be a halfling rogue (Season 0 to Season 1 rebuild rules).

[Lormyr]

Jiggy wrote:

It's also the better part of your budget. :/

Truth! A well spent budget though, at least.

[mswbear]

As far as GMing for PFS I have yet to kill any characters (came close a few times) but I run encounters as written. There seems to be a slightly growing trend at my local PFS chapter of GMs not running things as written which the VC and several GMs are trying to head off before it becomes a major issue. (Myself included now that I have been informed of the situation).

My rule of thumb is that as long as I run something as written then if a PC dies it was caused by circumstance and not any malicious intent/power tripping on my part. With that being said, I hate combats that are boring for me to run as a GM. The most recent season 5 (1-5) scenario is majorly guilty of this. It was fun as far as RP but was a total snooze-fest when the party got into combat.

When I ran RotRL I TPK'd my party in book two. When I have designed home games I tend to go for a bit of a challenge but have a hard time remembering what my party is likely to do and is capable of. They can wash some encounters I thought would be a challenge but often get stomped in encounters I designed to be easy. I have killed three PCs this way over the course of 5 years.

[Jiggy]

My wife plays with me sometimes, but it's been a while due to the fact that she doesn't have any high-level characters and it's hard to find low-level scenarios being offered that I haven't played so we can play together.

[Black Powder Chocobo]

ALMOST killed my sister's PC in The Jester's Fraud!

Spoiler:

They found the cursed necklace; she thought it was pretty and put it on, forgetting hearing about the necklace prior. Whoops, strangulation! The pair of brawny melee guys had to sunder it apart to keep from killing her (although I did have some of the sunder damage splash on to her... glaives make poor sunder weapons for something on someone's neck that you DON'T want to hurt). A sadistic part of me was hoping that they tried to cast raise dead on her afterwards, only to have it start choking again, just to see the look on their faces :P

[The Fox]

A friend of mine is about to give up on PFS, I fear—she has had four character deaths in the last year. I believe that three of them were while her fiancé was GMing.

[FLite]

Jiggy wrote:

Then how do you determine "when a combat starts"?

I use "next action would be hostile"

As above:

I am with Jiggy, you get a perception check to detect them coming out of the wall to act in the surprise round. That said, I would still apply the +20 DC for detecting something moving through the wall. I would probably describe success as a whisp of the ghost extending beyond the wall before it planned on it. Also, don't forget invisibility does not negate perception checks. You still get a perception check at DC +40 to perceive them, +20 if they are moving into position to attack you. If you want to make the DC +40 for spirits in the wall because they are both silent and in the wall, I would support that. But you still get a perception check.

That said, I have had GM's state that combat begins as soon as the first hostile action is taken. In effect, whoever can call "I hit him" first gets a free surprise round, then combat begins.

[FLite]

@The Fox, she could just give up on the Fiance instead... :)

[nosig]

FLite wrote:

@The Fox, she could just give up on the Fiance instead... :)

ha! easier to replace a Fiance than a good gaming group!

[Codanous]

The Fox wrote:

A friend of mine is about to give up on PFS, I fear—she has had four character deaths in the last year. I believe that three of them were while her fiancé was GMing.

nosig wrote:

FLite wrote:

@The Fox, she could just give up on the Fiance instead... :)

ha! easier to replace a Fiance than a good gaming group!

Haha no worries guys, I am sure she'll have her revenge when she GM's this Friday. My level 2 wizard I am sure won't stand a chance. All in the spirit of good fun of course.

[John Lynch 106]

In 30 scenarios I've had 2 death.
In 7 modules I've had 2 deaths (2 in one game).

So that's an average of 1 death per 9 games. Most of the time I've GM'd for power gamers though (or at least people who are VERY very good at making characters). Only 2 of my regulars has died with two walk-ins dying (I'm pretty sure one of them was playing up as well). This was GMing Season 0 to 4 games+modules. 2 of those deaths were at Sydney's deadliest Con. We had an unusually high number of deaths that Con. Dunno why. Just bad luck mostly.

Incidentally in my home campaign I had around 11 deaths between 6 players (only ever had 4-5 at one time). Same group of players as my usuals.

[Majuba]

FLite wrote:

That said, I have had GM's state that combat begins as soon as the first hostile action is taken. In effect, whoever can call "I hit him" first gets a free surprise round, then combat begins.

That's what I typically do for diplomatic situations that turn sour suddenly (or surprisingly). Sense Motive can be an appropriate to also act in the surprise round.

[roysier]

roysier wrote:

I’ve only had 4 deaths in 72 tables which is a 1:18 ratio. Maybe I’m too lenient.

2 PC’s disintegrated in Cult of the Ebon Destroyer
1 Critical hit in Godsmouth Heresy
1 Breathed on a couple times in Fortress of the Nail

Up to 85 tables 1 more death. Monk eaten by Dinosaur in Where Mammoths Dare not Tread. Monk low on HP mistakenly believed the Dinosaur was on his side but instead the Dino turned and chomped on him, 1 bite on the already wounded monk and instant death.

[Rei]

Update: finished City of Golden Death. Still no PC deaths in my games. Though this time, I got pretty close.

Tons o' spoilers:

Managed to roll the dire crocodile as the first random encounter. Rolled a nat 1 on the grapple roll against the magus, rolled low enough on the grapple roll against the barbarian/alchemist that the grease the magus had cast on her as his first action saved her. Later, almost strangled one of the two wizards to death with a constrictor snake, failed the dragon skeleton's Awesome Blow roll against the barb/alch as well, and after the BBEG I think a few characters were somewhere around 10 HP.

I think I might be hexed.

[cartmanbeck]

I have yet to have killed a PFS character. We'll see how much longer that lasts.

[Muser]

Rei wrote:

Update: finished City of Golden Death. Still no PC deaths in my games. Though this time, I got pretty close.

** spoiler omitted **

I think I might be hexed.

The only reason we weren't killed by the boss was some darned good rolls. IIRC, Ekewadu had 7 hp left after the first two turns, Marek 6 and somebody had around 9. Sheer luck and some careful positioning saves us.

You'll have a tpk one day, I'm sure. Maybe try GM'ing in cons?

[G-Zeus]

I've yet to have a perma- death in any of the PFS games I've run. I have downed a few players and let's just say that GM screen is worth it. Most of the times the situation comes up it is due to players choosing to pull too much aggro on a night where the dice are showing crits. I don't care what your build is but taking a power attack crit on a greataxe from a barbarian is going to slow you down.

For my homegroup I've done about 3-5 tpk's but compared to how many times they've done it to themselves (double digits) I'm not too shocked.

[Farrindor]

I have somewhere around 10 character deaths out of 54 tables. 3 of those at the 10-11 subtier of Siege of the Diamond city and 2 in Port Godless (my only 2 multi death tables). 3 others are PCs of Venture Captains... sure am rough on the Red Shirts :-)

[Thrawn007]

Yet to kill anyone - Although I have to say unconsciousness is common in Confirmation, and if I ever roll a crit in a certain encounter on that one, I'd assume it will be instant death to someone.

Just had my first death as a player (Murder on the Silk Road). 28 point crits are bad for your health at level 2. I went straight to dead...no stopover to bleed out and think about how much it hurt.

[Majuba]

Thrawn007 wrote:

Yet to kill anyone - Although I have to say unconsciousness is common in Confirmation, and if I ever roll a crit in a certain encounter on that one, I'd assume it will be instant death to someone.

I actually got critted there (only double damage fyi) and lived (unconscious), but I was a semi-beefy 2nd level character.

It's been a while since I killed anyone, but I'm running Eyes of the Ten next week, so I'm sure I'll get my fill.

[Rogue Eidolon]

Majuba wrote:

Thrawn007 wrote:

Yet to kill anyone - Although I have to say unconsciousness is common in Confirmation, and if I ever roll a crit in a certain encounter on that one, I'd assume it will be instant death to someone.

I actually got critted there (only double damage fyi) and lived (unconscious), but I was a semi-beefy 2nd level character.

It's been a while since I killed anyone, but I'm running Eyes of the Ten next week, so I'm sure I'll get my fill.

Don't count on it unless you have a pretty small table. Eyes 3 and 4 suffer in difficulty for the fact that the PCs were meant to be 12 but are now 13 when they play it.

[The Fox]

Codanous wrote:

The Fox wrote:

A friend of mine is about to give up on PFS, I fear—she has had four character deaths in the last year. I believe that three of them were while her fiancé was GMing.

nosig wrote:

FLite wrote:

@The Fox, she could just give up on the Fiance instead... :)

ha! easier to replace a Fiance than a good gaming group!

Haha no worries guys, I am sure she'll have her revenge when she GM's this Friday. My level 2 wizard I am sure won't stand a chance. All in the spirit of good fun of course.

And Lo! It came to pass! S__ and A__ are in direct competition for "Deadliest GM in Society."

[Sin of Asmodeus]

I'm going to be running rats of round mountain part 1 with a group of dragon killers. (That's the name of their little company).
I'm salivating at how many rezzes these poor bastard will need when I get done with them.

[kinevon]

Mark Seifter wrote:

Majuba wrote:

Thrawn007 wrote:

Yet to kill anyone - Although I have to say unconsciousness is common in Confirmation, and if I ever roll a crit in a certain encounter on that one, I'd assume it will be instant death to someone.

I actually got critted there (only double damage fyi) and lived (unconscious), but I was a semi-beefy 2nd level character.

It's been a while since I killed anyone, but I'm running Eyes of the Ten next week, so I'm sure I'll get my fill.

Don't count on it unless you have a pretty small table. Eyes 3 and 4 suffer in difficulty for the fact that the PCs were meant to be 12 but are now 13 when they play it.

Depends on the PC builds and classes. A max-damage type will blow everything away, but a less optimized group can still have issues, or at least exciting times, during the game.

EotT, P4:

Amazing how someone who pays attention, and thinks things through, can make a difference. One player who noticed something about SR ended one of the encounters quite a bit faster than most groups probably do.

[andreww]

Mark Seifter wrote:

Majuba wrote:

Thrawn007 wrote:

Yet to kill anyone - Although I have to say unconsciousness is common in Confirmation, and if I ever roll a crit in a certain encounter on that one, I'd assume it will be instant death to someone.

I actually got critted there (only double damage fyi) and lived (unconscious), but I was a semi-beefy 2nd level character.

It's been a while since I killed anyone, but I'm running Eyes of the Ten next week, so I'm sure I'll get my fill.

Don't count on it unless you have a pretty small table. Eyes 3 and 4 suffer in difficulty for the fact that the PCs were meant to be 12 but are now 13 when they play it.

Are the Eyes installments worth more than 1xp per part? Wouldn't they only hit level 13 at the end of part 3?

[Talon89]

first part is worth 2 xp, since its a 2 block scenario.

[Akerlof]

38 tables of credit, 2 PC deaths, no conscience problems since both were 110% players knowingly doing stupid things: Quest for Perfection 1 at a convention, a walkup playing Kyra got bored, wandered off shouting and found the final encounter himself. He actually lasted longer than I expected, but still died a couple rounds before the rest of the party made it to a place they could have helped. (They weren't particularly hurrying, though.)

The second was a Ninja who decided to jump over a gap that "you can't see the bottom of" when he needed to roll a 10 or better. He didn't take the "are you sure" hints, or the hints from the couple ranged attacks he attracted by standing out on his own. I even let him roll acrobatics to make the first 1d6 non lethal, but the next 9d6 killed him very convincingly. I even let him use two peoples' folio rerolls on the acrobatics check, after failing three times people stopped offering their rerolls.

I'd probably have a couple more deaths, one time I would have crit a PC in single digit HPs and it took me three or four tries before I rolled something that wasn't a crit. It was his first tabletop RPG at our first PFS event in the area and I really didn't want to kill anyone. (Should have been rolling behind a screen in the first place for that one.) Another time, I staggered a PC on the first attack and had an iterative that was also an almost guaranteed hit. The PC was a level 2 playing at the 4-5 sub tier because everyone else at the table wanted to play their 4s and 5s, so I made the second attack against someone else in reach.

I have a feeling that my kill count is going to start increasing soon: We've got enough characters up in the 5-7 range that we're playing higher levels consistently. But, we don't have much in the way of caster support at those levels, and system mastery is pretty low: Players are still making poor tactical decisions like splitting the party, popping off Cure Light Wounds instead of Power Attacking a heavily damaged enemy with a two handed weapon, and not having weapons to overcome basic DR. The last two scenarios I ran very nearly ended in TPKs: Blakros Matrimony at 6-7, the party was in no way prepared to deal with the final encounter and were down to three out of 5 effectives when I reminded them that running away was an option, and Rivalry's End at 6-7 where two of the fights ended up with a PC with single digit hit points finishing off the last enemy while the other three PCs were unconscious and bleeding.

Jiggy wrote:

My wife plays with me sometimes, but it's been a while due to the fact that she doesn't have any high-level characters and it's hard to find low-level scenarios being offered that I haven't played so we can play together.

I started GMing so I wouldn't have that problem. Of course, now it's the reverse: She's playing more scenarios than I am so she'll be out of things to play before me. At least I have GM credit babies that I can play at higher level tables with her on the off chance I actually get to play.

[Majuba]

Eyes Tangent:

Mark Seifter wrote:

Majuba wrote:

It's been a while since I killed anyone, but I'm running Eyes of the Ten next week, so I'm sure I'll get my fill.

Don't count on it unless you have a pretty small table. Eyes 3 and 4 suffer in difficulty for the fact that the PCs were meant to be 12 but are now 13 when they play it.

Second time running this through, so I'm aware. I'm expecting this one to be a bit more 'flash/bang' - caster heavy instead of ranger heavy, so I think it will end up easier but deadlier.

Got a breath of life kill this weekend running Portal of the Sacred Rune. Should have had more but there was some really extreme luck going on. Not that I *wanted* more...

[JohnF]

Akerlof wrote:

I even let him use two peoples' folio rerolls on the acrobatics check . . .

Note that you aren't actually supposed to do that. I suspect most people contributing to the thread already know this, but for the benefit of any casual browsers:

Guide to Organized Play wrote:

No player may receive more than one free reroll per session.

(emphasis not added by me - the sentence is in bold print in the guide.)

This is in the section entitled Free Rerolls (on pp26-27 in v5.1 of the guide).

[Matthew Pittard]

We had an ongoing 'joke' locally regarding Ninjas, survivability and heights. Basically for a while there we had a lot of local Ninja deaths as the Ninja would climb onto a walkway or similar feature, and then either die in combat up there or fall to their death.

It hasnt happened for a while but some of us will not let it be forgotten.

[kinevon]

Matthew Pittard wrote:

We had an ongoing 'joke' locally regarding Ninjas, survivability and heights. Basically for a while there we had a lot of local Ninja deaths as the Ninja would climb onto a walkway or similar feature, and then either die in combat up there or fall to their death.

It hasnt happened for a while but some of us will not let it be forgotten.

The solution for fall to their death is, simply, boots of the cat.

200' fall? No problem! I take 20 points of damage, if I fail the acrobatics roll, and am still standing up.

Heck, there are even 1st level builds that could handle that damage and still be conscious and unstaggered. Not that they would have enough Fame to buy them...

[Matthew Pittard]

Kinveon: No Ninja could make it to level 2 for a while there. Game 1 fine, Game 2 Fine, Game 3 dead. Rinse and repeat.

The only reason my Ninja started at level 2 was GM Credits. I wasnt willing to accept the risks of level 1.

[Lormyr]

Sin of Asmodeus wrote:

I'm going to be running rats of round mountain part 1 with a group of dragon killers. (That's the name of their little company).

I'm salivating at how many rezzes these poor bastard will need when I get done with them.

I suppose that depends on what their "little company" is composed of. Our group ran that with our dash 1's at 7th level, and that dragon lasted exactly 3/4 of a round.

[Akerlof]

John Francis wrote:

Akerlof wrote:

I even let him use two peoples' folio rerolls on the acrobatics check . . .

Note that you aren't actually supposed to do that. I suspect most people contributing to the thread already know this, but for the benefit of any casual browsers:

Guide to Organized Play wrote:

No player may receive more than one free reroll per session.

(emphasis not added by me - the sentence is in bold print in the guide.)

This is in the section entitled Free Rerolls (on pp26-27 in v5.1 of the guide).

I know that rule, that's why I worded it as "let." However, since the result would be a dead character, I decided that if another player was willing to put their own character at risk by giving up their reroll, I would let him benefit from the other player's reroll. Rerolls themselves impact players decisions already, people are already thinking along the lines of "this could get my character killed, but I have a folio so it's OK." Allowing them to use up another player's folio reroll just changes the math a little, the big step was allowing rerolls in the first place.

So, yes, I allow other players to donate their rerolls in order to save a character. Players who make bad decisions because they have rerolls available become a self correcting problem as other players are not willing to offer up their hedge against death to repair someone's bad decision once they see the moral hazard effect that behavior has.

[Sin of Asmodeus]

Not to be a jerk but. You guys are doing a disservice to your players every time you pull a punch or pull multiple punches.
This causes GMs like me who sit down and don't pull punches and let the dice fall as they will to be perceived in a bad light because we run a fair and even game and characters die.
Stupidity leads to character creation.
So does softball leveled pathfinders that have never once been in fear of death.
YMMV.

[Lormyr]

In my opinion, there is a fair field of difference between softballing a party of PCs on one end of the spectrum, and "salivating at how many raises they will need when a GM gets done with them" on the other.

I personally softball new players, and have no regrets or apologies for it. When it comes to my core group, we do everything we can to brutalize eachother within the confines the scenario allows for because we are relentless min-maxers and know that none of us will take it personally because we're friends.

Everyone else? Unless I were to run something like hard mode waking rune or bonekeep (which you know full well what you are signing up for before playing), I concern myself only with how much fun everyone has. I could care less how many raise deads I cause or how challenging my baddies get to be.

[Dresden10589]

Sin of Asmodeus wrote:

Not to be a jerk but. You guys are doing a disservice to your players every time you pull a punch or pull multiple punches.

This causes GMs like me who sit down and don't pull punches and let the dice fall as they will to be perceived in a bad light because we run a fair and even game and characters die.
Stupidity leads to character creation.
So does softball leveled pathfinders that have never once been in fear of death.
YMMV.

Personally, I run like you, and don't pull punches, as I feel like players want the challenge, but I don't begrudge others who feel they should, or do so for brand new players in order to build the base. Killing PCs always makes me feel bad, but I do agree that it helps keep the game fair.

[TriOmegaZero]

Sin of Asmodeus wrote:

Not to be a jerk but. You guys are doing a disservice to your players every time you pull a punch or pull multiple punches.

This causes GMs like me who sit down and don't pull punches and let the dice fall as they will to be perceived in a bad light because we run a fair and even game and characters die.
Stupidity leads to character creation.
So does softball leveled pathfinders that have never once been in fear of death.
YMMV.

MMDV.

Each situation is different. I don't find it a disservice when I pull punches. If you are perceived as the bad guy for running your table the way you do, it is no one's fault but the player.

[Rogue Eidolon]

TriOmegaZero wrote:

Sin of Asmodeus wrote:

Not to be a jerk but. You guys are doing a disservice to your players every time you pull a punch or pull multiple punches.

This causes GMs like me who sit down and don't pull punches and let the dice fall as they will to be perceived in a bad light because we run a fair and even game and characters die.
Stupidity leads to character creation.
So does softball leveled pathfinders that have never once been in fear of death.
YMMV.

MMDV.

Each situation is different. I don't find it a disservice when I pull punches. If you are perceived as the bad guy for running your table the way you do, it is no one's fault but the player.

If you're going to softball, though, at least do it secretly through pulling punches in the tactics or the like. The problem I think Sin was having is that Akerlof is openly breaking the rules to try to prevent the death (by clearly allowing multiple rerolls per person, which might make the players think that this is an acceptable GM ruling and then try to pressure GMs into using that ruling). There are more graceful ways to do it if you must.

[TriOmegaZero]

Mark Seifter wrote:

If you're going to softball, though, at least do it secretly through pulling punches in the tactics or the like. The problem I think Sin was having is that Akerlof is openly breaking the rules to try to prevent the death (by clearly allowing multiple rerolls per person, which might make the players think that this is an acceptable GM ruling and then try to pressure GMs into using that ruling). There are more graceful ways to do it if you must.

I very rarely break the rules when I pull punches. When I make a rules mistake and kill a PC, I retcon it to unconsciousness. For the most part I choose to spread attacks around when the tactics allow for it, have the enemy grandstand in overconfidence, etc. Just last night I chose to split attacks between the scenario MacGuffin and the paralyzed PC rather than CdG, because the tactics did not call for CdG.

[Rogue Eidolon]

TriOmegaZero wrote:

Mark Seifter wrote:

If you're going to softball, though, at least do it secretly through pulling punches in the tactics or the like. The problem I think Sin was having is that Akerlof is openly breaking the rules to try to prevent the death (by clearly allowing multiple rerolls per person, which might make the players think that this is an acceptable GM ruling and then try to pressure GMs into using that ruling). There are more graceful ways to do it if you must.

I very rarely break the rules when I pull punches. When I make a rules mistake and kill a PC, I retcon it to unconsciousness. For the most part I choose to spread attacks around when the tactics allow for it, have the enemy grandstand in overconfidence, etc. Just last night I chose to split attacks between the scenario MacGuffin and the paralyzed PC rather than CdG, because the tactics did not call for CdG.

Yeah, that's a skillful and much less overt way to do it. I prefer to do the same.