This may sound weird to many GMs but, after several modules and at the first chapter of RotR, it's now clear I'm absolutely incapable of killing a PC. We worked a lot on PCs' backgrounds and if one of them should die, I feel like we're throwing away all the invested time and effort.
So I find myself changing some rolls beside the screen or making NPCs behave in an suboptimal way. And I also think players begin to feel too safe about their choices.
We love the narrative part of the game but IT'S A GAME.
How can I change my approach without falling in a TPK game style?
Unless your players are not feeling challenged and are bored I don't see a problem.
We are nearing the end of our Way of the Wicked campaign and the PCs are 18th level and extremely difficult to challenge. They've worked really hard to become badass and so it doesn't bother me much that they never die any more (compared to early in the campaign where it was normal to have 1+ death a night). I figure as long as they continue to have to play smart, occasionally retreat, and feel threatened by their opponents, I'm doing ok. Everyone seems like they are having fun so I'm not concerned.
As for worrying about character backgrounds, don't sweat it. I had one player show up with a PC portfolio that included a long back story, color photos of what his character looked like and a freshly painted mini.
That PC died in the surprise round of the first combat of the night. It wasn't intentional on my part but it just worked out that way. Everyone had a good laugh including the player. He just whipped out his replacement PC who had no backstory at all and has yet to die.
As long as everyone is having fun, it doesn't matter. Every group has different expectations and we should be playing to those expections in such a way that EVERYONE has fun.
The first game that I was a GM for, I would make all rolls behind a screen, and I fudged a lot of rolls to prevent player death. Everyone had fun (and most players were still learning the game).
In my current game, my players all have backstories written up, but I tell them to keep a backup character (or character concept) in mind. I do only open rolling (unless there's a check that has to be hidden).
If there's not a good reason for a monster to attack one character over another, I openly roll randomly to see who gets hit (or at least, attacked).
Last night I nearly killed the newest player twice in one combat. Fortunately she had access to her own healing spells, so she came out all right in the end. At least, so far...
Death is trivial in Pathfinder. All it is is a hindrance on loot.
*does a double take upthread*
I admit, I'm pretty softball when it comes to PC deaths in the low levels. I only rarely have killed off lower-level characters. However, once the PCs have reliable access to resurrection magic, I tend to be a bit rougher with enemy tactics.
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You're not alone, Samirah. My big dilemma is with Pathfinder Society. An adventure path or random scenario is one thing, but you put so much work into a PFS character that I can never bring myself to kill any of my players. Granted, I've dropped each of my regulars into negative HP on multiple occasions, but I think that I'd feel really bad if I ever actually killed one of them.
It is only a problem if you or your players care.
We just played more than halfway through RotRL game and we died a LOT. Then we ended the game with a full party wipe. As much as dying all the damn time got old I think I would have been more annoyed if the GM held our hand the entire game.
That being said he probably could have avoided much of the drama had he read the material with a discerning eye.
So my advice to any GM running a module is to read the material well. Seriously, take special care to the details as some parts of the RotRL game are borked IMO. For instance there was an encounter early on with several shadows. So early in fact that we had zero magical weapons to deal with the threat. Another monster later in the game did more damage on one single attack than our meat shield had hit points. So read carefully and adjust as needed before the encounter starts.
The best GM's do not need to coddle, plan encounters well, and adjust well on the fly. Easier said than done when character death is the cost we pay to lean.
-MD
Thanks to all.
I have a lot of scruples for the above reasons but also because only 1 player of 5 is a skilled gamer, 2 are newbies and... 1 is my husband (ok this is not a great problem indeed :p).
Everyone's having fun for now, but they're only 3rd level. I guess game experience will improve if I'll let them try and fail too.
I used to run the same way, and it seemed my players preferred it, but a potential bugaboo popped up for me; namely if something does go wrong, is it unfair to pull back and say "dem's the dice"? In other words, they know you intervened before, and they might want to resort to that if all else fails, and get angry or feel cheated if something bad happens and you don't intervene. It's all in what you guys want out of the game though, but that's why I just started letting the dice dictate the action. Players still get mad (last session a guy was yelling at his die 20), but not at me.
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Aim to have one player drop into the negatives in your encounters.
That is usually enough to put people on edge, and if the PCs don't pick up their game, they risk the situation getting worse. There's nothing wrong with redirecting an enemy to attack a healthy PC while a defenceless PC is on the ground.
In the worst situations, throwing them a bone by having the dire wolf snarl at them or the pompous spellcaster laugh maniacally and waste a turn in gloating over their fallen comrade actually adds to the game.
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check out hero points.
This. I used them from the very beginning in the Carrion Crown and they lead to me not holding back in the slightest. I have no worries about any accidents because I know that they can just throw out two hero points and survive, no matter what.
Of course, some players use their hero points to boost their abilities in other ways - but that's their business. If I kill them, I know they could've saved the hero points to prevent it.Method 2: I keep on hitting the paladin. He can take it. ;)
Method 2: I keep on hitting the paladin. He can take it. ;)
This is our Age of Worms game in a nutshell. =)
Method 2: I keep on hitting the paladin. He can take it. ;)This is our Age of Worms game in a nutshell. =)
That was also the modus operandi in my very first campaign. Unfortunately, it just happened to be the MO of one of the other characters.
I couldn't tell you how many times I heard the words "I'll throw a grenade in the pit. Obrek can take it." or "There's only one enemy and I want to cast Lightning Arc. How's Obrek's health looking?"
Hah! I did have an evoker sorc once who would gleefully fireball into the middle of the group thanks to most of her teammates having Evasion or at the very least a decent reflex save. So I know that route =)
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check out hero points.This. I used them from the very beginning in the Carrion Crown and they lead to me not holding back in the slightest. I have no worries about any accidents because I know that they can just throw out two hero points and survive, no matter what.
Of course, some players use their hero points to boost their abilities in other ways - but that's their business. If I kill them, I know they could've saved the hero points to prevent it.Method 2: I keep on hitting the paladin. He can take it. ;)
And a 3rd for Hero Points. I love them and they allow PCs to each avoid a death at least every other level if they use them right. I also roll in the open and let the dice fall where they may, not fudging or offering any special considerations.
I personally don't like playing in a game where the GM is rolling behind a screen. It cheapens my experience especially when I find out that PCs are nigh invincible because of fudging. A screen makes it feel like GM vs Player to me instead of GM in the roll of judge and arbiter.
Hah! I did have an evoker sorc once who would gleefully fireball into the middle of the group thanks to most of her teammates having Evasion or at the very least a decent reflex save. So I know that route =)
My evasion-possessing character had explicitly requested party fireball-hurling sorcerer to blast groups of enemies while being in the middle of them.
Hah! I did have an evoker sorc once who would gleefully fireball into the middle of the group thanks to most of her teammates having Evasion or at the very least a decent reflex save. So I know that route =)My evasion-possessing character had explicitly requested party fireball-hurling sorcerer to blast groups of enemies while being in the middle of them.
Yep! Those were the days =)
The Warmage in my Kingmaker party does the same, but he has a class ability that gets him Shape Spell for free, so the group really doesn't have to fear friendly fire, Evasion or not ;)