Loved the Video. Luckily I have yet to get in a Situation, where I was scared of a TPK happening, but now Im prepared for when it happens. Sir, you earned a new subscriber. Looking forward to your next Video.
A tpk, death in general, should always be on the table. If you don't have death on the table you take away the agency of success from your players. Is very dangerous situation they encounter it's guaranteed to be a survived there's no risk. No risk equals no reward. When I was a dungeon master I always allowed the party to make their own mistakes and put themselves in deadly situations. And if those situation ended in a character death or two so be it. It's part of the story. I always let my players know through description and building tension and sometimes out and out just telling them that this potentially a very deadly encounter for you are you sure you want to tackle it this way? Generally I would do it by being very descriptive in the encounters prior to something deadly. Giving them tons of hints and clues along the way as to how dangerous the situation is that they're in or that they are building up to. That will allow them to think deeply about how they're going to approach something and come up with a plan that has a good chance of success. After that it's really up to the dice and what choices the players make during their adventure. As for that thing about power-ups. Modern dungeons & dragons already plays enough like a video game as opposed to an actual role-playing game. I where you're actually playing the role of a person in a specific type of setting. Giving phenomenal power up effects out of the blue just makes it feel more like a video game. To me that's a detriment to the hobby. If you like it and your players are happy playing this way well good for you and and really have as much fun with it as you can. It's just not anything I would do if I got back into the hobby. It lacks realism. It's like watching dragon Ball versus historic medieval play.
Firstly thanks for commenting. It really helps the channel and improves the discourse. Secondly, just because of you have tactics for curbing TPKs does not mean there is no danger. A death to a boss is very different to a death to 5 shadows. This video is more for DMs that have a situation where they did not expect a TPK but it might happen anyways. There are groups who just do not want to TPK. Sure, they're ok with a party member dying but if the whole team goes down, they'll be upset. I actually fall into your boat of using environmental story telling to warn about potential TPKs more. However, over 100s of hours of gameplay, EVERYONE makes a mistake at some point. Also, and this isn't an attack, but D&D isn't realistic. It is a game about casting spells, exploring dungeons, and fighting monsters. If you're wanting medieval roleplay, there are better TTRPG systems for that.
Hey man, you’re doing a great job with the dnd vids. I used to be a content creator in totally unrelated areas, so I 9now the struggle. Keep doing it if it’s fun. When the sacrifice outruns the passion, it’s time to get out, but until then, chase your dreams! I listen to a ton of DND content, and I think you’re gonna make it.
Couldn't agree more on point five. I'm of the opinion that encounter design *does* continue well into the encounter itself, and if say the bad guys are *waaaaaaay* more powerful than they were on paper, there's no harm done in dialing back some numbers mid-fight to turn a TPK into a tough and grueling battle. The dice, however, are sacred. I go as far as to make every roll public to all players - it makes everything feel more real, that there is no Deus Ex Machina.
i know it is pretty late to leave a comment but, i wanna add that sometimes..it is OK to TPK xD i had 2 groups TPK before..and they knew it was going to happen, their decesions were bad, there was a lot of foreshadowing on how powerful the enemy is, they did not use their resources well and didn't make any good friends, and when i told that they might TPK they were all in it, thus..they died and we made a nother campaign with almost a main course to avenge the fallen heroes, another TPK was the party thinking i am too soft handed and they were disrespctful to NPCs way stronger than they are by that time. but the NPC is fey ..so he doesn't give 2 ducks about people dying and so he killed 1 party memeber. the other party memebers went to different paths, one of them died in a place i stated directly more than once..should not be visited, and the third part member escaped.
What’s the closest your DnD party has come to a TPK but NOT TPK’d?
Loved the Video. Luckily I have yet to get in a Situation, where I was scared of a TPK happening, but now Im prepared for when it happens.
Sir, you earned a new subscriber. Looking forward to your next Video.
Thank you for the kind words and the sub. Glad this video could help!
A tpk, death in general, should always be on the table. If you don't have death on the table you take away the agency of success from your players. Is very dangerous situation they encounter it's guaranteed to be a survived there's no risk. No risk equals no reward.
When I was a dungeon master I always allowed the party to make their own mistakes and put themselves in deadly situations. And if those situation ended in a character death or two so be it. It's part of the story. I always let my players know through description and building tension and sometimes out and out just telling them that this potentially a very deadly encounter for you are you sure you want to tackle it this way? Generally I would do it by being very descriptive in the encounters prior to something deadly. Giving them tons of hints and clues along the way as to how dangerous the situation is that they're in or that they are building up to.
That will allow them to think deeply about how they're going to approach something and come up with a plan that has a good chance of success. After that it's really up to the dice and what choices the players make during their adventure.
As for that thing about power-ups. Modern dungeons & dragons already plays enough like a video game as opposed to an actual role-playing game. I where you're actually playing the role of a person in a specific type of setting. Giving phenomenal power up effects out of the blue just makes it feel more like a video game. To me that's a detriment to the hobby. If you like it and your players are happy playing this way well good for you and and really have as much fun with it as you can. It's just not anything I would do if I got back into the hobby. It lacks realism. It's like watching dragon Ball versus historic medieval play.
Firstly thanks for commenting. It really helps the channel and improves the discourse.
Secondly, just because of you have tactics for curbing TPKs does not mean there is no danger. A death to a boss is very different to a death to 5 shadows. This video is more for DMs that have a situation where they did not expect a TPK but it might happen anyways. There are groups who just do not want to TPK. Sure, they're ok with a party member dying but if the whole team goes down, they'll be upset. I actually fall into your boat of using environmental story telling to warn about potential TPKs more. However, over 100s of hours of gameplay, EVERYONE makes a mistake at some point.
Also, and this isn't an attack, but D&D isn't realistic. It is a game about casting spells, exploring dungeons, and fighting monsters. If you're wanting medieval roleplay, there are better TTRPG systems for that.
Amen!
Hey man, you’re doing a great job with the dnd vids. I used to be a content creator in totally unrelated areas, so I 9now the struggle. Keep doing it if it’s fun. When the sacrifice outruns the passion, it’s time to get out, but until then, chase your dreams!
I listen to a ton of DND content, and I think you’re gonna make it.
Couldn't agree more on point five. I'm of the opinion that encounter design *does* continue well into the encounter itself, and if say the bad guys are *waaaaaaay* more powerful than they were on paper, there's no harm done in dialing back some numbers mid-fight to turn a TPK into a tough and grueling battle.
The dice, however, are sacred. I go as far as to make every roll public to all players - it makes everything feel more real, that there is no Deus Ex Machina.
Well said
i know it is pretty late to leave a comment but, i wanna add that sometimes..it is OK to TPK xD i had 2 groups TPK before..and they knew it was going to happen, their decesions were bad, there was a lot of foreshadowing on how powerful the enemy is, they did not use their resources well and didn't make any good friends, and when i told that they might TPK they were all in it, thus..they died and we made a nother campaign with almost a main course to avenge the fallen heroes, another TPK was the party thinking i am too soft handed and they were disrespctful to NPCs way stronger than they are by that time. but the NPC is fey ..so he doesn't give 2 ducks about people dying and so he killed 1 party memeber. the other party memebers went to different paths, one of them died in a place i stated directly more than once..should not be visited, and the third part member escaped.
❤
Thanks for the contnent.
Thanks for watching!