this post was submitted on 12 Nov 2023
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A game can be challenging without involving character death. And the funny thing is, I'm not sure being able to die is what makes it challenging. I think it all comes down to : how much did character actions and player decisions mattered into the character surviving or dying ?
I do love the possibility of dying myself because I know that if I don't act right or do something stupid, I won't be saved and will suffer the consequences of it. But this implies that it's my choice that kills me. If my choice doesn't kill me, then it sucks. If it's the choice of another character, then it's akind to pvp and fuck that. And if it's the choice of a NPC or a God, might as well tell me that I shouldn't have come to play.
Note, I said CHOICE, not actions. A NPc can choose to try and kill me, if I also have choices to get me out of there.
I don't think it's so much about challenging players as it is ensuring that player action feels meaningful. There's no faster way to kill player agency than to start fudging numbers when things look grim - do it too often and suddenly every threat becomes a paper tiger. That's not to say that death is necessary, but consequences absolutely are.
I'm currently playing in a campaign with a GM that's done something very interesting with player death - the party's stuck in a time loop, and each character that's in the loop has a number of "lives" that everyone in the group can see. Every time a PC dies, the number goes down and the loop resets. It's encouraged a surprising sort of flexibility on the part of both the players and the GM - PCs take risks they wouldn't otherwise for fear of death, and the GM isn't afraid to throw harder challenges at the party. The consequences of failure are muted, but still ever-present. It's a shockingly effective means of ensuring players still have agency and the stakes feel real, while keeping a safety net in place.
Sounds fun
It's a blast, I'm going to be doing something similar if I run a campaign.