in 5E Dungeons & Dragons, many combats have characters dropped to 0 hit points, healed a little (e.g. by healing word) and return to fight until dropped, and then the cycle repeats. No chance of dying except massive damage. Do you like this? #dnd Disagree that this equates to “no chance of dying.”
But mileage will vary hard on that depending on planned encounters.
Basically I like the deathnand dying system without adding things like exhaustion.
— Dan Dillon (@Dan_Dillon_1) May 19, 2019
I agree with Dan. Yes, healing will bring a pc back up and prevent death, but that healing requires resources. Once those resources are used up, the chance of death rises dramatically. In a game where players are allowed the “five minute workday,” death will rarely be a concern. Healers moving into position to even cast healing spells (line of sight is real for healing word, y'all) provokes opportunity attacks, has to contend with terrain. What if the downed character is in a dangerous area that exposes the would-be savior? (we lost two PCs to that).
— Dan Dillon (@Dan_Dillon_1) May 19, 2019
It's a complex issue and boiling it down to "no chance of death" is highly inaccurate in my experience.
— Dan Dillon (@Dan_Dillon_1) May 19, 2019
Oh yeah. The setting of a combat encounter is important. Strategic decisions by enemies and terrain difficulties can have a big impact on the use of those resources. This is something I need to get better at. We had two people go down inside the range of a symbol of stunning, fighting helmed horrors (Immune to stunned). My warlock with his force damage could only watch helplessly as they failed death saves. Made for an amazing story questing for a lost artifact to resurrect them, tho
— Dan Dillon (@Dan_Dillon_1) May 19, 2019