How to avoid killing your player characters as GM

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by Witchking

Who the heck wants to have a fair fight?

A lot of players want the catharsis of dishing out some ultraviolence, and may enjoy the challenge of a fair fight - or even one where the odds are against them. Sure, this might not be the ultimate goal of the character (although it certain still can be - consider Kenpachi from Bleach, or, for a less-extreme version, Nil from Horizon: Zero Dawn), but it's what the players find to be fun. And at the end of the day, the purpose of an RPG is having fun.

Now, personally, I love it when a plan comes together and the party is victorious due to superior manipulation of events and the battlefield rather than because the dice were on their side this time (although the latter can certainly be fun too). But not all players are going to be like me - plenty want to be able to just Leeroy Jenkins their way into a fight. And sometimes having disposable characters is the way to go - from what I understand, the playtesters all had a blast in the Delvers to Grow meatgrinder. But when it isn't, you'll need some options to keep the characters alive despite their best attempts to off themselves.