How to avoid killing your player characters as GM

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by whswhs

Is this thread about rpgs generally, or is it just about dungeon crawls? Because in the great majority of my campaigns, I don't see what you seem to be calling "default behavior." Even when I ran an intentionally combat-focused campaign, it wasn't about that behavior; it was about duels with the smallsword, typically to first blood.

It's more than dungeon crawls that can heavily feature existential combat (that is, combat where the purpose is to eliminate OpFor, and where OpFor is trying to do the same to you). Indeed, particularly considering this is the kind of combat that tends to crop up in action films and video games, many players go into a game expecting that to be the way combat is handled. Doing things differently - duels to first blood, foes fleeing (or surrendering) as soon as it appears they may be losing, it being more beneficial to capture - or even just drive off - foes than kill them, etc - is certainly a valid playstyle, and I expect is favored by groups who are markedly more interested in playing a role than playing a combat simulator, but many players don't expect that mode of play. Fortunately, the campaign prospecti (prospectuses?) you've mentioned supplying in the past probably help avoid players being surprised when that's the mode of play.