Quote Originally Posted by Kaptin Keen View Post
In 32 years of playing tabletop RPG's, I think I've killed - as the GM - maybe 5 characters, tops. I've had even fewer die as a player. And most of the characters that have died at my table were when someone wanted to reroll.

It doesn't just 'happen eventually'. If you set out to have a bloody campaign, then sure, eventually it will get bloody, or you're not doing it right. But defeat can take many forms, and it's not difficult to avoid outright slaughter if that's what you want.
It most certainly can "just happen".

The last three campaigns I ran to completion, all with the same pool of players had radically different lethalities. My WFRP Enemy Within campaign (arguably a much more lethal system than D&D) ran to completion without a single character death (in a group of 6 players), whereas my Dark Heresy campaign (6 players, 3 the same from the WFRP game) saw two character deaths, and my Ravenloft campaign (8 players, everyone from the WFRP game) saw eleven character deaths, with only two players making it from start to completion on a single character, one player losing four characters (I love you Sam, but you're a ****-up ), two characters being killed by the party itself, and four characters going down in a single session.

The secret is to not have any preconceived goal of how the campaign will go, just set it up and see where it ends up. And surely, isn't that the number one rule that DM's should abide by?

It seems odd to me. Railroading is universally despised, being a killer-DM and purposefully killing characters is viewed as a cardinal sin, and even fudging dicerolls is a contentious subject with many viewing it as a deeply unfair practice. Yet, perplexingly to me, sheltering and protecting characters (without the players knowledge and permission) is quite frequently given a pass. To me, it is no different than railroading or fudging dice, it is the DM making a choice for the players, taking away their agency. I sincerely believe that a DM that purposefully and deliberately keeps a character alive is no better than one that purposefully kills one; in both cases, it was not their decision to make.