Save or Die: Was Classic D&D Too Brutal?
or was it perfect?
All it took was one bad roll.. and your character was dead. Gone. No longer ready to play… That’s how it was in old school D&D.
Today’s topic of the podcast, we are talking about one of the most debated mechanics (well maybe not the most, but up there) in Classic D&D, The Save or DIE! mechanic. Today, questions like, was it unfair? Was it bad game design? Or was it an important part of what made you as a player have that fear that your character turning the corner could result in instant death? We’ll also compare it to modern game design and ask whether something important was lost when instant death largely disappeared from tabletop RPGs.
SO, whether you love Save or Die or hate it, this mechanic shaped an entire generation of players and Dungeon Masters.
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I dont like the typical DnD save rolls and such. If my character dies he/she dies.
When my players complain about save or die, it is because they want absolute immunity. They are ok with failing, they cannot handle the thought of a character dying.
Which is amusing to me as they tend to get over it and move on when it actually happens. They definitely prefer the superheroes feel of 4e and 5e.
I got them playing a mashup of BECMI and ACKS and I use save or die, though it is rare. They fought some spiders who killed a henchman, and almost killed a PC for instance. And they found a trap that would have crushed them under tons of stone. Also lost a henchman to a ballista at short range when they walked too confidently down a hall where enemies were expecting them. The PCs themselves have mostly avoided the effects so far.
They complain loudly every time something deadly comes up.