| rdfs:comment | - A total party kill (TPK) or wipe is a situation in which every player character in a party dies. Factors that may lead to a TPK include player inexperience or stubbornness, absentees or insufficient player characters for encounters as designed, encounters or sequences of encounters too difficult for the party's capabilities, or an unexpected number of die rolls unfavorable to the players. A very handy tip for new DMs is to keep some NPC's on hand who know where the PCs are going, and if the encounter turns out to be too hard can come in and save the day.
- The entire adventuring party dies in an epic blaze of glory! ... wait, no, that's not quite right. The party was trying to quietly remove some guards, and Bob decided to use a tactical nuke in hand-to-hand combat. The remains of the group wouldn't fill a coffee can. When this happens in a MMORPG, it's called a Party Wipe. It happens disturbingly often when you enter a level-appropriate dungeon with a Pick Up Group. A Leeroy Jenkins is likely to be involved. Compare Redshirt Army. See also Kill'Em All. For incredibly stupid ways you can do yourself in in video games, see Yet Another Stupid Death.
|
| abstract | - The entire adventuring party dies in an epic blaze of glory! ... wait, no, that's not quite right. The party was trying to quietly remove some guards, and Bob decided to use a tactical nuke in hand-to-hand combat. The remains of the group wouldn't fill a coffee can. A Total Party Kill is often the result of complete player idiocy. Occasionally, the Game Master won't balance an encounter well, and the mooks are much bigger than he thought. And some days, the Random Number God just doesn't like you, and your dice collectively vote for the party's violent demise in the most embarrassing way possible. When this happens in a MMORPG, it's called a Party Wipe. It happens disturbingly often when you enter a level-appropriate dungeon with a Pick Up Group. A Leeroy Jenkins is likely to be involved. Not the same as Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies: in that trope, the Game Master deliberately kills everyone. Here, players die due to getting in over their heads. If the Game Master values the current plot or characters, he may save the group, but otherwise, it's time to roll up another party. Also differs from a game going Off the Rails (even if it causes the destruction of the party, or the whole world for that matter) in that the GM never actually loses control of the situation; rather, the players get hosed through either incompetence or bad luck, or most often, both. Compare Redshirt Army. See also Kill'Em All. For incredibly stupid ways you can do yourself in in video games, see Yet Another Stupid Death. Examples of Total Party Kill include:
- A total party kill (TPK) or wipe is a situation in which every player character in a party dies. Factors that may lead to a TPK include player inexperience or stubbornness, absentees or insufficient player characters for encounters as designed, encounters or sequences of encounters too difficult for the party's capabilities, or an unexpected number of die rolls unfavorable to the players. Different Dungeon Masters may handle TPKs differently. Some might avoid TPKs to keep the players' mood from turning sour, for example, by designing encounters cautiously, misrepresenting hidden die rolls in the party's favor, or even retconning TPKs after the fact. Others might intentionally design encounters with a high potential for becoming TPKs, to maintain versimilitude, or as a challenge to players to recognize and avert dangerous situations. A very handy tip for new DMs is to keep some NPC's on hand who know where the PCs are going, and if the encounter turns out to be too hard can come in and save the day.
|
