Fear of Death in 5e

I seldom have helpless PCs on the field. That's as it should be — I assume ours is the story of the band of heroes that were both lucky and good and survived against all odds. But that doesn't mean that the threat of death shouldn't add a little frisson to the proceedings, nor that death shouldn't be an inconvenience, a strong story beat, and a chance for the party to reevaluate their tactics.

@DMDavid has written a short article entitled Can a DM Have Monsters Kill Fallen Characters Without Bringing Hurt Feelings?. It’s about how DMs can increase the sense of peril to 5e’s nigh-unkillable PCs.

I realized a few sessions ago that we'd had a PC down, left untended for a few rounds while the others assumed they's mop up and deal with the downed fighter after the mêlée. And of course that's what happened, and the healer fixed it, and a short rest got everybody back in fighting trim. From a story perspective, that's mortally wounded to ready-to-go in about an hour. Pretty unsatisfying narratively.

I think with 5e the idea of front-loading the dread of death is a great solution to this problem. We are all exhilarated when we come through a potentially dangerous situation with skill, luck, or the help of our friends. Now I just have to remember to hit these beats at the table.