this post was submitted on 06 Oct 2025
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To be fair if you don't make it clear to the party that they can't take the creature or some other kind of warning there's no way for them to know if they can handle it without metagaming.
I the player know a level 2 can't take on a giant, but does my character know that
If you're playing a character that foolhardy to see a creature anywhere from 2x to 10x their size and think tbey can fight it, then let them die. It's not metagaming to see something large and make the reasonable assumption that it could crush you.
Can you beat an orca in a fight? How can you assume that without metagame knowledge of its stats?
Edit: quite a few people have very low opinions of a reasonable person's self-preservation instincts. Or assume every PC is the type of internet person that says they could fight a lion mano-a-mano.
If I was a magic robot that could throw fireballs or kill something by simply touching it IRL, probably.
Yeah, but you're not that at level 2.
Well, not fireball; but being a Warforged isn't level dependent, it's a race, and Touch of Death is a level 2 spell for a Death Domain cleric.
Wasn't familiar with "Touch of Death"; I don't play clerics often. But it's just a smite.
Assuming average HP on level up and +3 CON mod: Barb: 25; Fighter: 22; Cleric: 19.
And Touch of Death does +9 damage at level 2.
I'm only breaking out numbers to get a better idea of what the users of the ability would be seeing, and what level of lethality they would come to expect from repeated usage. And that's not killing anyone with a touch except commoners, and level 1 wizards and sorcerers.
My only point is: people who have had to risk their life to even get to level 2 (unless they're reckless or an idiot) probably wouldn't have an overly big head over middling magical abilities. They might be feeling themselves and think they can fight a group of thugs at 4 to 1 odds but it's bonkers to pretend a normal adventurer would need some ex machina explanation to warn them off fighting something like a giant or a dragon at level 2.