First rule of fights: Just because you can beat them doesn't mean they can't beat you.
Heh, that's sure the case in DND. Particularly in our campaign, recently. My best friend just lost another die of HP from dying in the first round.
Which is, actually, kinda a sad for me. Maybe because I *always* play support characters, except this time... My most recent support character got pulverized by random chance in his first session. Which I don't mind, particularly since it was a (technically literally) epic death, but I chose to take control of his cohort... An incredibly effective swordmistress who can kill, but not protect.
And in the next session, she bluffed the enemies as the wizard died. Then used shadow powers to hide behind walls - resulting in our barbearian (sic) being knocked unconscious. He would have died too except that we were fighting merciful holy clerics.
She won the day for the party, but... I'm used to being able to cast Heal and Restoration, and summon things to distract and take hits. Being a flashstepping sword-dancer is fun and all, but... stupidly... I feel a little guilty.
It's an insecurity thing, not actual benevolence... I'm far more comfortable being relied on than vice versa. And suddenly I'm no longer providing the expected support, and that scares me.
In one of my first DnD games, our cleric was a self-righteous jerk that refused to heal people unless they could prove they
really needed it.
He never healed us a single time, and then he "accidentally" got permanently shape-shifted into a bear.
I had a wand of remove curse that could easily undo it, but since, being a bear, he wasn't able to explain why he
really needed to be turned back into a cleric, I didn't change him back.
When the campaign ended, his character simply wandered off into the forest, never to be heard from again.