Throughout your time in the fantasy worlds of Dungeons & Dragons, you are sure to run in to some tense situations. Deadly enemies, bad rolls, and poor choices can all lead you to rolling Death Saving Throws, but there is something worse than the inevitable character death.
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The total party kill, or TPK, can be the end of your group’s adventuring together, if not for a little ret-conning or divine intervention. Part luck and skill, every character has the capacity to make the choices leading to a TPK, but some character classes are a bit more likely than others.
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Monk
The Safest Around
If there is any class that is least likely to cause a TPK in D&D, then it is by far the monk. Something that should be of comfort to those who like to main these ki-wielding martial artists.
Monks focus mostly on abilities that attack one target at a time, and their play style usually prefers the careful use of distance and measured action economy. That means rushing in to attack isn’t the usual strategy, and most of the time your allies won’t get caught up in your attacks. Throw in their healing abilities for good measure, and you have a pretty safe class to be around.
12
Cleric
Healing And Stalwart?!
Clerics are some of the least likely to trigger a TPK, but it’s still not an impossibility. Usually they are the healers and stalwart defenders of a party, albeit some war clerics would be upset at this image.
Having some connections with divine entities also doesn’t hurt their survivability when it comes to the party as a whole, but running counter to these gods can have some pretty immediate and devastating consequences. Plus, some of the upper-level cleric spells are pretty powerful.
11
Ranger
Far-Off Style
Rangers as a whole are fairly unlikely to cause any sort of TPK event. Not the least likely, but less to be sure. This comes from their usually rather distant nature when it comes to combat.
Rangers like ranged combat, it’s in the name. Even those who don’t usually stick to stealth or animal-companion combat. True, brash action or poor scouting can trigger a cascading event, but it’s far less likely to happen to them than it is a rogue or even a bard. Just make sure those Animal Handling checks go well.
10
Paladin
Duty Bound To Act
The deadly servants of the gods, paladins aren’t the most likely to cause a TPK by far, but they aren’t the safest either. Their wisdom and often lawful temperament help them greatly, but their selflessness can get them into some trouble.
The paladins, by nature, are usually the first to jump in when something bad is happening. Having your paladin fall early can lead to your party being minus a powerful fighter and healer at times. This can destabilize the party, making a TPK more likely.
9
Fighter
So Many Weapons
The fighter class can be overlooked in many of the rankings of player characters, but they can be quite deceiving at how dangerous they can be. A single fighter has a lot of abilities and weapons at their disposal to cause havoc with. Much like the barbarian class, it is this push towards bullishness that can cause problems.
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The real danger with fighters is biting off more than they can chew. Without spells, they don’t have many ways to accidentally do damage to a party member. Instead, it is all about a misguided attempt at aggression that can make them the first domino to fall in the party.
8
Rogue
The Dangerous Sort
Rogues are well-known for staying out of trouble, for the most part. At least staying out of trouble in an overt kind of way. But, when things go bad for a rogue, they go quite bad.
They are close to the bard in the way of TPK risk for their main abilities. When everything goes according to plan in stealth, everything is perfect. However, it only takes one bad stealth roll to make a leisurely stroll in the shadows a TPK event for the entire party. Make sure you have an escape plan.
7
Druid
Nature’s A Harsh Mistress
Some of nature’s favorites, it can be hard to believe a druid could cause your party to TPK. It is, however unlikely, a possibility that even the most level-headed druid must come to terms with.
Druids as a class have quite a few area of effect spells, which count against them here. The unpredictability of Wild Shape also doesn’t help. But, tie in the fact that they are ordained to act as the protectors of nature, and you have a reason for them to act brashly, even if it may hurt the party in the long-run.
6
Wizard
Is Wisdom Enough?
Wizards often represent the pinnacle of wisdom in and out of battle, which makes sense considering they got their abilities in the arcane from dedicated studying. It is, despite all that knowledge, possible for them to make a bad move that could lead to the party’s downfall.
Wizards have access to some of the highest-level and deadliest spells in the game. Anyone who doesn’t think a TPK can result from the bad choices of a wizard hasn’t seen a poorly thought-out Meteor Swarm. Thankfully, these moments should be rather few and far between for this class.
5
Bard
Silver-Tounged
There are really only a few ways a bard is likely to have the party TPK, but they are some likely ones. Honestly, their access to some pretty devastating area of effect spells is the least likely part of this mix.
The most likely way for a bard to trigger a total party kill is their persuasive nature. They’re well-suited for talking their way out of problems, but sometimes the dice don’t want to see you win, or more likely, you’ll just talk your way into more problems. It’s a double-edged sword.
4
Barbarian
Charging Head-On
Barbarians are pretty high up there when it comes to the probability of them triggering a TPK. They are the frontline fighting class, and usually have some pretty brash natures.
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Once your barbarian goes down in a fight, it can be only a matter of time before the rest of the adventurers follow. Not to mention the class sort of amplifies the selfless nature of diving into combat willy-nilly through the Rage mechanic. Thankfully, most barbarians don’t have access to area of effect attacks.
Barbarians also have a wild magic subclass option, which doesn’t really help them here.
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