So this has become where on the web I put thoughts inspired by something else on the web, but that I don't think quite fit in that location. From here: "I'm looking [...] to perform a sort of magic trick. They have to do
both: Create the impression of real threat. While at the same time, they
secretly protect from death. What do people reckon? Is this viable? Or a
can't-have-the-cake-and-eat-it situation?"
My, this is more complex to answer than I thought - and I thought it was pretty complex! For now, the short version: I'd say you need to threaten something meaningful, but not death unless it IS appropriate to threaten death. Real threat to something the players care about, combined with flexibility of narrative, i.e., there's not a PARTICULAR narrative you're trying to forward, just trying to make a good one as you play. . "Secretly" is very, very rarely worth the downside in RPGs (IMO).
Another option is possible if the players can simultaneously realize the threat is quite unlikely to be mortal, but still play as if the characters expect it to be mortal. Then you can just stop hiding that the possibility of random-combat character death is usually (but not necessarily always) an illusion. Even this is made easier if there really is something important threatened (anything from pure-player level "man, we did that poorly" to character-based "your honor is besmirched").
Anything more will have to await further discussion - and suddenly I see a way in which G+ might actually be useful, the way spawning a sister thread sometimes works with forums ...
