Quote Originally Posted by Amphetryon View Post
Or, it's an alternate way of telling them "No, you did a dumb, deal with it" which, apparently, your Players will not take umbrage with because of the perception that they're being told this in a kinder, gentler way.
Well, yeah, that's the idea. D&D is after all a game. Im not sure where the confusion here lies, actually. Im trying to make defeat as enjoyable (or nearly so) as victory. That means going out of my way to avoid making them unhappy about it.