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I'm not against save scumming but I hate being forced to save scum. I'd hate this situation as much as I hate the game over you can have when you fail your rolls with the mindflayer playing with a single character.
Blame the dragon if this situation does not make sense.
How are you being forced to save scum in OP's example? You chose to attack an enemy without first investigating their purpose or talking to them, and just after seeing a dragon fly directly overhead that (as a big warning) frightened your party members. If you attack everyone you see, then it's reasonable to sometimes face an enemy that's too powerful for you.
But I think that we just have irreconcilable opinions on this, as I loved the fact that you could get a game-over talking to the mindflayer. It's a video game, so a
limited number of "Do something probably stupid? Die" situations are fine and add tension. As long as warnings are given (e.g., the name "Mind Flayer" along with the mid-dialogue warnings of mental danger)
I also wouldn't categorize either as "save scumming." Save scumming implies reloading until you get an optimal result, but in both of these cases you're just reloading after dying, like in any other game with save states.
