TPK

In tabletop role-playing, TPK stands for Total Party Kill. It means that the entire adventuring party has been wiped out, either due to their own stupidity, the GM's callousness or a combination of the two.

The piccy above is from a Polish gaming site, and the miniatures are the work of a very talented artist who goes by ctan.

TPK should not be confused with TDK, a trusted brand of audio cassette.

Thinking back to my youth, when we played "D&D" every weekend (and even more frequently in the hols), I don't have any enduring memories of TPKs. They must have happened, though, because more than one of us owned the notorious trap-fest "S1 - Tomb Of Horrors", which I know no group of ours ever successfully made it through.

A different type of Total Party Kill once occurred at a mate's birthday bash. Someone cut themselves, went into a bathroom and carelessly dripped blood across toothbrushes and whatnot. My buddy justifiably turfed out all of the party-goers and called it a night.

To end on an upbeat note, here's a funny song about a TPK to the tune of "Jingle Bells". It was released by the also very talented Ginny Di last Xmas.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCwYCyyIGvo