I'm running my first campaign with three friends. This is the first time any of us have done any table-top role-playing. I'm working the party through the H1: Keep on the Shadowfell campaign using just PHB1.
So far they have made it through the first two encounters and barely escaped death. To be perfectly honest, they probably would have died if I didn't fudge some of the enemy attack rolls ever so slightly.
I know my role as a DM isn't to keep them alive or kill them off, but I'm trying to at least not kill them for the first few encounters because I want to make sure they're having fun and I'd hate for them to worry about actually dying right out of the gate.
Yes, the players are having fun. They haven't complained about nearing death both encounters and it gives them a lot of satisfaction because they succeeded while staring death in the face. My question is then more abstract: is it normal for players to get so close to death in every encounter?