Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Wargamer 08-21-06, 09:00 AM	I know this is starting to take the game out of the realms of D&D, but still. One think that irks me about every game system is that, for reasons beyond my comprehension, being older, more experienced or a higher rank makes you tougher. Think about this. Why should a Level 20 Fighter be able to shrug off an Arrow that would kill a Level 1 instantly? Sure he might be a better fighter, more experienced in war, but how is it that it takes 200+pts of damage to drop him all of a sudden? Last time I checked, a General cannot sustain an anti-tank shell to the chest. As such, I propose this: Characters do not gain additional Hit Dice with each level. The only way to gain HD is to take the Toughness Feat. What you do gain is Fate Points. Characters start with two Fate Points each, and gain another each level. The way Fate Points work is this; they can be used to change an action. For example, if your character is caught in a trap and killed, you can spend a Fate Point to save them. How they are saved is up to the DM, but it is rarely "Oh, you're suddenly Okay." In fact, it never works like that. Let's take an obvious one; combat. The party wizard is killed by a crossbow bolt, and spends a Fate point to save himself. Rather than being killed, the crossbow bolt grazed his skull, knocking him out but with no lasting injuries (besides a headache). A character who should have drowned might be washed up down stream, half-dead in a cave somewhere. A character who falls to an early grave may break their legs instead. Fate Points may also be given as a reward for a particularly difficult challenge. In particular, they should be awarded based on how they are spent. A character who uses Fate Points solely to evade death should earn them back more easily than someone who uses a Fate Point whenever he is mildly inconvenienced. NPCs do not get Fate Points; only the players do. Now to balance out the HD, certain classes may also receive bonus Fate Points at regular intervals; clearly, a Wizard will need more Fate than a Barbarian! As a final point... I imagine this system would make many opponents far more deadly. However, to me that's part of the fun! I get so tired of people turning around and saying "Oh, its only Monster X, it's not a threat". Now even high-level players must fear the Kobold Archers...
Applecrow 08-24-06, 04:51 PM	the best response i can give you is the Penetration rule from Hackmaster if you roll max on a die, you keep rolling as long as you roll max, subtracting one from each bonus die example: you roll an 8 on a D8, you roll again, another 8! and then you roll a one on the next die (8+(8-1)+(1-1)) = 8+7+0, you just did 15 points with a D8 weapon (plus modifiers) 15 might seem not to big a jump from 8 when you are fighting a 200hp fighter, but i've easily seen people roll 2-3 (once 10) penetrations on their die. The secret is using weapons that do 2Dx especially 2D4 to get a very high chance of penetration damage. You can also adjust certain nasty weapons to do penetration damage on highest -1 on the die. (i.e. crossbows, etc.) of course, this means you'll want to tell your players to bring 2-3 characters to the game in case your monsters get lucky. Hackmaster gives you a +20 hp kicker at 1st level to offset this....
Vintar 08-24-06, 06:26 PM	Why not just use Vitality/Wound points? That's pretty much what that does. Vitality represents getting out of the way at the last second etc., making a potentially deadly strike merely a glancing blow at most scratching you or some-such. Wound points represent actually getting thwacked.
LordPendragon 08-25-06, 09:47 AM	The players should probably get a number of fate points per level equal to the average size of the HD for all their class levels. That solves 2 problems with your system - first, the fact that 10HP is nothing and will get your destroyed in the face. Secondly, that high-HD classes get screwed in your current system since their large HD is worth nothing. For instance... If a Fighter2/Rogue1 decided to gain another level of Rogue, he would have 8 Fate points for that level (10+10+6+6 / 4 = 8).
Tolby 08-25-06, 10:42 PM	How would you work monsters. I relly don't see a great wyrm red dragon going down from a single dagger blow? BBEG same thing. Or even there minions. Lots of spells need to be reqorked a 10th level fireball kills everything on minimium damage.
Marrethiel 08-29-06, 09:07 PM	You should just play a game system that is more lethal instead of re writing one that isn't. HARP might do the trick or maybe Runequest. DnD is good as an epic type game where fighters wade through mobs, shrugging of blows. Which is good and fun in the right campaign. HARP (http://www.harphq.com/) allows for heroic game play but is much more lethal as a careless character might bite the big one any time. Fun, but different.
Tenzhi 08-29-06, 11:17 PM	Why should a Level 20 Fighter be able to shrug off an Arrow that would kill a Level 1 instantly? Because he's level 20, obviously. ;) But rather than doing an unnecessary rewrite, I'd suggest using either of the two HP alternatives in UA - Wound/Vitality points, or the Toughness save mechanic. Both of those make it so the level 20 might get taken out nearly as quickly as the level 1 character.
QaenyinAngelblade 09-03-06, 03:48 AM	As to the explanation, it's generally felt that hp=the characters stamina. Being hit, means they are harmed by the attack. For example, the general may have been hit by the anti tank shell, but that doesnt mean the antitank shell flew into his face and exploded, it might have struck the ground nearby and the shrapnel hit him, inflicting an injury. A warrior may have an arrow graze them in the arm, that would be considered a hit. The higher level the character, the more stamina they have, and the longer they can go without tiring to the point they are open to a finishing strike.