Wounds and Vitality in UA [Archive] - Wizards Community

Wounds and Vitality in UA [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
DoctorRomulus
05-21-04, 01:36 PM I am putting together a campaign which will begin in GREYHAWK and involve using Spelljamming to the other D&D worlds and I’m going to be using the Wounds & Vitality option. Has anyone used this yet and if so, how did it work out. My goal is to make PC’s think through situations and combat as well as nip potential “Godzillas” (creatures and characters who gain so many hit points they become unstoppable juggernauts that not even the Japanese military can stop) in the bud.
Reney
05-22-04, 05:13 AM It works well. We tried it with Star Wars and I've wanted to convert it into D&D since then. I could list a bunch of reasons why I love this variant, but I won't put you through that...

These are the things I'd suggest.

1) Make sure you tone down Improved Critical and Keen and the bludgeoning one so that they only increase the Threat Range by +1. (I can't remember if that was in the stated rules or as an option. So, I'm sorry if I'm stating the obvious. ^-^)

2) Use the variant where bonus dice (flaming, holy, sneak attack, etc...) only get to add 1/die to Critical damage otherwise things get out of hand really, really fast.

As it stands, be prepared for spells that have a possibility to make critical hits to be used more often. That's usually balanced by the fact that they aren't blasting gigantic areas anymore (which is really one of the happiest things for Arcane casters to do with themselves).

Also, I'm testing out how things will go when Burst weapons add 5 extra damage of the appropriate type. No one's made a Crit with one yet, but it makes the ability strong enough for people (Well, my players anyway.) to still want to pay the +2 cost, but not too bad game-wise.

Another thing that has come to be the bane of my existance is that my boyfriend has critically hit my last two BBEGs. They died in a big showery ball-o-death in round 1.

My only advice if that happens is that if you're using this variant you probably want the PC's to be very, very heroic in a very, very cinematic way so you just have to take the explosion of your main bosses in stride. :D
Lina_Inverse
05-22-04, 11:40 AM no need to tone down improved crit,it dosent stack with keen anymore and thats a big deal here.
Reney
05-22-04, 03:57 PM We had someone using a Keen Scimitar end up with a chance to immediately fatige a creature, possibly stun it, and probably kill it on a natural roll of 15-20. That can get pretty overpowered.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
DoctorRomulus 05-21-04, 01:36 PM	I am putting together a campaign which will begin in GREYHAWK and involve using Spelljamming to the other D&D worlds and I’m going to be using the Wounds & Vitality option. Has anyone used this yet and if so, how did it work out. My goal is to make PC’s think through situations and combat as well as nip potential “Godzillas” (creatures and characters who gain so many hit points they become unstoppable juggernauts that not even the Japanese military can stop) in the bud.
Reney 05-22-04, 05:13 AM	It works well. We tried it with Star Wars and I've wanted to convert it into D&D since then. I could list a bunch of reasons why I love this variant, but I won't put you through that... These are the things I'd suggest. 1) Make sure you tone down Improved Critical and Keen and the bludgeoning one so that they only increase the Threat Range by +1. (I can't remember if that was in the stated rules or as an option. So, I'm sorry if I'm stating the obvious. ^-^) 2) Use the variant where bonus dice (flaming, holy, sneak attack, etc...) only get to add 1/die to Critical damage otherwise things get out of hand really, really fast. As it stands, be prepared for spells that have a possibility to make critical hits to be used more often. That's usually balanced by the fact that they aren't blasting gigantic areas anymore (which is really one of the happiest things for Arcane casters to do with themselves). Also, I'm testing out how things will go when Burst weapons add 5 extra damage of the appropriate type. No one's made a Crit with one yet, but it makes the ability strong enough for people (Well, my players anyway.) to still want to pay the +2 cost, but not too bad game-wise. Another thing that has come to be the bane of my existance is that my boyfriend has critically hit my last two BBEGs. They died in a big showery ball-o-death in round 1. My only advice if that happens is that if you're using this variant you probably want the PC's to be very, very heroic in a very, very cinematic way so you just have to take the explosion of your main bosses in stride. :D
Lina_Inverse 05-22-04, 11:40 AM	no need to tone down improved crit,it dosent stack with keen anymore and thats a big deal here.
Reney 05-22-04, 03:57 PM	We had someone using a Keen Scimitar end up with a chance to immediately fatige a creature, possibly stun it, and probably kill it on a natural roll of 15-20. That can get pretty overpowered.