"1 Hp remaining.... again"

[Wik]

I have no idea what's going on, but my group seems to have developed something of a tradition. Usually - maybe once a fight, really - they will hit an enemy for just enough damage that it has 1 or 2 HP remaining. It happens so often that I will often just smirk, and the group instantly realizes "aw, crap, if I hit it for one more point...".

I need a good name for it. Something perfectly poetic, sort of like "Ghetto crit".

It reminds me of way back when we played BECMI, when the starting group would always find the cleric had the most hit points. Seriously - every time I ran BECMI, the Cleric was the HP king.

Every group has some weird quirks. What are some of the strange mechanical/statistical improbabilities that exist in your group? Do you have a name for it?

 

[Dykstrav]

Very odd. This exact situation happens constantly in my own 4E game. At least half the combats involve a monster hanging on by 1 hit point. My players have altered their play style to this phenomenon, usually relying on at-wills once an enemy is bloodied.

Strange to see that someone else has the exact same weirdness.

 

[Fate Lawson]

Happens in our group all the time. It is usually followed by the GM saying (in a high pitched voice) "I'm a minion."


Of course the same thing is often said by any player whose character has likewise been reduced to exactly 1 hp.

 

[Asmor]

Happens in our group all the time. It is usually followed by the GM saying (in a high pitched voice) "I'm a minion."


Of course the same thing is often said by any player whose character has likewise been reduced to exactly 1 hp.

There's an idea. "Minionized."

 

[Amaroq]

Had an absolutely brilliant moment of this today.

The ranger with the triple-headed flail went Twin Strike versus his Hunter's Quarry ... hit once, missed once, okay ... then rolls a one for both his flail and the Quarry die ... yes, it was a net of five HP of damage to a creature which had had six HP, I kid you not!

 

[Wik]

There's an idea. "Minionized."

I like it! I think it's a winner! I'm totally going to break that out next game.

***

And weird that it happens to others, too. I'm totally serious that it happens at least once an encounter... the monster will have one or two HP remaining. I almost feel as if it's a phenomenon that seems more common because I'm looking for it, but it really does pop up ridiculously often (and I'm not the only one, apparently!)

 

[steenan]

It's not that strange. If the number of monsters in a fight is about half of the average damage a PC deals in a single hit, in most combats there will be an attack that leaves a monster with 1 or 2 HP. That's statistics.

 

[Kzach]

Heh, yeah, it seems to happen a lot in my groups as well. I call it the 'die hard' syndrome

 

[blargney the second]

It's not that strange. If the number of monsters in a fight is about half of the average damage a PC deals in a single hit, in most combats there will be an attack that leaves a monster with 1 or 2 HP. That's statistics.

Well, let's see: we average about 25-30 damage each, and we fight 4-6 monsters as a general rule. There's damn near an order of magnitude difference...

 

[Peraion Graufalke]

Happens often in my group, too - every other encounter thus far in early heroic tier. For added hilarity, it's always the elite or higher-level monster that has 1-3 hp remaining.

My group's also quite odd in that the defender is out of surges by the 3rd encounter between extended rests, and I usually manage to bring one of the other two characters close to 0 hp each fight. (Party composition is: half-orc warden, dragonborn cleric, drow assassin; they've just reached 4th level. I freely admit that I'm being tough on them. )