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General Tabletop Discussion
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Correlating Player Satisfaction, Combat Speed, and HP / Damage Modeling
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<blockquote data-quote="Nagol" data-source="post: 6937861" data-attributes="member: 23935"><p>Almost all systems have a variation on hit points. Rolemaster (1e), Runequest (2e, 3e), and Hero (2e - 5e) are not exceptions. </p><p></p><p>Rolemaster (1e) (and its smaller cousin MERP) characters have hit points. Where the game veers away from them is through its critical hit/fumble system. Criticals and fumbles can inflict a wide range of effects -- from extra damage, periodic damage, inflicting status effects like stunning, through to instant death. Death through hp loss is not particularly uncommon but the risk is overshadowed by the critical charts. The effect on play is to either make the table very combat averse or to turn the campaign into a form of slapstick.</p><p></p><p>Runequest (2e, 3e) characters have hit points. There is the total hit points for the character and then each hit location gets a portion of those hit points assigned to it. Exceeding the hit points in a particular location disables it -- leading to broken limbs, unconsciousness, sense loss, or even death. Add to the mix a critical/fumble system that inflicts extra damage and you get a situation where combat is more grim than D&D, but still somewhat predictable. Most PCs focus quite a bit on attack avoidance (parry or dodge) and damage mitigation (armour) to improve survivability.</p><p></p><p>Hero (2e-5e) characters have 3 separate consumable traits: Body, Stun, and Endurance. Body is effective hit points: death comes when Body is at or below its negative maximum (i.e. Body maximum 10, death occurs at -10 or below). Stun keeps you conscious. The character is conscious so long as Stun > 0. Endurance (shortened to End) powers action. If it is at zero, further actions will cause Stun damage. </p><p></p><p>Almost all combats will start with Stun and End at full. While conscious, Stun and End heal once per combat turn (every 12 seconds -- where a typical character gets 3-6 combat actions each turn) plus any time during combat when an action is successfully used to recover. A typical human can recover all Stun and End in less than 2 minutes of rest. Recovery while unconscious takes longer and in the worst case, multiple hours may pass before the character wakes up on his own although with aid that will typically shorten to about 10 minutes.</p><p></p><p>Body loss is generally uncommon and is a much bigger deal. Body heals over weeks and months without special abilities. The amount of Stun recovered every 12 seconds is the amount of Body recovered every month (varies somewhat in the earlier editions, but similar ballpark). A typical human takes about 5 months to heal to full from almost dead. NB: a typical character isn't a typical human and healing rates twice that of a normal human aren't all that unusual. </p><p></p><p>Most combats are about inflicting Stun damage. Characters will typically fall unconscious well before death though it is quite possible to construct a character that focuses on Body damage.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Nagol, post: 6937861, member: 23935"] Almost all systems have a variation on hit points. Rolemaster (1e), Runequest (2e, 3e), and Hero (2e - 5e) are not exceptions. Rolemaster (1e) (and its smaller cousin MERP) characters have hit points. Where the game veers away from them is through its critical hit/fumble system. Criticals and fumbles can inflict a wide range of effects -- from extra damage, periodic damage, inflicting status effects like stunning, through to instant death. Death through hp loss is not particularly uncommon but the risk is overshadowed by the critical charts. The effect on play is to either make the table very combat averse or to turn the campaign into a form of slapstick. Runequest (2e, 3e) characters have hit points. There is the total hit points for the character and then each hit location gets a portion of those hit points assigned to it. Exceeding the hit points in a particular location disables it -- leading to broken limbs, unconsciousness, sense loss, or even death. Add to the mix a critical/fumble system that inflicts extra damage and you get a situation where combat is more grim than D&D, but still somewhat predictable. Most PCs focus quite a bit on attack avoidance (parry or dodge) and damage mitigation (armour) to improve survivability. Hero (2e-5e) characters have 3 separate consumable traits: Body, Stun, and Endurance. Body is effective hit points: death comes when Body is at or below its negative maximum (i.e. Body maximum 10, death occurs at -10 or below). Stun keeps you conscious. The character is conscious so long as Stun > 0. Endurance (shortened to End) powers action. If it is at zero, further actions will cause Stun damage. Almost all combats will start with Stun and End at full. While conscious, Stun and End heal once per combat turn (every 12 seconds -- where a typical character gets 3-6 combat actions each turn) plus any time during combat when an action is successfully used to recover. A typical human can recover all Stun and End in less than 2 minutes of rest. Recovery while unconscious takes longer and in the worst case, multiple hours may pass before the character wakes up on his own although with aid that will typically shorten to about 10 minutes. Body loss is generally uncommon and is a much bigger deal. Body heals over weeks and months without special abilities. The amount of Stun recovered every 12 seconds is the amount of Body recovered every month (varies somewhat in the earlier editions, but similar ballpark). A typical human takes about 5 months to heal to full from almost dead. NB: a typical character isn't a typical human and healing rates twice that of a normal human aren't all that unusual. Most combats are about inflicting Stun damage. Characters will typically fall unconscious well before death though it is quite possible to construct a character that focuses on Body damage. [/QUOTE]
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