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Forked Thread: Alternatives to mountains of hit points
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<blockquote data-quote="Galloglaich" data-source="post: 4661417" data-attributes="member: 77019"><p>There is more than one way to skin this particular cat. We use the Martial Pool "roll many / keep one" system to shape the odds. So rather than giving the players, (high level NPCs or major Monsters etc.) ridiculous amounts of hit points that stretch fights out into endless, boring attrition matches, you just give your higher level players more dice to roll with each attack or defense, they keep the highest die and discard the rest.</p><p> </p><p>This way they can shape their luck, making them much more powerful than regular mooks without distorting them so much that they are literally completely invulnerable to being shot with twenty arrrows or falling off of a 100' cliff or being thrown into a lava pit. Instead your PCs have the flexibility to assign priorities in different ways so that combat is never predictable. </p><p> </p><p>Sure there are various goals for a given gaming system, I don't grasp why DnD has decided to go into only one specific direction, but for those of us who are willing to tinker with the rules a little (and I do mean a little) I think there are always more creative options, we don't have to buy into all these same old assumptions just because a lot of other people did.</p><p> </p><p>You don't have to make every PC into Jason Vorheez to have fun, thats just one kind of Character from one kind of movie. There are other types of horror movies, not to mention sci fi, fantasy, western, film noire etc. etc. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" /></p><p> </p><p>G.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Galloglaich, post: 4661417, member: 77019"] There is more than one way to skin this particular cat. We use the Martial Pool "roll many / keep one" system to shape the odds. So rather than giving the players, (high level NPCs or major Monsters etc.) ridiculous amounts of hit points that stretch fights out into endless, boring attrition matches, you just give your higher level players more dice to roll with each attack or defense, they keep the highest die and discard the rest. This way they can shape their luck, making them much more powerful than regular mooks without distorting them so much that they are literally completely invulnerable to being shot with twenty arrrows or falling off of a 100' cliff or being thrown into a lava pit. Instead your PCs have the flexibility to assign priorities in different ways so that combat is never predictable. Sure there are various goals for a given gaming system, I don't grasp why DnD has decided to go into only one specific direction, but for those of us who are willing to tinker with the rules a little (and I do mean a little) I think there are always more creative options, we don't have to buy into all these same old assumptions just because a lot of other people did. You don't have to make every PC into Jason Vorheez to have fun, thats just one kind of Character from one kind of movie. There are other types of horror movies, not to mention sci fi, fantasy, western, film noire etc. etc. ;) G. [/QUOTE]
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