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L&L 5/21 - Hit Points, Our Old Friend
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<blockquote data-quote="nnms" data-source="post: 5917887" data-attributes="member: 83293"><p>It's not just about monster design as simulation though. Even these meta-game level designs of treasure control and giving a "screw you" to people listening at doors, the monster stats themselves were still based relatively on their fictional description. Rust monsters have the HP and AC they do because they have tough hides (but not too tough) rather than because the PCs happen to be level 7 or something when they finally fight one.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Right, there were pirate kings and the like that were higher HD than other humans much like PCs can be. The older games also talked about PC leveled NPCs being present based on town sizes and whatnot.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>It can create problems when you don't have tactical combat as a discrete game mode that you enter and exit. Replaying through Keep on the Borderlands with BECMI has definitely been an eye opener. Between wandering monsters and staying the exploration game mode for much of the build up to combat means managing HP across multiple encounters becomes the focus rather than within the individual tactical combats.</p><p></p><p>Before I switched to playing BECMI, I had done some serious rules hacking of 4E to get it to produce the type of play I was looking for. Given the difficulty of excising the pacing mechanic and revamping the refresh rates based on encounter or daily power usage, healing surges, etc., I'm not sure D&D Next can support both a OD&D/BECMI/1E style approach to resources and a 4E one, even with modules added or removed.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="nnms, post: 5917887, member: 83293"] It's not just about monster design as simulation though. Even these meta-game level designs of treasure control and giving a "screw you" to people listening at doors, the monster stats themselves were still based relatively on their fictional description. Rust monsters have the HP and AC they do because they have tough hides (but not too tough) rather than because the PCs happen to be level 7 or something when they finally fight one. Right, there were pirate kings and the like that were higher HD than other humans much like PCs can be. The older games also talked about PC leveled NPCs being present based on town sizes and whatnot. It can create problems when you don't have tactical combat as a discrete game mode that you enter and exit. Replaying through Keep on the Borderlands with BECMI has definitely been an eye opener. Between wandering monsters and staying the exploration game mode for much of the build up to combat means managing HP across multiple encounters becomes the focus rather than within the individual tactical combats. Before I switched to playing BECMI, I had done some serious rules hacking of 4E to get it to produce the type of play I was looking for. Given the difficulty of excising the pacing mechanic and revamping the refresh rates based on encounter or daily power usage, healing surges, etc., I'm not sure D&D Next can support both a OD&D/BECMI/1E style approach to resources and a 4E one, even with modules added or removed. [/QUOTE]
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L&L 5/21 - Hit Points, Our Old Friend
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