Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is LIVE! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
New DM Problem: Describing Attacks.
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="DestroyYouAlot" data-source="post: 3065680" data-attributes="member: 36618"><p>I tend to give at least every other attack <em>some</em> "flavor", at least a location and how "ouchie" it is. I really only get into long descriptions for big damage. As far as hit locations, I wing it if it's a normal attack, and I have a post-it with a humanoid stick figure and numbers for hit locations on my screen if I get into a "chest hit" rut. For criticals, I use a critical hit system ("Torn Asunder" from Bastion Press) that has not only hit locations for any conceivable body type, but specific effects for "really critical" hits. (Not to mention fumbles.) It's a great product. So, I <em>don't</em> describe "crippling strikes" unless they actually <em>got</em> one. (Solves that problem, for me at least.)</p><p></p><p>I think the most common (and understandable) problem new DMs run into is imagining HP as a static value, instead of a reflection of the ability an expert combatant has to <em>avoid</em> damage. Think of it as a Dodge skill that you can't put any ranks into; it's the same thing the party rogue is doing with Evasion, the rogue is just better at it. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" /> Otherwise, you have the image of high-level fighters carving great wedges of meat out of each other and archmages frying each other to small puffs of ash every six seconds which makes so many high-level D&D games so cartoonish. Also, that six seconds: A <em>lot</em> can happen in a knife fight inside of six seconds. Avoid the "one roll, one hit" mentality and describe big (non-critical) damage as a series of strikes, rather than two guys standing around running each other through and then looking at their watches for five seconds.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="DestroyYouAlot, post: 3065680, member: 36618"] I tend to give at least every other attack [i]some[/i] "flavor", at least a location and how "ouchie" it is. I really only get into long descriptions for big damage. As far as hit locations, I wing it if it's a normal attack, and I have a post-it with a humanoid stick figure and numbers for hit locations on my screen if I get into a "chest hit" rut. For criticals, I use a critical hit system ("Torn Asunder" from Bastion Press) that has not only hit locations for any conceivable body type, but specific effects for "really critical" hits. (Not to mention fumbles.) It's a great product. So, I [i]don't[/i] describe "crippling strikes" unless they actually [i]got[/i] one. (Solves that problem, for me at least.) I think the most common (and understandable) problem new DMs run into is imagining HP as a static value, instead of a reflection of the ability an expert combatant has to [i]avoid[/i] damage. Think of it as a Dodge skill that you can't put any ranks into; it's the same thing the party rogue is doing with Evasion, the rogue is just better at it. ;) Otherwise, you have the image of high-level fighters carving great wedges of meat out of each other and archmages frying each other to small puffs of ash every six seconds which makes so many high-level D&D games so cartoonish. Also, that six seconds: A [i]lot[/i] can happen in a knife fight inside of six seconds. Avoid the "one roll, one hit" mentality and describe big (non-critical) damage as a series of strikes, rather than two guys standing around running each other through and then looking at their watches for five seconds. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
New DM Problem: Describing Attacks.
Top