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Power and Pathfinder Classes - Forked Thread: Pathfinder - sell me
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<blockquote data-quote="Wulf Ratbane" data-source="post: 4785930" data-attributes="member: 94"><p>Changing hit points does not make the monster any more or less likely to hit the PCs, doesn't change the amount of damage it does, doesn't change its saving throws or saving throw DCs, etc. </p><p></p><p>In other words, the monster will be on exactly the same footing it was on before, with respect to the kinds of numbers it is going to be looking to roll with respect to the core d20 mechanic.</p><p></p><p>The real test of a monster's challenge (and for that matter the PCs as well) is how many <em>significant </em>actions it is able to take before it is eliminated. Actions in combat are the currency of power.</p><p></p><p>Increasing hit points won't work for every creature at all times. Hit points are only a useful resource on the hit point scale-- so for example, if you haven't done anything to mitigate save-or-die/save-or-suck effects that completely bypass the hit point mechanic, increasing hit points means jack.</p><p></p><p>At low levels particularly, both the PCs and the monsters are typically competing on the hit point scale: threatening each other via hit point damage. As levels increase, they will both typically move off this scale-- this great, workable, scalable, wonderful granular scale-- and move onto other scales entirely: the saving throw scale, the "AC so high you can't hit me at all" scale, etc.</p><p></p><p>High-level play moves off a granular scale and back onto a boolean scale-- save or die, who acts first, who rolls a 1 first, and so on. </p><p></p><p>Which is why I am a strong advocate for implementing another kind of attritive resource at high levels-- ie, action points.</p><p></p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">At low levels you know when your PC is at high risk when your hit points are low.<br /> </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">At high levels you know when your PC is at high risk when your action points run low.</li> </ul><p></p><p>I find this much preferable to simply forcing save-or-die mechanics onto the hit point scale, which is another approach to the same problem (and the one that Pathfinder has taken). But this approach requires a lot more careful DM guardianship over every spell from every source, etc.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Wulf Ratbane, post: 4785930, member: 94"] Changing hit points does not make the monster any more or less likely to hit the PCs, doesn't change the amount of damage it does, doesn't change its saving throws or saving throw DCs, etc. In other words, the monster will be on exactly the same footing it was on before, with respect to the kinds of numbers it is going to be looking to roll with respect to the core d20 mechanic. The real test of a monster's challenge (and for that matter the PCs as well) is how many [I]significant [/I]actions it is able to take before it is eliminated. Actions in combat are the currency of power. Increasing hit points won't work for every creature at all times. Hit points are only a useful resource on the hit point scale-- so for example, if you haven't done anything to mitigate save-or-die/save-or-suck effects that completely bypass the hit point mechanic, increasing hit points means jack. At low levels particularly, both the PCs and the monsters are typically competing on the hit point scale: threatening each other via hit point damage. As levels increase, they will both typically move off this scale-- this great, workable, scalable, wonderful granular scale-- and move onto other scales entirely: the saving throw scale, the "AC so high you can't hit me at all" scale, etc. High-level play moves off a granular scale and back onto a boolean scale-- save or die, who acts first, who rolls a 1 first, and so on. Which is why I am a strong advocate for implementing another kind of attritive resource at high levels-- ie, action points. [LIST] [*]At low levels you know when your PC is at high risk when your hit points are low. [*]At high levels you know when your PC is at high risk when your action points run low. [/LIST] I find this much preferable to simply forcing save-or-die mechanics onto the hit point scale, which is another approach to the same problem (and the one that Pathfinder has taken). But this approach requires a lot more careful DM guardianship over every spell from every source, etc. [/QUOTE]
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