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Would you change a monster's hit points mid-fight?
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<blockquote data-quote="Lancelot" data-source="post: 6570235" data-attributes="member: 30022"><p>Yes, I would... and have... changed hp in mid-fight. I do it sparingly; maybe once every 4-5 sessions at most.</p><p></p><p>In my opinion, one of the key roles of a DM is to create dramatic tension. Sometimes, the dice simply don't cooperate with that. I'm reminded of a classic Judge Dredd comic story ("Mechanismo"). The Mega-City Justice Department introduces robot judges to police the citizens; their knowledge and execution of the law is supposedly flawless. But they lack empathy and a sense of humanity in their actions. These are intangible attributes which, theoretically, make human judges <u>inferior</u> to machines (due to inconsistencies or inaccuracies in rulings)... but are ultimately essential to creating an outcome that is more psychologically acceptable to us flawed humans.</p><p></p><p>For me, DM'ing is the same thing. RPGs are more than just the strict, accurate and fair application of the rules. The DM is just as responsible for creating the story and the excitement as the players, and he/she has more tools available to achieve this... including manipulating numbers behind the screen (without the players knowing), changing the plot or encounters on the fly, and changing or creating monster abilities/powers as required to suit the purposes of the story. As long as these changes are invisible to the players (and that's part of the skill of being a good DM), then there is no challenge to suspension-of-disbelief or sense-of-fairness.</p><p></p><p>I almost never change hp to change the <u>outcome</u> of the fight. No villain in my campaign has "plot shields". However, he might stick around (before losing) for another round or two simply to make the players sweat... which increases their sense of excitement and accomplishment. </p><p></p><p>Similarly, I'll sometimes lower monster hp to hasten the conclusion (and reduce the boredom) of an obvious PC victory. I used to do this more frequently in 4e, where it was a real problem. Fortunately, 5e combats are a lot faster-paced. I can only recall one combat in the last 6 months where I've felt the urge to lower monster hp.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lancelot, post: 6570235, member: 30022"] Yes, I would... and have... changed hp in mid-fight. I do it sparingly; maybe once every 4-5 sessions at most. In my opinion, one of the key roles of a DM is to create dramatic tension. Sometimes, the dice simply don't cooperate with that. I'm reminded of a classic Judge Dredd comic story ("Mechanismo"). The Mega-City Justice Department introduces robot judges to police the citizens; their knowledge and execution of the law is supposedly flawless. But they lack empathy and a sense of humanity in their actions. These are intangible attributes which, theoretically, make human judges [U]inferior[/U] to machines (due to inconsistencies or inaccuracies in rulings)... but are ultimately essential to creating an outcome that is more psychologically acceptable to us flawed humans. For me, DM'ing is the same thing. RPGs are more than just the strict, accurate and fair application of the rules. The DM is just as responsible for creating the story and the excitement as the players, and he/she has more tools available to achieve this... including manipulating numbers behind the screen (without the players knowing), changing the plot or encounters on the fly, and changing or creating monster abilities/powers as required to suit the purposes of the story. As long as these changes are invisible to the players (and that's part of the skill of being a good DM), then there is no challenge to suspension-of-disbelief or sense-of-fairness. I almost never change hp to change the [U]outcome[/U] of the fight. No villain in my campaign has "plot shields". However, he might stick around (before losing) for another round or two simply to make the players sweat... which increases their sense of excitement and accomplishment. Similarly, I'll sometimes lower monster hp to hasten the conclusion (and reduce the boredom) of an obvious PC victory. I used to do this more frequently in 4e, where it was a real problem. Fortunately, 5e combats are a lot faster-paced. I can only recall one combat in the last 6 months where I've felt the urge to lower monster hp. [/QUOTE]
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Would you change a monster's hit points mid-fight?
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