D&D 5E I Don't Like Damage On A Miss

[Doug McCrae]

Next you'll be telling me that Armor Class can be improved by having a high score in Dexterity!

It's called Armor Class, not Defense Class!!

 

[Pickles JG]

If I can cope with Hit Points I can cope with damage on a miss.

Still points for the most melodramatic attention seeking response to the playtest yet

 

[variant]

If it was lightning... hey, I could understand. Lightning has an explosion of superheated air around it. That'd do some damage even if you missed.

But this is an axe. And with an axe you either connect or you don't. Because even if this guy is fighting against something WAY out of his league, like a guy that has shingles of adamantium for armor across his entire body and a forcefield to boot... he'll still take damage.

I don't care how aggressive your fighting style is, it wouldn't let you cleave through a guy wearing adamantium armor... even when you miss.

Which is the key here... HE NEVER EVER ACTUALLY MISSES. All of his attacks land according to this ability. He is guarenteed a minimum of x damage per round, so long as he swings. Is he swinging at a bird in a tree? Strength Damage. Is he swinging at a brick wall and STILL missed the brick wall? Well it just shattered.


Sorry, they can do bette rthan this weak ass ability. It breaks disbelief.

I think you should read the Hit Points section on page 12 of the How to Play.

 

[DEFCON 1]

Sorry, they can do better than this weak ass ability. It breaks disbelief.

That's why when I see rules in a book that I don't like... I disbelieve they are there and just don't use them.

 

[CleverNickName]

I think you should read the Hit Points section on page 12 of the How to Play.

It sounds like he did, and he doesn't agree with those either.

That's why when I see rules in a book that I don't like... I disbelieve they are there and just don't use them.

Nice. I'd XP you if I could...

 

[Doug McCrae]

Next you'll be telling me that damage doesn't always mean damage!

That a point of damage doesn't always represent a physical wound, but the loss of skill, luck, stamina, magical protection, or even a 'sixth sense'!! Whoever heard of sixth sense being measured in points???

 

[Incenjucar]

Sigh.

A miss in D&D doesn't always mean you completely fail to make contact with someone. A miss in D&D means that you have managed to negate an attack's effectiveness. If someone "misses" you with an axe in D&D, it CAN mean that you have dodged it entirely. Or it can mean that your armor took the blow head-on, and it simply failed to penetrate. Or it can mean that you managed roll your body so that the side of the axe hit you instead of the sharp part and all you got was a friction burn. Or it can mean that you blocked or deflected it with your weapon or shield. Moreover, because a round is six seconds, all of these can happen in the same round to the same attack - any one melee attack is usually several swipes of a weapon.

 

[Empath Negative]

I think you should read the Hit Points section on page 12 of the How to Play.

Hitpoints are an abstraction? And?

Are they meant to be nonsensical? That's what is being argued here.Because if this guy can injure you using a method that no other being in existence can... i.e. hit you, even when he misses you, with a melee weapon... something is gravely wrong.

 

[enrious]

If it was lightning... hey, I could understand. Lightning has an explosion of superheated air around it. That'd do some damage even if you missed.

But this is an axe. And with an axe you either connect or you don't. Because even if this guy is fighting against something WAY out of his league, like a guy that has shingles of adamantium for armor across his entire body and a forcefield to boot... he'll still take damage.

I don't care how aggressive your fighting style is, it wouldn't let you cleave through a guy wearing adamantium armor... even when you miss.

Which is the key here... HE NEVER EVER ACTUALLY MISSES. All of his attacks land according to this ability. He is guarenteed a minimum of x damage per round, so long as he swings. Is he swinging at a bird in a tree? Strength Damage. Is he swinging at a brick wall and STILL missed the brick wall? Well it just shattered.


Sorry, they can do bette rthan this weak ass ability. It breaks disbelief.

So....you didn't read what hit points are, as specified in the playtest document?

 

[CleverNickName]

*sigh* Here we go again, with that same "squishy hit points" argument.

Fine, you want hit points to be abstract. Aces. The fact remains: no matter how you define hit points and damage, at the end of the day, the fighter doesn't even have to roll the dice to see if he manages to kill the big bad evil guy. It's like his action doesn't even matter...no matter what, he gets to win. Call it luck, call it damage, call it "sixth sense" or whatever you want, that is still what it boils down to.

And it's boring. (Or anti-climatic, at best.) They can do better.