D&D General Refresh my memory on the lethality of 3rd ed

[Zardnaar]

Less lethal than AD&D varies by books used, playstyle and knowledge of wands.

 

[Minigiant]

Depends on what you consider lethal.

Sure AD&D was harsher and left you more vurnable to dying if targeted by dangerous stuff. But the dangerous stuff was more in the DMs hands. The unfairly lethal stuff was clearly telegraphed. If you were properly treasure geared up, you could mitigate a lot of it. There were few casters. Many monsters had low accuracy. And super deadly stuff had to be actually placed in your way. It was up to the DM to actually use the brokenly unfair stuff.

But in 3e, everything was deadly. Sure it was easy to heal to full life... but everything could kill you. There was only that small window betwen level 4-7 where monsters don't real a ton of damage and SoS/SoD effects don't show up often when it's not super deadly. But Thor help you if the DM altered a monster or decided to give you a challange. People would randomly drop.

 

[Nefermandias]

AD&D had you roll your first level Hit Die. Anybody could roll a 1 at first level. 3e gave you max hp on your first level HD.

1e only went unconscious if you went exactly to 0 hp losing one each round with no roll, otherwise if the blow took you to -1 it was death. 2e was death at -10. 3e gave you staggered at 0, unconscious at -1 and losing 1 per round but with a check to stabilize, then death at -10.

AD&D has a lot more save or die effects. Poison in AD&D was generally save or die, in 3e it is ability damage. In AD&D lots of undead things were permanent effects without magic like energy drain, ghost aging 10-40 years per round, etc. In 3e energy drain caused one negative level but you could save to get rid of it the next day.

At higher levels however there was a bit more rocket tag in 3e where you can do more offense than defense and if you don't take out an opponent pretty fast there is big potential they can take you out.

People keep saying this -10 thing about 2e, but the Player's Handbook says you die at zero.

 

[Zardnaar]

People keep saying this -10 thing about 2e, but the Player's Handbook says you die at zero.

It's an optional rule iirc.

 

[Nefermandias]

It's an optional rule iirc.

Yes. But it's curious how often people say that like it was the norm.

By the way, can you point me where I can find said optional rule?

EDIT: Found it. "Hovering at Deaths Door", on the DMG. It's not quite the same as 3e though.

 

[James Gasik]

Yes. But it's curious how often people say that like it was the norm.

By the way, can you point me where I can find said optional rule?

EDIT: Found it. "Hovering at Deaths Door", on the DMG. It's not quite the same as 3e though.

It wasn't until I read the DMG that I realized it was an optional rule- it's how everyone I played with ran. I only remember how dying worked in 1e because I looked it up a few months back, to be honest, all my memories of actually playing 1e have sort of blurred and blended into my 2e ones due to old man brain.

 

[DarkCrisis]

It wasn't until I read the DMG that I realized it was an optional rule- it's how everyone I played with ran. I only remember how dying worked in 1e because I looked it up a few months back, to be honest, all my memories of actually playing 1e have sort of blurred and blended into my 2e ones due to old man brain.

It’s how I was taught AD&D.

 

[Zardnaar]

We used it as well no idea where from.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

We used it as well no idea where from.

It at least was a siggestion in Night Below to usr that optional rule.

 

[Zardnaar]

It at least was a siggestion in Night Below to usr that optional rule.

We were using it before we bought that book.

Maybe in a BECMI game via that DM or the Rules Cyclopedia?