Search results

Some games do this to an extent. I know i bring up TSOY a lot but that is one advantage to stake setting. The stake could be...(DM) crazy bugbear breaks your leg vs (Player) you knock crazy bugbear out.

That is true (well as consistently as REH wants to be). But i think the issue is the "fighting on" vs the "not injured" The IM moment does not depict no injury it depicts "fighting on" I think the second wind is a gamist device which allows the players to determine how they want the narrative...

Honestly, I think some simulationists-heavy players should try a game like TSOY. Damage in that game is on 1-damage tracker (7 slots) and physical, mental and social damage can fill up your tracker. The penalties for each slot of the tracker filled ipenalizes you in the specific realm...

You are correct there are definitely enough literary serial versions of IM moments (and since i really like Conan stories should have thought this through more). Though it would seem to lose its punch if it keeps happening (it is big deal in Princess Bride, it is more ho-hum in Conan)

Some issue with this though is the question about the veracity of in-game narration. Some people have issues if in game narration is false. That what is said at the table (not character speech but the words of the universe so to speak) is not true. Obviously this can happen when illusions or...

What if the conflict is over (we killed the monster) and wow it looks like you killed the beast before he killed you (you had 1 hp left) he did some some vicious damage to you though (ie you had 1 hp left). Given that you had only 1 hp left you and the DM narrate it as a gaping deadly chest...

I am in the humorous position of defending your position though honestly i dont mind strongly narrative mechanics that allow you to fully retcon. It is possible that i am missing an option and my argument goes up in a puff of smoke but at the moment i dont see a particular hole in my reasoning.

4E though was made to focus on many combats, its strength is the tactical choices in combat which really only shines when you have many of them. The flipside to this is if you have many fights they each cant be Inigo Montoya moments. if you dont have many fights I think you are losing one of the...

yes but your version is too verbose :cool: I agree with your pre-4E definition. It is on the mark. How specific gamers feel about that characterstics ability to detail a good yarn, will vary greatly. Certain subsystems (Torn-asunder, combat and tactics guide in 2E) did try ot incorporate...

While in general I support the reasons why you have an issue with the 4E paradigm oh hp mechanics, conversely an ablative HP system such as earlier versions of D&D have as the single measurement of injury is somewhat absurd to begin with. You are left with deadly wounds that have no impact on...

in 4E, Aragorn isnt a ranger (sorry had to say that) :D

They wanted to make them silver but because of technicolor issues they couldnt.

For RC (please tell me if i am correct) i believe he wants HP to at some level model "real" injuries. While there are issues with previous editions (high level fighter HP vs low level fighter HP) he can more easily use the HP system to generalize true wounds. In pre-4E paradigm even if some of...

And you do. HP by themselves are far from the best simulationist mechanic. Rolemaster has a much better one as it is real-time, describes "real" injuries and the consequences of said injuries affect things mechanically. IN general i think wound mechanics (such as BW has) are superior to HP...

While you make good points RC issue is not just the necessary unrealistic issues involved but of retconning the narrative. He wants HP to be a real-time tracker of condition, with healing surges they are not. I think he has a very valid point in this and that simulationist are not going to like...

Rolemaster is good this way. You are conscious dying (and maybe sans limbs). TSOY could do this as the stake setting could result in dying but conscious.

Though this begs the question why you cant you second wind after you are "dead". Using both gamist and narrativist thinking, there is no reason you shouldn't be able to and I dont think it is particularly a bad idea either. Of course not being able to allows you to ratchet up the tension a bit...

As usual great analysis Pemerton of the hp spectrum from a variety of games. I like your last paragraph as it hits the heart of the issue across the spectrum of games.

I agree that my ideas would probably cause the game to fail to reach its design goals. I feel that 4E is a game first system and its mechanics are much tighter than previous editions with the goal of delivering tactical enjoyment in series of encounters. My ideas would probably interfere with...