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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Bawylie" data-source="post: 7285165" data-attributes="member: 6776133">I think if I’m going to do something like this, I want to build on what already exists and alter as little as possible. So instead of adding Wound Points, I’m going to use Hit Dice because they’re already there. Now let’s say critical hits double damage (as normal) but also deplete a hit die. Now a character with zero HP is dying. A character with zero hit dice and zero HP is dead. For a buffer, maybe we increase the number of Hit dice a character gets by a few. Their proficiency modifier perhaps. Ok that’s characters. It’s deadlier without succumbing to one-shot fever. Most everything works normally, but there’s a small change to hit dice. How about NPC creatures? They have hit dice, I think, listed in their MM entries. I just checked. They do have hit dice. So I suppose the rule works just as well for NPCs. Only I wouldn’t give them any extra padding. But let’s say we DO want lethal Critical Hits and lethal surprise attacks. Maybe to give us a more Assassin’s Creed style game where combat is more about engaging an unaware enemy than a straight up slug-fest. In that case, critical hits and attacks against defenseless targets don’t double damage - they roll normal weapon damage and deplete that many Hit Dice. If a creature loses more hit dice than it has currently, it dies. A defenseless target is one that cannot defend itself (for instance, they’re asleep or otherwise incapacitated), or is totally unaware of the attack (this is like the old flat-footed rule - it’s a creature that doesn’t perceive any danger, isn’t defending itself, and has not rolled initiative). A surprised creature isn’t eligible because it is aware of danger and has rolled initiative, it is defending itself, but it’s just slow to act. And if I wanted to be really picky about it, I’d rule that attacks against defenseless targets had to be made with small, subtle weapons like daggers, that can be concealed (unlike swinging an axe, which anyone would be more likely to notice than not) if you wanted the damage to go straight to the hit dice. Heck, certain potent poisons could just deal hit dice damage on a failed save. Any thoughts on this?Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk</blockquote>

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