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Message: <blockquote data-quote="CapnZapp" data-source="post: 8106805" data-attributes="member: 12731">You're thinking of the way the simple starter adventure that pitches the freshly hatched heroes against an Ogre, right?<a href="https://2e.aonprd.com/Monsters.aspx?ID=317" target="_blank">This monster</a> is technically "only" two levels above the heroes level so I can see how an inexperienced writer selects it for the "final fight".But the problem is that its attack deals 1d10+7 damage.What's the problem with that, you might think. A PF2 hero doesn't start with 1d4 hit points, they will all have between 14-20 hit points even at level 1.Except it stands a ~25% chance of scoring a critical hit... which not only doubles the damage but adds an extra d10 damage on top!Or example hero has 18 hp and AC 18 (many characters will be worse off than this). With a +12 attack bonus, the Ogre needs to roll 16 on the d20 to score a critical hit against this character.Even the sturdiest and tankiest fighter thus stands a real chance of going from fully healed to irrevocably dead in a single hit, with no comeback possible in any way. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f635.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt="o_O" title="Er... what?    o_O"  data-smilie="12"data-shortname="o_O" />Sure that risk isn't exactly overwhelming, but.. what were they thinking? If even 5% of prospective gamers walk away with a character sheet torn in half for being killed in a way that would come as an utter surprise and involve zero mistake on their part... isn't that kind of a bad introduction...?Specifically: we're talking about the massive damage rule. It really only matters at very low levels, but that's exactly when you don't want to scare away newcomers, before they're hooked on your product that is...[URL unfurl="true"]https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=384[/URL]So imagine a character with 18 hit points. She dies instantly if a single hit deals 36 damage. If the first d10 comes up an 8, 9, or 10, there's a real risk of the second "deadly" d10 taking you over the top. For instance: (1d10 rolls a 8+7)x2+1d10 rolls a 6=36I can't be bothered to calculate the exact probability for this outcome, but you should easily see we're not talking one-in-a-thousand. I'd guesstimate something like 4% - it would happen to one in every twenty-five groups playing this adventure.And even that's conservative - it assumes<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">the Ogre only gets a single attack before being killed, which - given that it is a L+2 creature with an ally - is not really realistic</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">the Ogre never gets a swing against something less sturdy than a mainline warrior</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">the Ogre never manages to flank with its Kobold(?) buddy, and that it never manages to first trip a character and then attack him</li> </ul>and maybe most worrying...<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">the Ogre never attacks an already-wounded hero! <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f910.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":censored:" title="Censored    :censored:"  data-smilie="14"data-shortname=":censored:" /></li> </ul></blockquote>

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