Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Attacking defenseless NPCs
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Oofta" data-source="post: 7626081" data-attributes="member: 6801845"><p>I don't view HP as just toughness, but toughness (and difficulty to critically wound a creature) as kind of a sliding scale. PCs do more damage as they get higher level either through stronger spells, more base damage or more attacks. It reflects that they're getting better at killing opponents than when they got started. So barring really bad rolls a 20th level ranger would not have had any issue taking down the orc, a 1st level ranger might not be skilled enough to do it.</p><p></p><p>Combine that with the likelihood of hitting a vital spot and it's not easy. Even if the orc is bored, he's still moving slightly, the tree he's in may be swaying, the breeze may alter the path of the arrow and so on. So that shot you were sure was going straight into the eye ... well now it just bounced off the side of his helmet enough to cause some bruising because it still hit. Just not enough to kill. This is especially true because of 5E's philosophy of bounded accuracy.</p><p></p><p>In addition, as others have pointed out, what's good for the goose is good for the gander. If a relatively low level PC can get an automatic assassination attempt, the bad guys should get it too.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Oofta, post: 7626081, member: 6801845"] I don't view HP as just toughness, but toughness (and difficulty to critically wound a creature) as kind of a sliding scale. PCs do more damage as they get higher level either through stronger spells, more base damage or more attacks. It reflects that they're getting better at killing opponents than when they got started. So barring really bad rolls a 20th level ranger would not have had any issue taking down the orc, a 1st level ranger might not be skilled enough to do it. Combine that with the likelihood of hitting a vital spot and it's not easy. Even if the orc is bored, he's still moving slightly, the tree he's in may be swaying, the breeze may alter the path of the arrow and so on. So that shot you were sure was going straight into the eye ... well now it just bounced off the side of his helmet enough to cause some bruising because it still hit. Just not enough to kill. This is especially true because of 5E's philosophy of bounded accuracy. In addition, as others have pointed out, what's good for the goose is good for the gander. If a relatively low level PC can get an automatic assassination attempt, the bad guys should get it too. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Attacking defenseless NPCs
Top