Bloodied and why it is cool.

[dkyle]

I dont like the balancing factor of bloodied. It SHOULD get easier to get beat down the more beat up you are. Thats more dramatic.

LOL I swear sometimes I think 4e lovers are the same people who never turn a video game to hard mode......

Uh huh, because being fine right until you hit 0 HP is something totally new to 4E, and totally isn't how the game has always worked from the moment Gygax first adapted Chainmail.

Your insult is complete nonsense. If you had said "DnD" instead of 4E, it would at least be coherent (but still ridiculous).

 

[Savage Wombat]

You know, if I were playing a game that penalized my actions because I was wounded, I would totally want feats that kicked in to let me fight harder at those times, to compensate. Desperate strength, adrenalin surge, tough as nails, etc. Sort of like John McClane.

Hey, you know what? D&D actually has that built in, doesn't it? The more wounded you are, the harder you fight to overcome the weakness of the flesh with your heroic will to live. Sort of balances out.

 

[I'm A Banana]

One interesting random idea I once had was that until you were Bloodied, you could use only at-wills. Once bloodied, you could use encounter powers. You could use Dailies only when you were out of healing surges.

It'd never work, but I always was fond of that "desperation" mechanic, where things got swingier as you got closer to your untimely demise.

 

[Sunseeker]

I dont like the balancing factor of bloodied. It SHOULD get easier to get beat down the more beat up you are. Thats more dramatic.

LOL I swear sometimes I think 4e lovers are the same people who never turn a video game to hard mode......

And we shouldn't have to. D&D should be accessible at multiple levels and styles of play. There is no "right" way to play the game, the only way you can play D&D wrong is if you're not enjoying your play.

Which is why the idea of modules for 5e is so appealing. Finally people can play the same edition, but feel like they're playing their favored edition, with their favored houserules.

Some people don't want hard mode and we shouldn't be forced to play it because some people do. That's why different modes exist, because different types of players exist.

I'd rather see more in the way of encounter powers that can only be used while bloodied, or against a bloodied target, or when not bloodied. Instead of Bloodhunt giving +1 to all attacks against bloodied foes, give me the ability to 1/enc gain +3 to hit a bloodied enemy. Same fluff, easier to manage.

That part of it came to me as I was writing. I figured: People like to have lots of options, but lots of options can make decisions difficult and time-consuming, not to mention fairly overpowered if players have too many options at low levels. Having special "use only if target is bloodied" adds an interesting element that IMO makes combat feel a lot more interactive.

 

[boredgremlin]

You laugh, but that's kind of insulting.

You know we've rules against being insulting, right? If you didn't know, now you do. We expect you to show respect for your fellow posters, no matter how different your tastes may be.

Please, folks, watch it with the insulting generalizations. Thanks.

I really didnt think there was an insult. some people like an easy game to chill out with and some people like to get their ass kicked sometimes and have to really master a game to win consistently. Different strokes for different folks is all.

 

[boredgremlin]

Uh huh, because being fine right until you hit 0 HP is something totally new to 4E, and totally isn't how the game has always worked from the moment Gygax first adapted Chainmail.

Your insult is complete nonsense. If you had said "DnD" instead of 4E, it would at least be coherent (but still ridiculous).

Okay i wasnt going to comment but if you cant see the difference between starting with 10 hp or so and 1HD monsters with equal HP and generally 2-9 damage and starting with 40hp, monsters dying when you sneeze at them and only doing 5 damage even on a hit then we will simply never be able to connect on anything.

 

[Sunseeker]

Okay i wasnt going to comment but if you cant see the difference between starting with 10 hp or so and 1HD monsters with equal HP and generally 2-9 damage and starting with 40hp, monsters dying when you sneeze at them and only doing 5 damage even on a hit then we will simply never be able to connect on anything.

Straw man arguments aren't going to get you very far buddy. If you haven't played 4e and are unfamiliar with how the system actually works, my advice is to not go around claiming it's wrong.

 

[Thunderfoot]

See, I didn't like bloodied as a racial bonus/penalty system, the concept is cool, but the execution is a little wonky (for me anyways).

What I see here is a chance to give the berserker (barbarian) a reason to rage. That Bloodied equals berserk and isn't a stage to be voluntarily entered into but a state that is thrust upon you when certain conditions are met.

The process berserkers historically used to whip themselves into a frenzy often included self mutilation and flagellation, so it doesn't seem too far off the mark.

It was this "applies to everyone" concept (not just bloodied but everything_ that kept me away from 4e, and while I like your attention to good mechanics (your system is well thought out), I just can't get behind it as a wholesale mechanic. As a specialty mechanic, sign me up!

 

[herrozerro]

LOL I swear sometimes I think 4e lovers are the same people who never turn a video game to hard mode......

I'd like to point you towards fourthcore.

and also like to point out that deathspirals are hardly the only way to make a game hard.

 

[boredgremlin]

Straw man arguments aren't going to get you very far buddy. If you haven't played 4e and are unfamiliar with how the system actually works, my advice is to not go around claiming it's wrong.

Played it. Its wrong for me. I dont like how they did pretty much everything. Too heroic, too easy, too gamey, too..... everything. I just top to bottom did not like it.