Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Dausuul" data-source="post: 5552087" data-attributes="member: 58197">Really? You'd always spend a surge worth of hit points to buy a saving throw (NOT a guaranteed escape) against a stun effect? I might do it depending on circumstances, but I wouldn't call it a no-brainer by any means. Keep in mind that spending a surge worth of hit points is much more painful than giving up a surge--the latter just shortens your adventuring day, while the former has a direct impact on the combat you're in right now.Obviously, if it costs too few hit points to buy a saving throw versus stun, everyone will always do it. And if it costs too many, no one will ever do it. So what? That just means it needs to cost the right amount.From a pure game balance point of view, a fixed number of hit points based on level makes more sense than something surge-based. If the game is properly balanced, then a PC with more hit points is weaker elsewhere to compensate. The squishy wizard's turns are more valuable than the tough fighter's, since the fighter is sacrificing some offensive capacity for that high hit point pool; so it makes sense that the wizard must give up a larger fraction of her hit points to &quot;buy&quot; an extra turn.However, healing surges are pre-calculated, which makes them a lot easier to use at the table. I'm willing to sacrifice a little balance for ease of use, so I lean toward using surges if it's roughly the right amount of hit points.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Dausuul, post: 5552087, member: 58197"] Really? You'd always spend a surge worth of hit points to buy a saving throw (NOT a guaranteed escape) against a stun effect? I might do it depending on circumstances, but I wouldn't call it a no-brainer by any means. Keep in mind that spending a surge worth of hit points is much more painful than giving up a surge--the latter just shortens your adventuring day, while the former has a direct impact on the combat you're in right now. Obviously, if it costs too few hit points to buy a saving throw versus stun, everyone will always do it. And if it costs too many, no one will ever do it. So what? That just means it needs to cost the right amount. From a pure game balance point of view, a fixed number of hit points based on level makes more sense than something surge-based. If the game is properly balanced, then a PC with more hit points is weaker elsewhere to compensate. The squishy wizard's turns are more valuable than the tough fighter's, since the fighter is sacrificing some offensive capacity for that high hit point pool; so it makes sense that the wizard must give up a larger fraction of her hit points to "buy" an extra turn. However, healing surges are pre-calculated, which makes them a lot easier to use at the table. I'm willing to sacrifice a little balance for ease of use, so I lean toward using surges if it's roughly the right amount of hit points. [/QUOTE]

Verification