Broken Bones

[eris404]

It's not a broken bone that causes hp damage, it's a critical hit that just happens to break a bone(or slice a muscle, or pierce out an eye)

So...why not just make the critical hit do Con damage?

edit - jeeze, I'm really having trouble typing today. :\

 

[gogo_jerrick]

If you accepted the argument, "You should not use the best system you can for X because you don't have an equally good system for Y, where X and Y are related concepts" there would be no game at all. For every X there are always several Ys.


RC

There are several y's! It's called set it and let it heal, Set it and heal it magically and let it heal naturally at a faster rate, use higher level magic such as heal or regenerate, or leave it be and have a gimp arm! lol

 

[gogo_jerrick]

So...why no just make the critical hit do Con damage?

because there are several factors to the varient, such as a piercing, bludgeoning, or slashing weapon and the percentage rolled. It's where after you calculate damage from the crit, you calculate the adverse effects such as you get slammed back 10 feet, you bleed excessively until healed, or you cut through their neck and deal additional damage and stun them for so many rounds. AFTER THE DAMAGE IS CALCULATED.

 

[IcyCool]

because there are several factors to the varient, such as a piercing, bludgeoning, or slashing weapon and the percentage rolled. It's where after you calculate damage from the crit, you calculate the adverse effects such as you get slammed back 10 feet, you bleed excessively until healed, or you cut through their neck and deal additional damage and stun them for so many rounds. AFTER THE DAMAGE IS CALCULATED.

So you here's what you could do:

Bob the fighter criticals Harry the hobgoblin with his warhammer. You calculate your damage and everything, and on top of that, you have the attack deal 1 point of Con damage. You describe it as Bob bringing his sword down on Harry's arm so hard that it breaks the bone. Keep your mechanics simple, and your descriptions ... descriptive. You could base the amount of Con damage on the crit multiplier of the weapon, if you like. Something like "in addition to your increased damage from a critical hit, you also deal an amount of Con damage = (Crit multiplier of the weapon - 1). So a longsword (crit multiplier of 2) would deal 1 point of Con damage on a critical hit, and a greataxe (crit multiplier of 3) would deal 2 points."

If you prefer, you could have different damage types deal different amounts or types of ability damage.





Or if you really want neat criticals, you could play Rolemaster.

 

[Sir Brennen]

If you prefer, you could have different damage types deal different amounts or types of ability damage.

Beat me to it...

But, yeah... just have ability damage be one of the "effects" applied after HP damage. In addition, you can keep whatever other effect is called for from your critical chart. A blow to the head might do INT or WIS damage in addition to stunning (or whatever). A smack on the arm might do d4 STR damage and render Shield Arm useless. Healing the STR damage will remove the useless arm penalty, and gives you an easy, measurable way to tell when the penalty is removed.

Of course, not every crit should result in ability damage, and some should be less severe (a single point.) And in some instances, the ability damage would be the only effect. Adjust the crit chart accordingly.

The rules for ability damage sound like they mimic the length of time you (GoGo) want to reflect for "naturally" healing broken bones, and there are already rules for spells curing it. Also, the cleric would have to have it memorized for it to be used during combat. In addition, using those spells (Restoration, Regeneration, Raise Dead ) means that's one less higher level "cure" the cleric can use, which is a reasonable trade off.


Little off topic: The "Best of Dragon" magazine collection coming out next month is suppose to include the classic "Good Hits, Bad Misses" critical hit article from a couple of decades ago. Should be very interesting to see how that one's updated to 3.5.

 

[eris404]

Little off topic: The "Best of Dragon" magazine collection coming out next month is suppose to include the classic "Good Hits, Bad Misses" critical hit article from a couple of decades ago. Should be very interesting to see how that one's updated to 3.5.

Neat!

Also, I remember there was a book called Torn Asunder that had a fairly detailed critical hit system. Is this the system you're using, GoGo?

 

[Pyrex]

However, one might also suggest that the -2 penalty is no more than a minor circumstance penalty at best, and would be a reasonable addition to a game that is using a "Status Quo" set-up rather than a "CR/LVL" set-up (as discussed in the DMG).

I submit that a -2 Circumstance (hence, stackable) penalty to your attack rolls that lasts for potentially several days and isn't removable short of a Regenerate spell is not minor.

 

[Pyrex]

BTW, someone stated thatthe first monsters with ability damage were cr 7 monsters? What about shadow, I love shadows!

No, I stated that Ability Drain starts at about CR7. Creatures that deal Ability Damage start showing up around CR3 when the Cleric gets Lesser Restoration.

 

[Faradon]

I say we cut the arm off and apply a regenerate...

 

[Raven Crowking]

I submit that a -2 Circumstance (hence, stackable) penalty to your attack rolls that lasts for potentially several days and isn't removable short of a Regenerate spell is not minor.

I submit that it is. That other penalties may also exist (stackable) is a secondary issue which is irrelevant to the case. All penalties are stackable with penalties of other types.

That the penalty lasts for potentially several days is also irrelevant unless there is some overwhelming reason not to simply rest for a couple of days.




RC