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<blockquote data-quote="Hussar" data-source="post: 4451536" data-attributes="member: 22779">Oh, of course. But, now you're straying pretty far from the point I was originally making - how lethal should combat be?&nbsp; There is a huge difference between no chance of character death and killing a PC every three sessions (which is what I averaged in the last campaign - running very close to core, SRD only monsters and allowing the players to play pretty much whatever they wanted.)Which brings me back to my original point.&nbsp; Without perfect information, there is a significant limitation on how prepared you can be for an encounter.&nbsp; For the most part, most parties are entering many encounters (not all but many) fairly blind.&nbsp; They might know that there are monsters ahead, they are in a dungeon after all, but, they probably don't know the numbers or make-up of individual encounters.So, beyond basics - scouting, long term buffs - there isn't a whole lot you can do to prepare for encounters.&nbsp; The reason I posted the original quote was I was talking about how lethal 3e combat is.&nbsp; You responded by saying that &quot;smart&quot; parties can reduce that lethality.&nbsp;&nbsp; I argue that, while some reduction is possible, it's not enough.&nbsp; 3e combat is simply too lethal as written, for my tastes.&nbsp; I've shown that I have no problems whacking a PC.&nbsp; Racking up body count warms the cockles of my heart to tell the truth.&nbsp; But, most players get pretty fed up trying to recreate new character backgrounds every two levels because it's their turn to be turned into kibbles.&nbsp; I added Action Points into my current campaign specifically to counteract this.&nbsp; I think that's why you never saw action points in 1e or 2e - combat was not that lethal.&nbsp; Monsters could not kill PC's in a single round, by and large, through melee damage.&nbsp; Most monsters would take three or four rounds to start to threaten the PC with melee damage.&nbsp; (Note, I'm talking beyond about 4th or 5th level here)&nbsp; You don't need to reduce lethality.&nbsp; It's already weak enough as is.3e went too far bumping up the monsters IMO.&nbsp; PC's are going to be doing hundreds of fights during a campaign.&nbsp; The math should work out to a fairly low chance of death per fight, or you're simply going to kill them too often.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Hussar, post: 4451536, member: 22779"] Oh, of course. But, now you're straying pretty far from the point I was originally making - how lethal should combat be? There is a huge difference between no chance of character death and killing a PC every three sessions (which is what I averaged in the last campaign - running very close to core, SRD only monsters and allowing the players to play pretty much whatever they wanted.) Which brings me back to my original point. Without perfect information, there is a significant limitation on how prepared you can be for an encounter. For the most part, most parties are entering many encounters (not all but many) fairly blind. They might know that there are monsters ahead, they are in a dungeon after all, but, they probably don't know the numbers or make-up of individual encounters. So, beyond basics - scouting, long term buffs - there isn't a whole lot you can do to prepare for encounters. The reason I posted the original quote was I was talking about how lethal 3e combat is. You responded by saying that "smart" parties can reduce that lethality. I argue that, while some reduction is possible, it's not enough. 3e combat is simply too lethal as written, for my tastes. I've shown that I have no problems whacking a PC. Racking up body count warms the cockles of my heart to tell the truth. But, most players get pretty fed up trying to recreate new character backgrounds every two levels because it's their turn to be turned into kibbles. I added Action Points into my current campaign specifically to counteract this. I think that's why you never saw action points in 1e or 2e - combat was not that lethal. Monsters could not kill PC's in a single round, by and large, through melee damage. Most monsters would take three or four rounds to start to threaten the PC with melee damage. (Note, I'm talking beyond about 4th or 5th level here) You don't need to reduce lethality. It's already weak enough as is. 3e went too far bumping up the monsters IMO. PC's are going to be doing hundreds of fights during a campaign. The math should work out to a fairly low chance of death per fight, or you're simply going to kill them too often. [/QUOTE]

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