I just thought I would mention something that I have been having fun with as both a DM and a player. The idea is that after you roll to hit and would apply damage, you can declare that you are not going to do that damage immediately, but rather only if a condition is met.
By way of example. A monk is skilled in jujitsu style martial arts. He gets in a barroom brawl. He hits a thug with 3 attacks for 20 damage total. He declares that he will apply that damage if the guy fails to drop the broken beer bottle he is holding. The idea being that the enemy is having his arm twisted and it might break if he does not drop what he is holding.
In a more extreme example, the Monk did not apply any damage at all to the enemy until he had done the enemy's full HP in damage. Then he killed him in one go with a simple flick of his wrist. This can be flavored as constantly improving his grip on the guy then snapping his neck in a sudden move, or as a 5-point-death-touch style thing.
In another example, my fencer Battlemaster won initiative and immediately rolled a critical on his enemy. He opted not to apply the damage, but rather we said that he outdrew the enemy and had his rapier at his chest. He would run him through if he reached for his weapon (dealing the damage I rolled).
This is not giving the player anything they have not already earned, they could apply the damage immediately if they wanted to. What it does is open up more RP, intimidation and more realistic tactical considerations in combat. Does the enemy really want to continue with the fight if they know for sure they are going to take 15 damage just for drawing their weapon?
The idea is not to have any change in mechanics, so a PC could not use it to avoid a fire elementals return damage or the armour of agyths etc. It's just something to use in good faith. It really livened up some encounters at our table.
By way of example. A monk is skilled in jujitsu style martial arts. He gets in a barroom brawl. He hits a thug with 3 attacks for 20 damage total. He declares that he will apply that damage if the guy fails to drop the broken beer bottle he is holding. The idea being that the enemy is having his arm twisted and it might break if he does not drop what he is holding.
In a more extreme example, the Monk did not apply any damage at all to the enemy until he had done the enemy's full HP in damage. Then he killed him in one go with a simple flick of his wrist. This can be flavored as constantly improving his grip on the guy then snapping his neck in a sudden move, or as a 5-point-death-touch style thing.
In another example, my fencer Battlemaster won initiative and immediately rolled a critical on his enemy. He opted not to apply the damage, but rather we said that he outdrew the enemy and had his rapier at his chest. He would run him through if he reached for his weapon (dealing the damage I rolled).
This is not giving the player anything they have not already earned, they could apply the damage immediately if they wanted to. What it does is open up more RP, intimidation and more realistic tactical considerations in combat. Does the enemy really want to continue with the fight if they know for sure they are going to take 15 damage just for drawing their weapon?
The idea is not to have any change in mechanics, so a PC could not use it to avoid a fire elementals return damage or the armour of agyths etc. It's just something to use in good faith. It really livened up some encounters at our table.
