Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
ShortQuests -- individual adventure modules! An all-new collection of digest-sized D&D adventures designed to plug in to your game.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="genshou" data-source="post: 2814305" data-attributes="member: 13164">Well, I'm still in the camp that the original damage should apply to wound damage and all the bonus damage should apply to vitality, but it's easy to move a number or two around for those who prefer different rules.  The writeup's pretty much the same either way.While looking at some of GlassJaw's old threads about this, I found some really interesting stuff I'll try to share piece by piece.For starters, in <a href="http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=134148" target="_blank">this thread</a>, he originally started out asking about using a massive damage threshold with VP/WP, but eventually they started discussing not healing vitality points until wound points were healed, and a mechanic came up about having wound point loss affect your maximum vitality points.  My version of this is in post #31, and though there are a few things I'd probably adjust to make it easier during gameplay, the basics of the rule are there and are what I was referring to when somebody (no idea who) was asking about that in the pre-recovery thread.In the last thread Ken Hood's Grim-n-Gritty Revised and Simplified was brought up.  This made me think about the original Grim-n-Gritty, and about how it had an alternate sneak attack mechanic that would do wonders in VP/WP.  I'll hunt that down next.Edit: Here you go!  Note that some references to called shots should be ignored, as this is actually written for an alternate combat system.Sneak AttacksThe sneak attack ability of characters such as the rogue or assassin is based upon their ability to catch an opponent unawares and strike a vital spot for extra damage. Since the Called Shot system provides detailed mechanics for striking an opponent in this fashion, and also because characters have fewer Hit Points in the Grim-n-Gritty system, it is inappropriate for rogues, assassins, and other “sneak attackers” to gain extra damage to their attacks.In the Grim-n-Gritty system, characters with the sneak attack ability gain a bonus to attack rolls and their critical threat range. Whenever a character with sneak attack ability flanks an opponent or catches an opponent in a situation that denies the Dexterity bonus to AC (if any), he gains the bonus. The primary intent of the bonus is to allow the character to easily deliver Called Shots, but it can be used for normal attacks.To convert a standard character’s sneak attack damage bonus to the Grim-n-Gritty attack/threat bonus, use table CS-3. Find the character’s damage bonus and replace it with the attack roll and threat range bonus on the same row.[code]Total Standard    Attack    ThreatDamage Bonus      Bonus     Bonus+1d6              +4        +0+2d6              +4        +1+3d6              +5        +1+4d6              +5        +2+5d6              +6        +2+6d6              +6        +3+7d6              +7        +3+8d6              +7        +4+9d6              +8        +4+10d6             +8        +5[/code]I like this mechanic for VP/WP because it doesn't create insane amounts of damage, and it makes sneak attack very useful for bypassing vitality points, meaning that it does exactly what it should.  When a foe sneak attacks it's much more likely that the blow they land will be that telling blow that you just don't avoid.  I haven't playtested this yet, having become aware of it after I've started any VP/WP games, but it might be all right to only have the attack roll bonus apply to critical confirmation rolls, or get rid of it entirely.  A +5 bonus to threat range is already extremely useful.</blockquote>

Verification