Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="FormerlyHemlock" data-source="post: 6698546" data-attributes="member: 6787650">Sure. It was easier to instadeath anybody in 2E. IIRC a 20th level fighter still had a 10% chance of death (petrification) against a low-level monster like a Basilisk. (Yes, you could potentially get turned back into flesh, but even that had a pretty hefty chance of killing you in the process. And if you got resurrected from that, resurrection was not guaranteed to work, and you also lost a permanent point of Con.)That's why I say 5E PCs are far more durable--instadeath mechanics have been almost entirely removed from the game, and resurrection is much easier, and PCs have more ways to stacking the odds in their favor. The Lucky feat alone probably makes a first-level 5E PC as likely to pass a save vs. basilisk gaze as an 8th or 10th level PC in 2E, and in 5E you don't even have to look at the basilisk unless you're surprised!BTW, I hold with those who believe that the whole point of save-or-die effects in AD&D was that you should try to avoid ever making those saves. The saving throw was a last-ditch chance to not die when you messed up, not a primary defense. Combat As War. If you play 5E that way you quickly discover that encounter guidelines are far too easy.</blockquote>