Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Jer" data-source="post: 3510318" data-attributes="member: 19857">I think that the first thing to keep in mind when looking at these changes is to remember that these changes are being made to make low-level characters more &quot;heroic&quot;, and therefore more like their movie counterparts.&nbsp; It's pretty clear from the Saga Edition previews that these changes are for the &quot;heroic&quot; characters -- &quot;mooks&quot; are going to get 1 HD per level just as always.&nbsp; So the question comes down to &quot;why do you want to give your players more HD&quot;?&nbsp; What change are you trying to make to how your game runs?&nbsp; Is this to give the 1st level characters an extra &quot;bump&quot; so that they survive longer, or is it to give your games more of a &quot;dramatic/heroic&quot; feel, or is it for some other reason I'm not thinking of at the moment?I'd say no.&nbsp; Hit dice is a short-hand&nbsp; for &quot;character level&quot; as far as those things are concerned, and those things should follow character level not HD.&nbsp; These characters are still first level, even though they have 3 HD.&nbsp; It's kind of like the reverse of the level adjustment mechanic in D&amp;D -- with a level adjustment a 3rd level character could have 2 HD and a +1 LA.&nbsp; Here you have a level 1 character with 3 HD instead.Plus, if you're trying to make your characters more heroic at 1st level, then counting those extra HD as levels defeats the purpose&nbsp; -- you might as well just start them as 3rd level characters instead.&nbsp; The point of giving the extra HD is that they're still 1st level characters facing challenges appropriate for 1st level characters.I'd say no, not all monsters.&nbsp; And not all monsters with class levels either.&nbsp; The &quot;standard&quot; monsters that the PCs face would be the &quot;mooks&quot; -- things that the characters should be expected to take out in one or two hits.&nbsp; The standard orc guarding the pie in the 10x10 room would not need to have extra HD.&nbsp; Even if the guard is an orc fighter instead of a warrior, there's probably no need to give him the extra HD.On the other hand, monsters at especially dramatic points in the adventure should probably get the extra HD -- these guys aren't just mooks they're villains.&nbsp; The Orc Chieftan should get the bump, as should the witch that advises him and guards him from magical attacks.&nbsp; And the black dragon in the depths of the cave that secretly manipulates the orc tribe should also get the bump, even if he doesn't have any class levels on top of his dragon levels.The tricky bit would be playing with the CRs.&nbsp; I'd probably leave them all alone -- no penalty for the mooks who don't get the HD bonus, but no boost for the villains who get it either.Personally, I'm not sure I'd do this for D&amp;D myself, because I'm not sure it needs it.&nbsp; Because of healing magic, D&amp;D characters are generally healed up and ready to go in an encounter, and one of the game tropes is settling down for the night as soon as all of your healing spells are used up.&nbsp; If I wanted a more heroic feel for my game, I'd probably just start the character's at a higher level than 1st (say 3rd level) and use the action points mechanic.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Jer, post: 3510318, member: 19857"] I think that the first thing to keep in mind when looking at these changes is to remember that these changes are being made to make low-level characters more "heroic", and therefore more like their movie counterparts. It's pretty clear from the Saga Edition previews that these changes are for the "heroic" characters -- "mooks" are going to get 1 HD per level just as always. So the question comes down to "why do you want to give your players more HD"? What change are you trying to make to how your game runs? Is this to give the 1st level characters an extra "bump" so that they survive longer, or is it to give your games more of a "dramatic/heroic" feel, or is it for some other reason I'm not thinking of at the moment? I'd say no. Hit dice is a short-hand for "character level" as far as those things are concerned, and those things should follow character level not HD. These characters are still first level, even though they have 3 HD. It's kind of like the reverse of the level adjustment mechanic in D&D -- with a level adjustment a 3rd level character could have 2 HD and a +1 LA. Here you have a level 1 character with 3 HD instead. Plus, if you're trying to make your characters more heroic at 1st level, then counting those extra HD as levels defeats the purpose -- you might as well just start them as 3rd level characters instead. The point of giving the extra HD is that they're still 1st level characters facing challenges appropriate for 1st level characters. I'd say no, not all monsters. And not all monsters with class levels either. The "standard" monsters that the PCs face would be the "mooks" -- things that the characters should be expected to take out in one or two hits. The standard orc guarding the pie in the 10x10 room would not need to have extra HD. Even if the guard is an orc fighter instead of a warrior, there's probably no need to give him the extra HD. On the other hand, monsters at especially dramatic points in the adventure should probably get the extra HD -- these guys aren't just mooks they're villains. The Orc Chieftan should get the bump, as should the witch that advises him and guards him from magical attacks. And the black dragon in the depths of the cave that secretly manipulates the orc tribe should also get the bump, even if he doesn't have any class levels on top of his dragon levels. The tricky bit would be playing with the CRs. I'd probably leave them all alone -- no penalty for the mooks who don't get the HD bonus, but no boost for the villains who get it either. Personally, I'm not sure I'd do this for D&D myself, because I'm not sure it needs it. Because of healing magic, D&D characters are generally healed up and ready to go in an encounter, and one of the game tropes is settling down for the night as soon as all of your healing spells are used up. If I wanted a more heroic feel for my game, I'd probably just start the character's at a higher level than 1st (say 3rd level) and use the action points mechanic. [/QUOTE]

Verification