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<blockquote data-quote="Dragonblade" data-source="post: 2528243" data-attributes="member: 2804">Damage Saves do dramatically speed up combat. However, I found it very difficult to guage the difficulty of an encounter when every PC was essentially one failed save away from death. As soon as the PC's luck runs out, your PCs may get taken out by an average encounter instead of surviving to fight their way to the BBEG's lair.Although, on the other hand, tracking hitpoints for every single mook the PCs fight tends to slow things down a lot. But the advantage of hit points is that as a DM, I'm much better able to control the lethality of the game, because I can keep an eye on how many hit points the PCs have remaining and if necessary can fudge the hits and damage that the bad guys deal.Spycraft 2.0 has the best solution. PCs and major NPCs and villains use wound/vitality (basically hitpoints) but mooks use a damage save system.Your PCs are fighting a horde of orcs? No problem, use the damage save system for the orcs which speeds up combat dramatically, while the PCs still take hit point damage allowing you to control the lethality of the encounter. Plus you still keep the bookkeeping to a minimum because the PCs are the ones tracking their hitpoint totals. You don't have to do it for them.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Dragonblade, post: 2528243, member: 2804"] Damage Saves do dramatically speed up combat. However, I found it very difficult to guage the difficulty of an encounter when every PC was essentially one failed save away from death. As soon as the PC's luck runs out, your PCs may get taken out by an average encounter instead of surviving to fight their way to the BBEG's lair. Although, on the other hand, tracking hitpoints for every single mook the PCs fight tends to slow things down a lot. But the advantage of hit points is that as a DM, I'm much better able to control the lethality of the game, because I can keep an eye on how many hit points the PCs have remaining and if necessary can fudge the hits and damage that the bad guys deal. Spycraft 2.0 has the best solution. PCs and major NPCs and villains use wound/vitality (basically hitpoints) but mooks use a damage save system. Your PCs are fighting a horde of orcs? No problem, use the damage save system for the orcs which speeds up combat dramatically, while the PCs still take hit point damage allowing you to control the lethality of the encounter. Plus you still keep the bookkeeping to a minimum because the PCs are the ones tracking their hitpoint totals. You don't have to do it for them. [/QUOTE]

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