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Death, dying and class balance
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<blockquote data-quote="FormerlyHemlock" data-source="post: 6862326" data-attributes="member: 6787650"><p><strong>Tangent:</strong> in vanilla 5E, temp HP scale in value with the defensive characteristics of the PC. In a fight with CR 1-5 creatures, 15 temp HP on an AC 21 Fighter/Wizard with Blur up are way more valuable than 15 temp HP on a Recklessly Attacking AC 16 GWM Barbarian. So yes, in a sense the temp HP are the party's HP, but it matters which PC you put them on.</p><p></p><p>In your example case, the Barbarian is underpowered compared to the Sharpshooter fighter because he's way more likely to get injured and therefore killed. Wizards, Chain Pact warlocks, and Shadow Monks become somewhat more popular because they have non-HP-based ways to mitigate risk. Expect to see more Lucky feats and more characters grabbing Shield spells. I'm not sure about cleric vs. druid* but yes, probably clerics become simultaneously more desirable to have in the party and less desirable to be in combat--you may see clerics acting more like a combat medic. Also, "dead at 0 HP" makes features like Preserve Life much harder to leverage successfully--in such a game, I'd suggest allowing Preserve Life to work on any PC below 75% of full HP, instead of normal 50%.</p><p></p><p>Is it your goal to alter the game rules without altering the rational strategy for playing the game? That seems pretty futile. Even something as simple as the way the DM treats Stealth already has a huge impact on the relative desirability of various classes (Rogue, Warlock). Messing with the campaign difficulty factor, either via rules or (perceived) adventure design, will also alter player strategy. For example, against a DM who favors challenging players with one or two high-CR monsters, high-AC fighters are relatively less valuable compared to Raging, Reckless Attack Barbarians. Against hobgoblins behind field fortifications, the opposite is true--you want the high-AC fighter; and against a DM who uses lots of random tables that include both kinds of opponents, you'll see yet a third kind of player behavior, opting for mixed strategies and versatility.</p><p></p><p>* Okay, I changed my mind on this. Druids definitely become overpowered relative to clerics because druids excel at summoning, and the game rules you'd be using make summoning a power strategy. Expect to see** lots of Magma Mephits, conjured wolves/snakes/spiders/draft horses/owls, and Earth Elementals in this campaign. Clerics can do a tiny bit of this at high level via Planar Ally but druids are better at it.</p><p></p><p>** Depending on your player mentality that is. Some players might just embrace the inevitable and stop worrying about death. "For King and Country!" Not everyone wants to hide behind summoned creatures and prioritize survival above all else.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="FormerlyHemlock, post: 6862326, member: 6787650"] [B]Tangent:[/B] in vanilla 5E, temp HP scale in value with the defensive characteristics of the PC. In a fight with CR 1-5 creatures, 15 temp HP on an AC 21 Fighter/Wizard with Blur up are way more valuable than 15 temp HP on a Recklessly Attacking AC 16 GWM Barbarian. So yes, in a sense the temp HP are the party's HP, but it matters which PC you put them on. In your example case, the Barbarian is underpowered compared to the Sharpshooter fighter because he's way more likely to get injured and therefore killed. Wizards, Chain Pact warlocks, and Shadow Monks become somewhat more popular because they have non-HP-based ways to mitigate risk. Expect to see more Lucky feats and more characters grabbing Shield spells. I'm not sure about cleric vs. druid* but yes, probably clerics become simultaneously more desirable to have in the party and less desirable to be in combat--you may see clerics acting more like a combat medic. Also, "dead at 0 HP" makes features like Preserve Life much harder to leverage successfully--in such a game, I'd suggest allowing Preserve Life to work on any PC below 75% of full HP, instead of normal 50%. Is it your goal to alter the game rules without altering the rational strategy for playing the game? That seems pretty futile. Even something as simple as the way the DM treats Stealth already has a huge impact on the relative desirability of various classes (Rogue, Warlock). Messing with the campaign difficulty factor, either via rules or (perceived) adventure design, will also alter player strategy. For example, against a DM who favors challenging players with one or two high-CR monsters, high-AC fighters are relatively less valuable compared to Raging, Reckless Attack Barbarians. Against hobgoblins behind field fortifications, the opposite is true--you want the high-AC fighter; and against a DM who uses lots of random tables that include both kinds of opponents, you'll see yet a third kind of player behavior, opting for mixed strategies and versatility. * Okay, I changed my mind on this. Druids definitely become overpowered relative to clerics because druids excel at summoning, and the game rules you'd be using make summoning a power strategy. Expect to see** lots of Magma Mephits, conjured wolves/snakes/spiders/draft horses/owls, and Earth Elementals in this campaign. Clerics can do a tiny bit of this at high level via Planar Ally but druids are better at it. ** Depending on your player mentality that is. Some players might just embrace the inevitable and stop worrying about death. "For King and Country!" Not everyone wants to hide behind summoned creatures and prioritize survival above all else. [/QUOTE]
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