NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Hussar" data-source="post: 5439117" data-attributes="member: 22779">For those who think that SSSoD has no dramatic tension, I would point back to the baseball example used above.Baseball uses 3 strikes and you're out.  Would baseball be more or less tense if it used one strike and you're out?I'd say it would be a lot less tense very quickly.  And a whole lot shorter game (which might not be a bad thing).  But, the increasing tension that occurs as a batter racks up strikes is exactly the same thing as the increasing tension that occurs in SSSoD.  Sure, strike one isn't exactly nail biting, and neither is the first failed save, but, it is an increase.  The second strike is a big deal, because you know that that next pitch might be your last.  Of course, the third strike or third failed save is the release.In SoD, you have only the release.  There's no ramping up of the tension.The thing is, people keep talking about how it's playing the game up to the point of saving throws that increases the tension.  You wander into the lair, see the statues in odd poses with horror on their faces, you don't know where the medusa is, but, you're pretty sure she's around here somewhere...Why does that change in 4e?  That scene is precisely the same in any edition.But, my issue with SoD is purely mathematical.  SoD is an area of effect ability.  That means everyone has to make a saving throw.  The odds state that if everyone has a chance of failing, someone is almost automatically going to fail.  It stops being SoD and starts being just die.  You might as roll a random check, point at one player and say, "You die."  Because that's how the math works.You can ameliorate this somewhat.  Snake poison, for example, in 1e was SoD, but the snake had to hit you and it could (usually) only hit one PC at a time.  This breaks down if you have ten snakes though  (completely arbitrary number with no specific significance).  Now, suddenly, again, SoD becomes, just die.In my mind, that's the problem with SoD.  It's not about the tension, it's about the fact that it's entirely binary and WAY too swingy for my taste.</blockquote>

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