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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Gothmog" data-source="post: 678096" data-attributes="member: 317">The thing that is beyond me is why so many people on here seem to take umbrage when someone mentions they want more realistic combat in D&D.  While its easy to shout "If you want realism, don't play D&D!", its also pretty narrow-minded.  The D20 system is SUPPOSED to be able to handle many different types of rules modifications and tweaks, so instead of being closed-minded, why not try to offer some constructive suggestions rather than blindly defending the status quo.I'll admit that D&D as written is good at heroic fantasy, but sucks for a more realistic, gritty style of play.  The reason I use D&D in my gritty, dark fantasy games is because 1) D&D is the most popular RPG, and its easy to find players 2) the rules are relatively simple, and allow focus on the game rather than stats, and 3) its well supported.  THAT IS WHY I PLAY D&D.  Other systems handle combat more realistically (GURPS, Ars Magica, heck even the non D20 Deadlands), but players are harder to come by for those games, and they lack the volume of cool support material that D&D does.  That said, what can be done to make D&D combat more realistic and less prone to metagaming?  Here is what my group has done.1) Use a variant WP/VP system.  WP equal character Con for medium sized, 1/2 Con for small, 1/4 Con for Tiny, and 1/10 Con for Dim and Fine.  Large get x2 Con, Huge x4, Gargantuan x8, and Colossal x16.  Characters with a d10-d12 hit die gain one WP per level, d6-d8 gain one every 2 levels, and d4 gain one every 3 levels.  Characters are less fragile at lower levels this way, but more fragile at higher levels.2) All damage from a critical hit is applied to WP, but no multiplier is figured in.  However, if the multiplier for the weapon is x3, an extra d4 WP is inflicted on a crit, and x4 get an extra d6 WP.  Also, if you take a critical hit, you have to make a Fort save with a DC of damage taken or suffer some effect.  We have worked out a chart of possible crit hit effects which is too lengthy to post here, but at the very least the character will suffer some stiff penalties for a few rounds.  Even if the save is made, the character is considered exhausted for that round, and his Init is reduced by 5 following that hit.3) Limit the speed with which characters gain VP/HP.  Characters running around with more HP than sense are a major problem in most games, so we cap HP- equal to the max that could be rolled on a hit die for that class.  So the max HP a d8 class could gain per level, regardless of Con is 8 hp, and a d10 is 10 HP.  4) Finally, all classes recieve a damage bonus to weapons they are proficient in equal to 1/3rd BAB (whether melee or missile).  This takes into account that an experienced character can make a more telling blow, but not to such a degree that it overpowers feats or magic.Remember, any rules you apply to players also apply equally to monsters.  So far, these rules have worked wonders to reduce the "charge in and hack" mentality, often trying to find ways to minimize/avoid combat, and the characters routinely come up with good tactics knowing that fighting is dangerous.</blockquote>

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