Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Nest
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
Falling from Great Heights
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="JamesonCourage" data-source="post: 5886121" data-attributes="member: 6668292"><p>I don't disagree at all (though personally, I'd make a 12-headed hydra roll one attack, not 12).</p><p></p><p></p><p>My game does have HP and levels, though HP is greatly scaled down (having over 100 HP at high level is pretty rare), and, as I said, I use a HP/THP system.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Damage just needs to outscale HP. For example, it's pretty easy for a level 1 warrior to deal 1d10+10 damage (and, as an aside, the system assumes that level 4 is "the average settled adult", which deals 1d10+12 pretty easily). So, if we're dealing 1d10+10 per attack against someone who has a lot of HP and THP (34 HP + 63 THP at, say, level 20), then it only takes about 6 attacks to bring them down or kill them. If you've got 20 guys with crossbows, that's pretty much going to happen to most PCs.</p><p></p><p>If you've got 12, there's a good chance that the PC will win. Though, in my RPG, there's a decent chance it'll end badly, which is <em>especially</em> true if they surprise you (you lose your THP, and your AC drops pretty dramatically).</p><p></p><p></p><p><strong>Level 1 goblin archer:</strong> 1d10+10 damage (15.5 average).</p><p><strong>Level 12 non-surprised warrior HP:</strong> 22 HP + 39 THP (61 total). (Though, to be fair, I said level 1 fighters would be in danger against numbers or if the guy was surprised.)</p><p><strong>Level 20 ancient dragon damage (I assume colossal-sized):</strong> 2d12+30 (43 average).</p><p></p><p>The trick against the dragon? Don't get hit, recover your THP before he overcomes it (one hit will probably break it), get a ton of damage reduction, etc.</p><p></p><p>The trick with the goblins? Get cover, get a boatload of damage reduction, don't let them get the drop on you, or design your PC to resist swarm tactics (apply THP to surprise attacks, use the Whirling Movement style, grab multiple instances of the Adapted Style feat for being attacked multiple times, etc.).</p><p></p><p>If you don't do either of those things, then both dragons and low level goblins are dangerous. If you mitigate the danger from one, you probably can't afford the other while contributing much beyond your own survival. There's a certain natural balance from only having so many character points to work with. As always, play what you like <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></p><p></p><p></p><p>I wouldn't. "Surprised" only applies when they aren't expecting a fight at all. They can become "flat-footed" in combat by being caught off-guard, but all that does is lower their defenses, it does not completely remove their THP. If 12 guys shoot them from cover while they're walking through the woods and they didn't notice them, though, I'd count it as surprised.</p><p></p><p>If the party attacked the town guard of their own volition, they'd probably fear volley fire the most (multiple attacks to the same AC), but they could definitely win that fight at high levels with some smart tactics. Waiting to throw area attacks when enemies appear, using cover or corners, etc. As always, play what you like <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="JamesonCourage, post: 5886121, member: 6668292"] I don't disagree at all (though personally, I'd make a 12-headed hydra roll one attack, not 12). My game does have HP and levels, though HP is greatly scaled down (having over 100 HP at high level is pretty rare), and, as I said, I use a HP/THP system. Damage just needs to outscale HP. For example, it's pretty easy for a level 1 warrior to deal 1d10+10 damage (and, as an aside, the system assumes that level 4 is "the average settled adult", which deals 1d10+12 pretty easily). So, if we're dealing 1d10+10 per attack against someone who has a lot of HP and THP (34 HP + 63 THP at, say, level 20), then it only takes about 6 attacks to bring them down or kill them. If you've got 20 guys with crossbows, that's pretty much going to happen to most PCs. If you've got 12, there's a good chance that the PC will win. Though, in my RPG, there's a decent chance it'll end badly, which is [I]especially[/I] true if they surprise you (you lose your THP, and your AC drops pretty dramatically). [B]Level 1 goblin archer:[/B] 1d10+10 damage (15.5 average). [B]Level 12 non-surprised warrior HP:[/B] 22 HP + 39 THP (61 total). (Though, to be fair, I said level 1 fighters would be in danger against numbers or if the guy was surprised.) [B]Level 20 ancient dragon damage (I assume colossal-sized):[/B] 2d12+30 (43 average). The trick against the dragon? Don't get hit, recover your THP before he overcomes it (one hit will probably break it), get a ton of damage reduction, etc. The trick with the goblins? Get cover, get a boatload of damage reduction, don't let them get the drop on you, or design your PC to resist swarm tactics (apply THP to surprise attacks, use the Whirling Movement style, grab multiple instances of the Adapted Style feat for being attacked multiple times, etc.). If you don't do either of those things, then both dragons and low level goblins are dangerous. If you mitigate the danger from one, you probably can't afford the other while contributing much beyond your own survival. There's a certain natural balance from only having so many character points to work with. As always, play what you like :) I wouldn't. "Surprised" only applies when they aren't expecting a fight at all. They can become "flat-footed" in combat by being caught off-guard, but all that does is lower their defenses, it does not completely remove their THP. If 12 guys shoot them from cover while they're walking through the woods and they didn't notice them, though, I'd count it as surprised. If the party attacked the town guard of their own volition, they'd probably fear volley fire the most (multiple attacks to the same AC), but they could definitely win that fight at high levels with some smart tactics. Waiting to throw area attacks when enemies appear, using cover or corners, etc. As always, play what you like :) [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
Falling from Great Heights
Top