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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Celebrim" data-source="post: 5007139" data-attributes="member: 4937">I've debate this for a while myself.  To begin with, it isn't for me as important that NPC's (even BBEG's) enjoy story protection as it is that PC's enjoy it.  And in particular, I've decided that on the whole the 'single BBEG takes on the whole party' trope is not necessarily something that I have to worry about too much and if I do, I can always grant the NPC specific resistances and immunity.My answer thus far is making saving throws easier, and to allow for 'second' and 'third' chances.So, for example, someone hits you with a death spell of some sort.  To begin with, the DC of the spell doesn't depend on spell level.  So, right off the bat you are now 30% or more likely to save vs. the effect.  This puts us more back into how 1e balanced the effects - high level characters normally make there save.  Addiitonally, because the PC's are heroes, they have a stock of 'Destiny Points' which they can use to buy rerolls.  Thus, so long as they haven't run out of destiny, they don't have to fear a single roll quite as much.But, additionally, even if you fail your saving throw vs. a death spell, you don't actually immediately die.  What the spell actually does is drop your hit points so that you are on the verge of death (-9 hit points, for example).  So, then, you have a chance of stablizing on death's door as a third chance to escape death and can be aided by friends.If I want a BBEG fight, I'm very likely to give the BBEG the same sort of advantages - destiny points, allies, and so forth.On the whole, I don't see this as being any worse than a PC scoring a massive critical and short circuiting the fight (or an NPC doing the same and dropping a character).  If there isn't some sort of randomness, then fights turn into statistical grinds with outcomes that are virtually preordained.   There is such a thing as too much story protection I think.However, I've considered from time to time even more radical changes - like giving every character Fatigue, Willpower, and Initiative points that protect against Fortitude, Will, and Reflex damage and rewriting a spell like Charm so that it does Willpower damage/save for half + plus does something like dazes on a failed save - and if the spell destroys the targets Will (reduces willpower points to zero) then it also produces the Charm effect.  Or similarly, Baneful Polymorph does Fatigue damage/save half, and if it destroys the target's fatigue then the target also turns into a newt.  There is a certain 'cool' to that, but its also a bit cumbersome and requires a huge rewrite of the entire game system I've been unwilling to undertake.</blockquote>

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