Germ of an idea for a new damage model.

[Dannyalcatraz]

Whether it nerfs or not depends on actual implementation.

In HERO, normal attacks do STUN Damage, but do Body damage based on the numbers on the d6s you roll: 2-5's do 1Bod each, 6s do 2Bod each.

STUN-only attacks do only STUN damage, naturally.

Standard Killing Attacks do Body based on their dice rolls, and have a multiplier to determine STUN damage. Some do no STUN, though, if so designed.

 

[Croesus]

1. Making 1st level more easily surviveable.

2. Combat retains its flavor but is a tad less deadly. PCs survive to fight another day.

3. Total Hit Points heal faster because some of the damage is nonlethal.

4. Give characters (and players) strong choices between weapons.

5. Make some ignored weapons, like the spear, more attractive as a choice.

You lose me at 4 and 5, as I hate weapon optimization in the game (just personal preference, YMMV). Plus, by dropping those two goals, you could create a very simple system, such as "50% of all damage = non-lethal", which adds a negligible amount of record keeping to the game.

Which brings up an important point - what about spells? If spells always do lethal damage, you make them more powerful. On the other hand, some spells, such as disintegrate really don't make much sense doing non-lethal damage. But going through every single spell to determine it's ratio of non-lethal to lethal would be a real chore.

So, have you considered non-weapon damage (spells, environment, natural weapons) in this system, and if so, how would you handle it?

 

[Croesus]

Whether it nerfs or not depends on actual implementation.

In HERO, normal attacks do STUN Damage, but do Body damage based on the numbers on the d6s you roll: 2-5's do 1Bod each, 6s do 2Bod each.

STUN-only attacks do only STUN damage, naturally.

Standard Killing Attacks do Body based on their dice rolls, and have a multiplier to determine STUN damage. Some do no STUN, though, if so designed.

The more I try to house rule 3.x exactly to my tastes, the more I realize I'm mostly wanting to make it more like Hero System.

Now if I can just get my group to play Hero...

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

The more I try to house rule 3.x exactly to my tastes, the more I realize I'm mostly wanting to make it more like Hero System.

Now if I can just get my group to play Hero...

Amen to that!

You might want to check out the latest edition of Fantasy HERO (if you have the 6Ed game) to help you out some.

I'd love to convince my group to give Fantasy HERO a try- spellcasters with an array of spells unique to them; martial artists modeled on ANY real or fictional tradition you can name; fallen Angels & Minotaurs adventuring next to Halflings & Humans. Etc.

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

You might want to check out the latest edition of Fantasy HERO (if you have the 6Ed game) to help you out some.

I've thought I was pretty much done picking up game systems I'd never use. (I have a huge shelf of never-used books, giving me only feelings of regret when I look at it now.) But seeing your enthusiasm for it is stirring up those old tendencies that got me to fill that shelf up in the first place; I might be leaning towards grabbing some Hero . . .

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

HERO is an awesome game, but I won't lie to you- character genreation can be complex. The good news, though, is that after you go through that pain, 99% of everything you need to run your PC is sitting on the character sheet.

And I'd be remiss if I didn't note that Mutants & Masterminds- along with IT'S fantasy rules supplements like Warriors & Warlocks- gives you much of the same flexibility as HERO but in a structure much more familiar to fans of D20 based game designs.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I'd love to convince my group to give Fantasy HERO a try- spellcasters with an array of spells unique to them; martial artists modeled on ANY real or fictional tradition you can name; fallen Angels & Minotaurs adventuring next to Halflings & Humans. Etc.

And I'd be remiss if I didn't note that Mutants & Masterminds- along with IT'S fantasy rules supplements like Warriors & Warlocks- gives you much of the same flexibility as HERO but in a structure much more familiar to fans of D20 based game designs.

Which all reminds me of this: HERO- and to a certain extent, M&M- is able to model basically any spell, race, feat class, etc., from any version of D&D.

Think about that for a second...

That means you could mix & match as you saw fit- have your 3.5Ed Drow 4Ed Darkpact Warlock, a Shardmind 1Ed Paladin, a 2Ed Complete Book of Humanoids Minotaur Warden, and so forth. HERO/M&M can be your Rosetta Stone for running a "D&D" campaign made up of what you and your buddies think is the best of all eras of the game.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

I think it might have some merit but I think I would do it a bit differently:

The first half of the weapon damage range is non-lethal. Thus a glancing blow is entirely non-lethal. Critical damage is 100% lethal.

Alternately, assign non-lethal amounts to various armor types--the first <x> points of damage is non-lethal, the heavier the armor the bigger <x> is. Crits would always be lethal.