Halving Hitpoints

[Stalker0]

Why not make it 1/2 HP across the board. PCs 1/2 hp and monsters 1/2 hp. This would be so easy to implement and it seams fair.

Just as a note this method greatly increasing the power of focused firing. A group of npc archers could take down a party member in one round, and vice versa on the pc end.

Not saying that's a bad thing mind you, just keep in mind that you can't just cut both sides equally and expect the gameplay to be the same but faster...it won't be.

 

[Gears]

I should've been more clear about the "weakened monsters" comment. Clearly, if you cut their HP in half they've been weakened. The opinion which fascinates me, though I wonder about its accuracy, is this:

I've heard some claim that the overall effectiveness of the monster isn't really reduced greatly, because the latter half of a fight is really just tedious chipping away at each other's HP, with the PCs occasionally healing themselves. Killing a monster with your expendable powers is equivalent, but shorter, than hurting a monster with your expendable powers and then playing slug-buddies for the next half hour waiting for him to finally drop.

Again, I'm not really sure I believe this, but I'd like to. I've seen it claimed on the WotC boards (I think) more than once, but I have my doubts. Could half hp simply be trimming the fat off a bloated combat while leaving the tasty bits intact? I don't know. I'm hoping someone who's tried this sort of thing out will have an informed opinion.

Halving PC hp does seem like a logical counterpoint to halving monster hp. Any other potential pitfalls to doing that?

 

[Rhenny]

Stalker0 has a great point about missle fire against 1/2 hp PCs. If I go with this option, the PCs will definately have to make sure their AC is up and they should avoid ranged attacks by taking cover when possible.

The more I think about it, the more I like it. The game I'm currently running is for only 2 or 3 pcs, so I'm encouraging them to use stealth and avoid combat whenever possible, remaining goal oriented.

On one hand, with only 3 players max, I don't really need to speed up combat too much. On the other hand, I like making the PCs fear combat and when we play using OpenRPG online, any reduction in combat time is great.

Great ideas. Keep them coming.

 

[fujaiwei]

Stalker0 has a great point about missle fire against 1/2 hp PCs. If I go with this option, the PCs will definately have to make sure their AC is up and they should avoid ranged attacks by taking cover when possible.

The more I think about it, the more I like it. The game I'm currently running is for only 2 or 3 pcs, so I'm encouraging them to use stealth and avoid combat whenever possible, remaining goal oriented.

On one hand, with only 3 players max, I don't really need to speed up combat too much. On the other hand, I like making the PCs fear combat and when we play using OpenRPG online, any reduction in combat time is great.

Great ideas. Keep them coming.

I'm new to DMing and am having trouble managing a group of 2-3 players in the mini adventure in the DMG, Kobold Hall.

Do you think I should have the HPs and also take out a creature or two?

 

[Rhenny]

For smaller parties, I always take out at least one creature from pre-made game encounters. Sometimes, I even take out whole groups if it seems appropriate.

One thing I like to do is hold an extra 1 or 2 monsters or minions in reserve. If it looks like the PCs are having too easy a time with the encounter, I have reinforcements enter the scene. If everything seems to be running fine, the reinforcements never arrive (unless the PCs do something stupid like open another door while fighting).

Hope that helps. (Sorry to take the thread off topic.)...Back to the 1/2 hp talk.

 

[Quemaqua]

This is just an uninformed observation, as I've only run a whopping 1 and a half combats during 1 evening of online play via MapTool for 4E, but since a fair number of monsters seem to have pretty beefy attacks which, once spent, have a chance of recharging, wouldn't you be denying them the opportunity to really ride PCs to the rails during later stages of combat? The PCs may have blown some of their high damage stuff, but monsters may still have options later on.

It's an interesting topic of conversation, though. I feel like the games I've observed haven't really run into boring segments where combats just slogs on and nothing interesting happens, but I'm also more from a background of stuff like Warhammer or Battletech, so perhaps I've simply been raised with more tolerance and patience toward this sort of thing? I'm curious. Don't get me wrong, I think 4E is a very different beast even with more tactical leanings than 3.5 (even as a slightly more tactical entity I think it moves much, much faster and more smoothly than a lot of others), but I still wonder if conditioning has something to do with it.

 

[AumShantih]

This is an interesting thread.
I've played around 8 or 9 sessions of 4E, and have noticed how the end of the encounter tends to drag on too long. It's ususally just 2-3 rounds of mop up, but over the course of an 3-4 encounter evening, that's a lot of gametime for not much payoff.

I've been looking at adapting the 4E rules for a low fantasy/horror setting, and reduce HP would probably be quite necessary to get the gritty feel quite right. I think roughly 1/2 HP for PC's and Monsters, and perhaps having two states for Minions - bloodied (one hit) and dead (two hits), would add nicely to the feel of the game. I'd probably want to put in some contingency so encounter/daily powers are even better against minions.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

An alternative solution might always be on just looking how you run monsters - if it's really just clipping away hit points and the situation is already decided - have the monsters retreat or give up. This is very close to halving (or third-quartering?) hit points, but without the drawbacks for mechanical balance. Of course, if you use a lot of non-intelligent monster, that won't really help (unless it's the PC that retreat ).

If it is not that clear cut, I think the combat can't be that boring, because every attack made can turn the tide of the battle to one sides favor.

I suppose monsters with recharging powers will also keep the tension high.

 

[Monkey Boy]

I have run 2 sessions of 4e and played in 6. All of them have had combats that have gone on too long. Those mopping up junk time rounds are a real chore. Given that I am the DM this weekend I will be running half hitpoints for monsters (not PC's). I wont mess with Elites and solo's HP though.

1/2 hitpoints seems the easiest fix as it requires an absolute minimum of fixing. The 1/2 HP value (bloodied ) is given to you and the players don't have to worry about changing their characters. I want 4e to be no mess, no fuss, easy to DM and fast to play.

I'll let you know how it turns out.

 

[Kunimatyu]

I'm going to start keeping a log of rounds, to see when PCs are usually threatened by death, and how many rounds occur between the point where both sides have used their cool powers and when victory actually occurs.

I have this sneaking suspicion that PCs are most threatened by death in the beginning-mid part of a fight.