Having PCs roll "Defenses" rather than the DM rolling "Attacks"
- Thread starter Mort_Q
- Start date
Starfox
Hero
I see this as the main issue too.
I have a minor issue wit this too. That and shifting the reactive/active roles. Doing an attack is something active. It makes sense that the active part rolls the dice. A defense is more of a passive thing. It makes sense that the active part rolls the dice. But then, Saving Throws were never an issue in earlier editions, so this might be insignificant.
frankthedm
First Post
That the player is potentially rolling critical failures. Not only did the player roll bad, he rolled so bad he take extra damage for it.
It is purely Semantics & Psychobabble, but it is sort of thing that wotc nixed in the crusade for fun.
Interesting idea, and it might work some people, but I wouldn't do this for various reasons.
1. My players take forever to roll. I'd get impatient waiting if they were rolling for 4 minions and adding numbers, and pondering each result and what they can do about it. Or if I had to wait for an AoE to be resolved, they would be rolling one by one waiting for each other to add their numbers and come up with a tally. Much faster if I do the rolling.
2. I like describing what enemy attacks look like, and knowing whether I hit or miss helps me be more fluid with that description.
3. I like rolling behind a screen. Sometimes, when I get a string of good rolls, the players won't necessarily know it, and they may think they are fighting tougher foes. This keeps them on their toes. I don't want them to know exactly what I need to roll on the die to hit them. They may play differently if they know I need 15's to hit them with some low level brutes, or if they know I only need a 5 to hit them with a controller.
4. Spotlight time would shift from all players getting equal attention during their turns, to defenders getting a lot more camera time because they are rolling defense rolls a lot more often than anyone else. They already get a lot of interrupts. No need to coax their ego more.
1. My players take forever to roll. I'd get impatient waiting if they were rolling for 4 minions and adding numbers, and pondering each result and what they can do about it. Or if I had to wait for an AoE to be resolved, they would be rolling one by one waiting for each other to add their numbers and come up with a tally. Much faster if I do the rolling.
2. I like describing what enemy attacks look like, and knowing whether I hit or miss helps me be more fluid with that description.
3. I like rolling behind a screen. Sometimes, when I get a string of good rolls, the players won't necessarily know it, and they may think they are fighting tougher foes. This keeps them on their toes. I don't want them to know exactly what I need to roll on the die to hit them. They may play differently if they know I need 15's to hit them with some low level brutes, or if they know I only need a 5 to hit them with a controller.
4. Spotlight time would shift from all players getting equal attention during their turns, to defenders getting a lot more camera time because they are rolling defense rolls a lot more often than anyone else. They already get a lot of interrupts. No need to coax their ego more.
Garthanos
Arcadian Knight
Have you ever been attacked ?.. its a long far cry from being passive.. ?
One is Responsive and Reactive and may even be Instinctive .. but not passive (which is what the game makes it feel). The house rule makes it feel more true to home.
Garthanos
Arcadian Knight
1. this works better with fewer players.. not a problem for me.
2. you have to learn to describe them differently and not finish the stroke.
3. you can still controll damage behind the scene(In practices actually more annoying that I roll damage - so its not necessarily a plus...Ketery's idea is tempting or somehow always basing the damage on the attack roll). There is a question of presentation style but do you normally tell the player there exact numbers when they are attacking? or do you say that was a healthy miss.... or narrow one but you hit.. does the player wait to finalize the description for the damage roll.. . same is true now for defense the symnetry is appropriate. I have them roll defense (and I roll damage at the same time) ... technically a low damage hit is usually described as a miss or easy defense etc in the narrative ;-).
4. ummm characters targetting multiple opponents get more resolution time RAW on there turn ... players being targetted by more enemies get more time during there defense... I dont see this as a dramatic thing (and wizards tend to have far cooler descriptions defensively than martial types... ok my Halflings lucky defenses can be rather fun... but the wizards last second desparate forcing the enemies attack to be partially in another world is cool (give em one teleport spell and you have them blinking at last second etc).. or his quickly melted barriers of ice in response to a fire etc...)
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Mort_Q
First Post
I was thinking that it wouldn't be much different... there rolling a 1 or me rolling a 20... and would in fact, make it easier to remember to use their interrupts...
It would likely take longer, true.
I guess it depends on how you do these. I thought this would make it easier to describe, and get the players into describing.
There is no more need to tell them the target numbers with this approach than any other.
"The Ogre turns to face you, swinging the head of his gruesome axe up and over and down upon you with a horrendous shout. You may be able to get out of the way... but odds are, he's going to leave a bruise. Defend with AC."
I hadn't thought of that. Perhaps I should just run some combat scenarios one-offs to just try for myself.
Garthanos
Arcadian Knight
Those who attack more often make more attack descriptions those who defend more often make more defense descriptions...
If the characters arent being involved in the action... this can actually increase there involvement... but it wont balance it.
But it may make it more obvious... the DM sometimes needs more ranged enemies to keep the ranged characters engaged more ;-)
Garthanos
Arcadian Knight
Mild difference of responsibility in description often seems to occur too, which is for me some of the fun... and giving the player a bit more show time... but I suppose you could do it purely a mechanical swap and even then it gets the players attentions that they are under attack.
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