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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Water Bob" data-source="post: 5625020" data-attributes="member: 92305">In this thread, I've seen people try to make the situation in the OP reasonable--a reasonable match of the rules and reality. And, I've seen people completely dismiss the idea of "the last dying words" of an NPC as a cliched railroad tactic that should be avoided. But, set aside the rules for a moment, folks. And...ask yourself. What about drama? What makes for a good story? What grips the players, pulls them in, makes them want to come back? I've never heard a player say, "Man! My GM sure mixed reality and the game rules well on that encounter." But, I've heard them say (and I strive each game session for them to say it again), "Crap, that was creepy!" Or, "Good lord, did you see what the bad guy did! Man, that was fun!" Or, even, "Wow, what an interesting premise. It's really got me thinking about...".   In my current game, I've got a situation I'm setting up. I know what I want to happen (or....more likely, what I want to set-up, as you can never tell what the players will do and throw a monkey wrench in my plans), and I've been spending a lot of time trying to figure out how to make it work "within" the rules. (One of my threads, explaining the scenario, is here: <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/d-d-legacy-discussion/308852-giving-initiative-certain-situations.html#post5625005" target="_blank">Giving Nish </a> Part of this is because I'm learning the 3.5 ruleset and am not as familiar with it as a gamer that used the ruleset for a decade. The other reason for spending time on this is that, in a perfect world, I like the rules and the story to match. But, sometimes, the d20 rules do not make the goal easy.   Case-in-point: In the situation I describe via the link above, I expect the PCs, who are out near their village gathering firewood, to hear some of initial attack echoing off the mountainous walls and come running. I expect they'll charge up the side of a steep slope to make the trail, then run as fast as they can to where the battle is taking place. Of course, the scenario is about some warrior attacking a cart with an old woman and some children aboard--so it was so much a fight, but more of a slaughter. As the PC's run up the trail, from around the bend in the forest comes one of the little kids, staggering, about to collapse. He's little Jozan. 5 years old. Head bleeding and sever blunt trauma to the right side of his head. There's an indentation in his skull, and his right eye is closed. The kid falls to his knees just steps from the PCs. They'll check him out, I'm sure. His one eye will stare, glossy. He's conscious, but completely out of it. He might be dying for all they know.     Now, see. This is a pretty dramatic moment. And, big, dramatic, moments are what the game is all about. In my game, the players, through their alter egos, are quite attached to these NPCs--this old lady and her wayward children. When they see this little boy in this state, it's going to piss them off. They're going to be affect by this, and they're going to want to get whomever did this to little Jozan. That's what I'm going for. That's drama. When my players feel what their characters feel....well, that's golden for a GM. It's the makings of a gripping, memorable session.    But now, in planning all this out, how do I make all this happen within the rules (the d20 3.5 rules)? I think the closest to the rules I can get on this scene is to have little Jozan in the 0 hp, Disabled state. That accounts for the slow movement. But, by the rules, he should be able to talk--and, I've got him on the verge of unconscious ness. By the rules, he shouldn't collapse until he's at -1 HP. I could go a little bit futher and say that Jozan is suffering from blood loss damage, but that's not really in the rules, is it. Nope. A GM doesn't normally add a wound effect to a NPC unless a monster or some weapon has a special attack or damage form.   So...do I give up my neat little set-up just because the rules don't exactly fit? Naw, I don't think so. Story is more important than rules. Or, do I stretch the rules a bit and throw in some GM fiat? Yeah, that's it. Maybe Jozan is in the negative hit points, but I gave him a (non standard, of course) Fort Save that allowed him to stagger away from the battlefield as if he were Disabled for a couple of rounds. Still not strictly "within the rules", but it's close.     I will note that, back in my 1E AD&D days, this situation is a no brainer. Stick with the drama and what the GM says. Now, in my new 3.5 d20 days, I find that the rules intrude more than support the game as they used to do--mainly because the game attempts to model almost everything, leaving not a lot of room (in some people's eyes) for GM fiat in the way of "very cool description".   So, what do you do? Stick with cool, gripping drama? Or be a slave to the rules? I'm going with drama.       EDIT:  And, what about little Jozan's survival?  I haven't decided yet (and I may leave it up to a die throw during the game).  But, should it be an automatic that Jozan survives? It might be more dramatic to have the kid go into a coma for a while as the PCs sweat it out, hoping for his recovery.  Maybe he makes it out, but maybe he dies, too. Or, maybe Jozan survives but he loses the right eye? None of these things are specifically covered by the rules but each might make for a better, more gripping story.</blockquote>

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