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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 5936169" data-attributes="member: 42582">In my experience it actually tends to open a can of worms.Some of the worms relate to other features of the ingame situation. For example, why can't I take an attack penalty to move further? (In Rolemaster, HARP and 4e this is possible. In AD&D it's not. In 3E it is, but only once your BAB gets to +6, so that the difference between single attack and full attack comes into play.)Why can't I make a perception check to look for weak spots in his armour and then exploit them? (In Burning Wheel this is possible. RuneQuest and HARP don't call it out, but they have piecemeal armour systems plus perception mechanics plus called shot mechancis that should make it possible. RM doesn't have piecemeal armour rules or called shot mechanics, so this can't be easily worked into the game.)Etc.And some of the worms relate more to metagame issues. For example, doesn't my bonus to hit represent my skill as a fighter? So why, then should I - the player - be deciding whether it is better to fight defenisvely or fight recklessly? Shouldn't the adoption of optimal tactics already be expressed in my combat bonus? (Runequest takes this approach.) The issue is compounded by a feat like Power Attack, which doesn't trade off attack for defence, but rather trades off one part of attack (to hit) for another part of attack (damage). Given that the attack roll is abstract, and the damage roll is independent of it (so provided I hit, there is no difference between a 12 or a 19 on the d20, and either could result in a roll of 1, or a roll of max, damage). So what does Power Attack even correspond to in the game? To use a piece of terminology coined elsewhere, it looks to me like a "dissociated" mechanic that only has meaning within the mathematical apparatus of D&D's to hit and damage rolls.(HARP has a power attack option that does correspond to something in game - you can sacrifice attack bonus to increase your damage adjustment. But in HARP, damage is not independent of attack roll: you hit if attack roll less foe's defences > 0, and provided that you hit, then you then apply damage adjustments to work out the final damage number, and a look-up table tells you what actual damage this corresponds to. And that damage is not ablative, like in 3E, but wound results. Which means that you can't just optimise your power attack based on a DPR calculation, as you can in 3E. So in HARP, unlike in 3E, power attack really does model sacrificing precision for force.)TL;DR: If the game is built around an abstract combat engine, with abstract to hit rolls, abstract damage rolls and abstract hit points, be wary of the implications of introducing points of detail into your resolution system. They can quickly ramify and derail the whole thing.</blockquote>

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