Increasing Massive Damage Threshold

[Golem2176]

Increase Massive Damage Threshold [General]
You are more likely to live through encounters that deal massive damage than most other people.
Prerequisite: Great Fortitude and Toughness
Benefit: If you ever sustain damage so massive that it deals more than 50 points of damage and it doesn't kill you outright, you must make a DC 10 Fortitude Save. If the saving throw fails, you die regardless of your current hit points.
Normal:The Fortitude save DC is normally 15.

Anybody have any thoughts on this. Also, is the name of the feat appropriate or should I change it? [This just came off the top of my head]

 

[mmu1]

Increase Massive Damage Threshold [General]
You are more likely to live through encounters that deal massive damage than most other people.
Prerequisite: Great Fortitude and Toughness
Benefit: If you ever sustain damage so massive that it deals more than 50 points of damage and it doesn't kill you outright, you must make a DC 10 Fortitude Save. If the saving throw fails, you die regardless of your current hit points.
Normal:The Fortitude save DC is normally 15.

Anybody have any thoughts on this. Also, is the name of the feat appropriate or should I change it? [This just came off the top of my head]

I think that by the time you have to worry about taking 50 points of damage in a single blow, whether it's a DC 15 or DC 10 doesn't make that much of a difference... And the prerequisites are incredibly high for what amounts to a not very useful feat.

 

[Golem2176]

Increase Massive Damage Threshold [General]
You are more likely to live through encounters that deal massive damage than most other people.
Prerequisite: Great Fortitude and Toughness
Benefit: If you ever sustain damage so massive that it deals more than 40 points of damage and it doesn't kill you outright, you must make a DC 10 Fortitude Save. If the saving throw fails, you die regardless of your current hit points.
Normal:Sustaining 50 points of damage calls for a Fortitude save with a DC of 15.

Anybody have any thoughts on this. Also, is the name of the feat appropriate or should I change it? [This just came off the top of my head]

[EDIT] mmu1's reply, made me rethink this

 

[Golem2176]

D'oh!

 

[the Jester]

Good idea, poor mechanic. Instead of lowering the save DC how about actually increasing the damage threshold? You could make it so that the feat can be taken more than once and it stacks; each time adds 10 points to the massive damage threshold- so if you take it once, you save whenever you take 60 points in one hit, etc.

 

[Golem2176]

Okay, as per the Jester's Reply I've reworked this!

Increase Massive Damage Threshold [General]
You are more likely to live through encounters that deal massive damage than most other people.
Prerequisite: Great Fortitude and Toughness
Benefit: Any force, whether natural or mundane that deals massive damage, is a bit less of a threat. When you take this feat your character's massive damage threshold is increased by 10 points. (From 50 to 60, 60 to 70, and so on)
Special: You can gain this feat multiple times. It's effect stacks.

I'm hoping this is balanced. If anyone else has two cents they'd like to contribute, please do so.

 

[Altalazar]

I think it is an excellent idea - either by easing the DC or, even better, increasing the hp threshhold.

It really isn't all that powerful of an ability, considering how seldom this comes up - in all the games I've played, it has only happened once that such a roll even needed to be made.

So really, this is something that probably isn't important until very high level, high powered play anyway. And at that point, a slightly better chance to survive damage that otherwise was NOT enough to kill you is basically a trifle compared to plane shifting, wish spewing, meteorswarm throwing, and other high level abilities.

 

[the Jester]

I'd also make it a fighter bonus feat, as well (that is, put it on the list they get to pick from).

 

[Geoff Watson]

I suggest, if you feel the need for a feat, for it to remove the requirement for a Massive Damage Save altogether.

If it comes up often enough to matter, the difference between DC 10 and DC 15 is unimportant; they'll only fail on a 1 anyway. Likewise, the difference between 50 points of damage and 60 points of damage is unlikely to be significant.

Geoff.

 

[Altalazar]

I suggest, if you feel the need for a feat, for it to remove the requirement for a Massive Damage Save altogether.

If it comes up often enough to matter, the difference between DC 10 and DC 15 is unimportant; they'll only fail on a 1 anyway. Likewise, the difference between 50 points of damage and 60 points of damage is unlikely to be significant.

Geoff.

That is a good point, though perhaps there is a middle ground between elimination and an insignificant difference - you are right about the DC probably not mattering much at that point, but there is always advantage in never having to make that roll in the first place. Perhaps an increase from 50 to some larger number, like 100, 150, or even 200. A difference between 50 and 100 likely is significant, even at that power level.