Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="lamproswc" data-source="post: 3441236" data-attributes="member: 51286">So I'm returning to D&amp;D after having played a lot of video games. One thing that strikes me as kind of weird about D&amp;D now that I'm back: The assumption is that the players win every encounter. It kind of takes some of the drama out of the game. So, I want to set up the game so that there's a high chance that the players can lose any given encounter - and figure out how to keep this from derailing the plot. Here's what I'm thinking about:-When you're reduced to 0 hit points, you're &quot;wounded&quot; and can take no action. You can't be reduced below zero hit points. You also can't be affected by healing spells unless the caster takes a full minute to cast the spell. (Will the lack of a &quot;combat res&quot; screw things up too badly?)-If the whole party is &quot;killed&quot;, they wake up with killer headaches a few hours later in some suitably unpleasant circumstance. Ie, if they were trying to keep the bad guy from getting away, now he's gotten away. I'd also like some sort of mechanical &quot;Death penalty&quot;, but I can't think of a good one. -What sort of Encounter Levels should I throw at the player to make them sweat to win, and how many encounters should I throw at them before they have an opportunity to rest? I want roughly a 20-40% chance of TPKing in any given game session. It doesn't need to happen all the time, but it has to be a realistic possibility. This is the hard question, and any help is much appreciated. I think if I get this variant working, the game sessions will be a lot more thrilling and the players will feel much prouder of their combat skills. Thanks,Alex</blockquote>

[QUOTE="lamproswc, post: 3441236, member: 51286"] So I'm returning to D&D after having played a lot of video games. One thing that strikes me as kind of weird about D&D now that I'm back: The assumption is that the players win every encounter. It kind of takes some of the drama out of the game. So, I want to set up the game so that there's a high chance that the players can lose any given encounter - and figure out how to keep this from derailing the plot. Here's what I'm thinking about: -When you're reduced to 0 hit points, you're "wounded" and can take no action. You can't be reduced below zero hit points. You also can't be affected by healing spells unless the caster takes a full minute to cast the spell. (Will the lack of a "combat res" screw things up too badly?) -If the whole party is "killed", they wake up with killer headaches a few hours later in some suitably unpleasant circumstance. Ie, if they were trying to keep the bad guy from getting away, now he's gotten away. I'd also like some sort of mechanical "Death penalty", but I can't think of a good one. -What sort of Encounter Levels should I throw at the player to make them sweat to win, and how many encounters should I throw at them before they have an opportunity to rest? I want roughly a 20-40% chance of TPKing in any given game session. It doesn't need to happen all the time, but it has to be a realistic possibility. This is the hard question, and any help is much appreciated. I think if I get this variant working, the game sessions will be a lot more thrilling and the players will feel much prouder of their combat skills. Thanks, Alex [/QUOTE]

Verification