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<blockquote data-quote="Alex319" data-source="post: 4706516" data-attributes="member: 45678">This reminds me of the &quot;warning sign&quot; technique that the HERO System uses for certain powers. Basically there are two different &quot;warning labels&quot; that are attached to certain powers. An exclamation point means that the power could be seriously unbalanced in the wrong hands (like Find Weakness, a power that allows you to repeatedly stack penalties to a target's defense) and a stop sign means that the power could completely wreck the campaign (like Transdimensional Movement, a power that lets you move into other dimensions and even backward through time).In the HERO System, these warning signs are attached to powers that PCs can take, to alert the GM to areas that may require special consideration or outright denial. However, it occurs to me that a similar technique could be used here. Reintroduce &quot;save or die&quot; type effects, but put some sort of &quot;warning label&quot; on the monsters that have them. That way GMs who want to avoid those types of monsters can do so easily, while GMs who want to put them in (like yourself) can.Of course you do have to answer the question of what you do about PC powers. If you don't give PCs save or die effects, then they will be at a severe disadvantage when facing monsters that have them. If you do give PCs save or die effects, then they will steamroll over monsters that don't have them, so you'll have to give them to all monsters to make the fights more balanced, and you're back to where we've started.One solution is to give PCs save or die effects but make them based on rare magic items (that they can't just buy; they have to find) that they can save for these types of battles.Or you can always put in an insta-kill terrain effect that the monster can try to force the player into, as well.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Alex319, post: 4706516, member: 45678"] This reminds me of the "warning sign" technique that the HERO System uses for certain powers. Basically there are two different "warning labels" that are attached to certain powers. An exclamation point means that the power could be seriously unbalanced in the wrong hands (like Find Weakness, a power that allows you to repeatedly stack penalties to a target's defense) and a stop sign means that the power could completely wreck the campaign (like Transdimensional Movement, a power that lets you move into other dimensions and even backward through time). In the HERO System, these warning signs are attached to powers that PCs can take, to alert the GM to areas that may require special consideration or outright denial. However, it occurs to me that a similar technique could be used here. Reintroduce "save or die" type effects, but put some sort of "warning label" on the monsters that have them. That way GMs who want to avoid those types of monsters can do so easily, while GMs who want to put them in (like yourself) can. Of course you do have to answer the question of what you do about PC powers. If you don't give PCs save or die effects, then they will be at a severe disadvantage when facing monsters that have them. If you do give PCs save or die effects, then they will steamroll over monsters that don't have them, so you'll have to give them to all monsters to make the fights more balanced, and you're back to where we've started. One solution is to give PCs save or die effects but make them based on rare magic items (that they can't just buy; they have to find) that they can save for these types of battles. Or you can always put in an insta-kill terrain effect that the monster can try to force the player into, as well. [/QUOTE]

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