DestroyYouAlot
First Post
Heh. Here's a short little vignette that didn't quite fit in this thread.
I've been somewhat of a softy DM in the past; it's hard for me to resist the temptation to fudge that big damage roll to save a PC's bacon - especially if it's a case where I misjudged the danger (CR not being an exact science, and all). And the temptation is worse because I'm a big proponent of behind-the-screen rolling (I try to keep the numbers out of view whenever possible), so it's easy to do without anyone knowing. However, of late I've been steeling my resolve to "let the dice fall where they may," and PC death be damned. This Tuesday nearly ended up being a brutal example.
Party makeup is 5th lvl Ranger/Fighter, 4th lvl Fighter, Cleric, and Bard/Rogue. It's the dead of winter, and two ogres have laid a (rather incompetent) ambush, by crouching under leather tarps in the shadow of an embankment and waiting to be covered by the snow. The party spots them a mile away - they don't know exactly what they are, but they know there's two huge shapes crouched by the path. They decide to simply stride on by, with arrows nocked. (Keep in mind, they had a few hundred feet distance when they first noticed this, and two highly competent archers - even with the -4 penalty for snow, they could've taken them from a distance without a scratch.) I ask them how close they're passing, they tell me 50 ft. Needless to say, at 60 ft. the ogres spring up out of "hiding" and charge.
Everyone except for the 4th level fighter (an elven archer) beats the ogres' initiative. The bard runs up closer (I guess to flank?), the ranger fires an arrow (missing due to the snow), and the cleric casts bless. Come the ogres' initiative, ogre A charges the bard and gets a critical with a Huge greatclub, right off the bat - from full hp (24) to -6 in one blow. Ouch. Ogre B, armed with a Huge longspear, misses the cleric, again on a charge.
Now, it bears mentioning here that I'm using the "critical effect" system from Bastion Press's "Torn Asunder" - a product I recommend highly. The basic mechanic is, when you score a critical hit, if the initial "to-hit" roll is 5 or more over the number needed to hit, you've scored a "Mild critical effect"; similarly, 10 over will result in a "Moderate effect," and 15 in a "Serious effect." All these effects are listed by severity, location, and damage type - so, for example, a moderate critical to an appendage (arm) results in a broken bone. (See below.) There is also a called shot system, wherein, as a full-round action (making a DC 15 Concentration check unless you have Weapon Specialization), versus an eligible target (one that has moved 5 ft. or less, otherwise at an additional -5 penalty), you can make an attack to a specific location at a greatly reduced hit chance (determined by location), and score an automatic critical with a moderate critical effect.
In this case, the ranger moved through ogre A's threatened range to assist the bard, and paid big for it - a natural 20 on the AoO roll, and a 19 on the followup (total to-hit 27, 11 more than needed) resulted in the aforementioned critical hit with a Moderate critical effect - a broken arm. El snappo. (-8 to attacks and checks with this arm, Strength check DC 17 to hold onto a weapon or item.) Luckily, he's left-handed, so he managed to use the wand he was holding to heal the bard and then get the *$@# outta dodge.
Folowing this, the ogres both flubbed their attacks; immediately afterwards the elven archer (forgoing the Concentration check due to Weapon Specialization (longbow)), made an called shot targeting ogre A's eye (at -11 to hit), nailing it with an automatic critical (putting out the eye, needless to say - but it was a little too dead to care). On his initiative, the cleric managed to get in a lucky strike on ogre B, who then became enraged, dropped his spear, and attempted to grapple the cleric - one AoO later he was dropped like a sack of potatoes.
So I just thought this was an interesting example of a few things: How even a properly CRed/ELed encounter (EL4!) can work out just short of deadly, how my new "let the dice fall where they may" credo got off to an interesting start, and a preview of (what I feel is) an extremely well-crafted and easy-to-integrate critical system (check it out HERE). Figured you folks might get a chuckle.
I've been somewhat of a softy DM in the past; it's hard for me to resist the temptation to fudge that big damage roll to save a PC's bacon - especially if it's a case where I misjudged the danger (CR not being an exact science, and all). And the temptation is worse because I'm a big proponent of behind-the-screen rolling (I try to keep the numbers out of view whenever possible), so it's easy to do without anyone knowing. However, of late I've been steeling my resolve to "let the dice fall where they may," and PC death be damned. This Tuesday nearly ended up being a brutal example.
Party makeup is 5th lvl Ranger/Fighter, 4th lvl Fighter, Cleric, and Bard/Rogue. It's the dead of winter, and two ogres have laid a (rather incompetent) ambush, by crouching under leather tarps in the shadow of an embankment and waiting to be covered by the snow. The party spots them a mile away - they don't know exactly what they are, but they know there's two huge shapes crouched by the path. They decide to simply stride on by, with arrows nocked. (Keep in mind, they had a few hundred feet distance when they first noticed this, and two highly competent archers - even with the -4 penalty for snow, they could've taken them from a distance without a scratch.) I ask them how close they're passing, they tell me 50 ft. Needless to say, at 60 ft. the ogres spring up out of "hiding" and charge.
Everyone except for the 4th level fighter (an elven archer) beats the ogres' initiative. The bard runs up closer (I guess to flank?), the ranger fires an arrow (missing due to the snow), and the cleric casts bless. Come the ogres' initiative, ogre A charges the bard and gets a critical with a Huge greatclub, right off the bat - from full hp (24) to -6 in one blow. Ouch. Ogre B, armed with a Huge longspear, misses the cleric, again on a charge.
Now, it bears mentioning here that I'm using the "critical effect" system from Bastion Press's "Torn Asunder" - a product I recommend highly. The basic mechanic is, when you score a critical hit, if the initial "to-hit" roll is 5 or more over the number needed to hit, you've scored a "Mild critical effect"; similarly, 10 over will result in a "Moderate effect," and 15 in a "Serious effect." All these effects are listed by severity, location, and damage type - so, for example, a moderate critical to an appendage (arm) results in a broken bone. (See below.) There is also a called shot system, wherein, as a full-round action (making a DC 15 Concentration check unless you have Weapon Specialization), versus an eligible target (one that has moved 5 ft. or less, otherwise at an additional -5 penalty), you can make an attack to a specific location at a greatly reduced hit chance (determined by location), and score an automatic critical with a moderate critical effect.
In this case, the ranger moved through ogre A's threatened range to assist the bard, and paid big for it - a natural 20 on the AoO roll, and a 19 on the followup (total to-hit 27, 11 more than needed) resulted in the aforementioned critical hit with a Moderate critical effect - a broken arm. El snappo. (-8 to attacks and checks with this arm, Strength check DC 17 to hold onto a weapon or item.) Luckily, he's left-handed, so he managed to use the wand he was holding to heal the bard and then get the *$@# outta dodge.
Folowing this, the ogres both flubbed their attacks; immediately afterwards the elven archer (forgoing the Concentration check due to Weapon Specialization (longbow)), made an called shot targeting ogre A's eye (at -11 to hit), nailing it with an automatic critical (putting out the eye, needless to say - but it was a little too dead to care). On his initiative, the cleric managed to get in a lucky strike on ogre B, who then became enraged, dropped his spear, and attempted to grapple the cleric - one AoO later he was dropped like a sack of potatoes.
So I just thought this was an interesting example of a few things: How even a properly CRed/ELed encounter (EL4!) can work out just short of deadly, how my new "let the dice fall where they may" credo got off to an interesting start, and a preview of (what I feel is) an extremely well-crafted and easy-to-integrate critical system (check it out HERE). Figured you folks might get a chuckle.
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