[Points of Light] Static Damage an Improvement?

[D'karr]

I think the idea would speed up play -which is certainly a good thing. I'm curious what the impact is on some other aspects of the game.

I think that we can have the best of both worlds. The damage line for an effect can simply have the average/critical damage as well as the die roll expression. That way the DM can decide which one he prefers to use in a specific case.

For example:

Damage: 2d10+7 (18/27) Fire damage.

Alternately it can look like this.

Damage: 18/27 (2d10+7) Fire damage.

 

[Argyle King]

I think that we can have the best of both worlds. The damage line for an effect can simply have the average/critical damage as well as the die roll expression. That way the DM can decide which one he prefers to use in a specific case.

For example:

Damage: 2d10+7 (18/27) Fire damage.

Alternately it can look like this.

Damage: 18/27 (2d10+7) Fire damage.

I think I like that way of doing it.


Something I considered before was having tier of play determine extra damage for critical hits. Heroic Tier would add one extra die; Paragon would add two; Epic would add three. Combining that with static damage and maybe something special for elites and solos would be a nice compromise between speed and rolling dice.

 

[Sunseeker]

That logic holds, too, if you use the maximum damage to estimate your resilience: "There's never a concern that the next hit might drop you unless your health is less than its maximum damage."

True, but in 4e, or any other system, the "best resources" are limited. You can only use your big bubble or your big heal rarely. You can't simply use it every single turn. That's the whole trick to a game like D&D, because of the tiered system wherein the best resources are the most limited, even if you assume the worst every turn, you can't defend against it every single time.

This is not to argue against ANY static damage. I find that a roll plus a fixed number usually finds a reasonable balance.

This is also why I like reactive abilities in games. Pre-planning is nice, but not always possible, as explained above.

 

[pemerton]

How do you prevent PCs from becoming effectively immune to the damage of monsters?

13th Age, which goes with static damage, also drops DR. Rather, Resistance works like this:

Resists [attack/damage type] N+,​

where N is a number between 2 and 20. On a natural roll to hit of less than N, damage from the resisted type is halved. On a natural attack roll of N or greater, full damage is inflicted. So the problem of effective immunity doesn't come up.

I agree that in 4e, with its existing rules for DR, the issue you raise is a real one.