Realistic Combat that's Simple(ish)

The real reason though that I don't bother applying disadvantage to damage beyond 5 range increments or something (I run 3e) is that IME the random size of damage dice mostly only matters at low level. The difference between ~2 average damage and about 3.5 average damage is pretty big, but the difference between 7 average damage or 8.5 damage isn't that big. In the long run D&D weapon attack damage depends on the bonuses more than the size of the die.
Right, that's what I was thinking. When you're doing 1d6+10, the d6 isn't as relevant (hence the "essentially just -2 damage" comment). In 5e it tends to be 1d8+4, and there are only 2 range increments, so it is slightly more relevant (30% swing in damage, say), but it's still just "-2 damage" (ish). For monsters, though, their ranged attacks can be heavily dice-based. If the Stone Giant throws a rock at you, that's 28 damage (4d10+6); if it's at Long Range, with this house rule, long-range is a much safer place (4d10 twice, take lowest total, then add 6)!
 

log in or register to remove this ad

I own MERP and I like it quite a bit. There's really no chance to get anyone I know to play it with me, however.
Yep, Rolemaster and MERP were college saturday games for me, 35 years ago. We loved it then (bunch of enginerds), and accepted unfortunate character deaths from a lethal crit. [We also had the adjacent "blow up the world when playing Nuclear War, start your next Rolemaster character with an attribute at 100!" rule...]
 

But 1HD commoners survive deadly attacks all the time. You can waste a day watching and reading accounts of survivors who were stabbed 10-30 times and lived to talk about it. Just normal people surviving what would be 10-30d4 damage in most ttrpgs.

This is why real combat cannot be simulated by ttrpgs. You can get closer with Wound systems, but it still won't give us realistic results.
Knife is "1d4-1" damage... 18 "hits" for 0 damage that lacerate you and bleed but aren't lethal... and then one hit that does 1 real hp, another deep one to the chest that does 3hp, and now you're using Willpower and making death saves to stay conscious... :-)
 

Not a big fan of the "PCs are just better than other people" theory. To each their own.
That means you're more comfortable playing a different game system. Nothing wrong with that! If you're facing D&D level and frequency of threats and combat, though, you're quickly making a new character...
 

But a similarly skilled NPC should be about on par mechanically with that PC, I believe. That's what I'm talking about. The fourth level character isn't better because they're a PC.
Now this statement I can get behind. If two "similarly skilled" opponents fight, luck and tactics (or pre-fight strategy) will/should determine the winner, not that "god loves a fool" (i.e. the PC). Restated in Klingon, "Why would I ever engage in an equal fight?"
 

Yep, Rolemaster and MERP were college saturday games for me, 35 years ago. We loved it then (bunch of enginerds), and accepted unfortunate character deaths from a lethal crit. [We also had the adjacent "blow up the world when playing Nuclear War, start your next Rolemaster character with an attribute at 100!" rule...]
Played a lot of con games of Nuclear War.
 

That means you're more comfortable playing a different game system. Nothing wrong with that! If you're facing D&D level and frequency of threats and combat, though, you're quickly making a new character...
Not a problem for me if it happens. I have zero problem handling the death of a PC, mine or anyone's.
 

Thus the 7hp goblin takes 7hp and "dies", while the 7hp PC wizard takes 13, and "goes down"; the 10hp rogue takes a 32pt critical hit from the ogre...

I differ I think from most tables in using absolutely the same rules for PCs and NPCs. So a 7 hp gobin dies in my game at -9hp (because of size class) and is in the same "dying" state as a PC would if reduced to -1. (Reduced to 0 you are always "staggered" and potentially "unconscious" but not yet "dying".) You'd only have a 7 hp PC wizard under my rules in the case of pixie or some other tiny race (so dead at -8hp under my house rules). A typical human PC wizard would typically have at least 12 hp even at first level. But regardless, if reduced to -1 hp they are all "dying". My 3e based game doesn't have 'inspiration' it has 'destiny', but functionally the same sort of thing applies. Most NPCs don't have destiny, but important ones of the sort gods may be using as pawns like the PCs may well also have destiny.

Quite often a battle with a large number of goblins would find some still dying on the battlefield after combat finishes. Rarely does this matter much, as unless the goblins held the field, said dying goblin must stabilize, survive been finished off by the PCs, and then any scavengers and carrion feeders that come along until they regain consciousness, and then while staggered manage to avoid any other damage and find some shelter to heal up. That's a hard road for a goblin, but possible. Occasionally it has happened that some apparently mortally wounded foe has (unknown to the PC's who don't check carefully enough) survived to tell its fellows to avoid the PCs or seek vengeance on them.
 

Knife is "1d4-1" damage... 18 "hits" for 0 damage that lacerate you and bleed but aren't lethal... and then one hit that does 1 real hp, another deep one to the chest that does 3hp, and now you're using Willpower and making death saves to stay conscious... :-)
Depends on the system. D&D & most of its clones is 1d4 damage for daggers and a 1HD normie would never survive 10-30 stabs. Ever. Even with Death Saves. Once the ongoing stab damage pushes hit points to -maximum HP (-8 in this case), game over.


Another broken aspect of most ttrpg combat is taking damage doesn't affect the character's overall physical performance. Even in the fiction (novels, shows and movies) when a character is slashed/stabbed by a sword, there's a distinct visible level of impairment. With D&D, its clones and all similar systems, the cartoon-style combat systems fail miserably at emulating the fiction that inspires the games.
 


Pets & Sidekicks

Remove ads

Top