Replacing start of turn damage with enters/ends turn damage

[S'mon]

I think start-of-turn auto damage works very badly in 4e; in particular it's auto-death to all minions (which makes rolling the initial attacks vs them pointless). I'm proposing the following house rule:

For zone/aura auto-damage effects, I'm planning to house rule "starts turn in zone" auto damage to "enters or ends turn in zone/aura". This would reduce the effectiveness of some powers, so I'll allow free retraining.

I think this should work well & create better game dynamics - what do you think?

 

[FireLance]

If you don't mind a little extra dice rolling, you could change it to make a save to avoid damage (for the defender) or make an attack roll to deal damage (for the attacker). If the defender saves or the attack misses, end of turn damage would apply.

Would you do the same for the monsters?

 

[S'mon]

If you don't mind a little extra dice rolling, you could change it to make a save to avoid damage (for the defender) or make an attack roll to deal damage (for the attacker). If the defender saves or the attack misses, end of turn damage would apply.

Would you do the same for the monsters?

The rule is mostly for the benefit of the monsters, esp the poor, poor minions.

 

[FireLance]

The rule is mostly for the benefit of the monsters, esp the poor, poor minions.

I mean, do you also intend to change monster abilities that work the same way?

 

[S'mon]

I mean, do you also intend to change monster abilities that work the same way?

Yes.

 

[Storminator]

I think end of turn is a better mechanic, because it gives folks a meaningful decision. It will make the fights a little longer, because people will be able to avoid damage, but those fights should be more interesting. it's how I would design every aura/zone.

PS

 

[Oldtimer]

what do you think?

Yes! This works so much better.

This annoyed me for a long time with 4e, so I housed-ruled it a year ago. Go for it!

 

[S'mon]

Yes! This works so much better.

This annoyed me for a long time with 4e, so I housed-ruled it a year ago. Go for it!

Thanks for the positive feedback!

 

[OnlineDM]

Yep, I agree. End of turn is more interesting than beginning of turn when it comes to damaging zones or auras.

 

[Primitive Screwhead]

I would prefer to give some minions an ability to take a standard action on the turn that a zone or aura 'kills' them. Call it die-hard or something.

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