Save or Die, would it bother you as a player if

[hanez]

Question is worded pretty odd.....

I am bothered when my character is pickpocketed, or disarmed. It bothers me when I can't open a door in the dungeon. Hell I get damn frustrated when I take damage in D&D. Of course it bothers me when I have to roll a save or die, I want my player to be Conan and resistant to all effects! Every negative thing that happens to my character bothers me.

 

[On Puget Sound]

what if you live and die by the same choice? Choose "lethal" and you gain access to beheading blows, finger of death and implosion spells, but are subject to the save or die version of monster attacks. Choose "mythic" and your attacks have to slog through buckets of HP or apply only "save ends" effects, but you get hit by the milder, 3 strikes version of enemy powers.

I can see team-optimizers really working this, making a glass cannon and protecting her until she can get in her killing shot, but other than that, I think it could work.

 

[unan oranis]

what if you live and die by the same choice? Choose "lethal" and you gain access to beheading blows, finger of death and implosion spells, but are subject to the save or die version of monster attacks. Choose "mythic" and your attacks have to slog through buckets of HP or apply only "save ends" effects, but you get hit by the milder, 3 strikes version of enemy powers.

I can see team-optimizers really working this, making a glass cannon and protecting her until she can get in her killing shot, but other than that, I think it could work.

Small problem, you choose lethal but joe didn't... so what happens if your characters fight?

 

[On Puget Sound]

I don't know how well the rules will support players fighting each other, nor whether they need to. The goal of "more or less balanced" is tough enough to achieve; insisting on "balanced enough for a fair fight" is probably beyond the scope of anything they even plan to attempt.

If one player character is using lethal force against another, then except in very unusual circumstances the game has collapsed anyway; no rule set can fix it.

 

[KarinsDad]

I don't mind the concept of "save or nasty happens", but I think "save or die" should stay the way of the dinosaur.

It takes too long to create a character (and a cool character at that) to be at the whim of a single die roll.

 

[Quickleaf]

I really like the leeway for a player to choose which they're subject to. And it can make a lot of sense in the narrative with the medusa. I'd actually prefer "save or die" scenarios were set up that way, like mini-challenges within the body of the greater monster challenge.

 

[JRRNeiklot]

I don't mind the concept of "save or nasty happens", but I think "save or die" should stay the way of the dinosaur.

It takes too long to create a character (and a cool character at that) to be at the whim of a single die roll.

Then save or die is not the problem. Marathon character creation sessions are the problem.

 

[KarinsDad]

Then save or die is not the problem. Marathon character creation sessions are the problem.

I don't think that you can create a modern character in any RPG these days without it taking a significant amount of time.

Save or die IS the problem. Most players get a lot of enjoyment out of playing their characters and they put a lot of work into not just creating a PC, but also into creating a background for that PC, breathing life into that PC, and into running that PC for many many hours until the PC and fellow party member PCs become an integral part of that player's enjoyment for that campaign world.

It's one thing to die after multiple rounds of combat where the player (and the other players) could make decisions and at least attempt to have the PC survive. It's another for the DM to say "roll a dice, oh too bad, your PC is dead". Anyone who doesn't understand the emotional difference between these two does not understand human nature for the vast majority of players. And since the game is designed to be played by actual humans, game designers should be smart enough to not add in game elements that piss off their players. That's not a smart business model. IMO.

PC death should be a part of the game system, but arbitrary PC death based on a single die roll shouldn't.

 

[JRRNeiklot]

I don't think that you can create a modern character in any RPG these days without it taking a significant amount of time.

I can roll up a Basic D&D character in less time than it's taking me to reply to your post.

 

[Incenjucar]

I can roll up a Basic D&D character in less time than it's taking me to reply to your post.

It takes longer to load the 4E character builder than to build a character. At level 1.