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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Felon" data-source="post: 5776424" data-attributes="member: 8158">Sorry it took me so long to reply to the comments on the first page. I think this was came closest to being on the money: While I think the example track provided is a little too protracted, I agree with the basic idea that the correct approach is to avoid all-or-nothing results, and have something more along the lines of an action track. For example, perhaps you progressively lose a minor, then a medium, and then a standard action, at which point you are effectively immobilized. Without intermediate stages--a buffer of some kind--it's essentially like having 1 hit point. I am sympathetic to, but don't agree with, the sense of entitlement players have to the "I want to do something every round" mentality. 5e should make no such absolute promises. Some opponents are nasty, and their nastyness should translate into the potential to rip through buffers quickly.My stance is that just as there are opponents capable of inflicting grievous amounts of damage in one round, there are foes that can move you down a track pronto. Of course, just as DM's should use dragons or other heavy-hitters with care, so should a potent action-stealer be used sparingly. In this way, players will have the fear and respect something like a beholder or medusa for the havoc they can wreak, yet they don't mutter curses every time a spider spits a web or a drow hits them with a lousy dart.On a related tangent, I think one of the reasons why steath and subterfuge is often foregone in RPG's is that it too is all-or-nothing. A character essentially has 1 HP in the being-sneaky department, because a failed check tends to mean the jig is instantly up. This is one of those areas where we can indeed learn from video games. Games like Assassin's Creed and Skyrim, for instance, wisely have the intermediate stage between "hidden" and "detected" wherein an enemy is aroused and their guard is up, but the player has a chance to switch tactics or back off.So in summary, all-or-nothing oughta go.</blockquote>

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