Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Felon" data-source="post: 427276" data-attributes="member: 8158">Yes, well, you know I did already address the shortcomings of that rationale you're espousing at some depth in my previous long-winded posts, so rather than re-hash, I'll only suggest you go back and check it out when you have a few minutes. Suffice to say, the big problem is that, just as with Synicism's dynamite scenario, just as with PEGShane's comments about a soldier shrugging off a direct hit from a tank round, just as with my anecdote about characters jumping off a mountain because it's the shortest way down, is that character, having done the math. knows for certain that there's not a chance of dying. So much for drama. Some dastard pulls a gun on the hero, the hero sighs and walks across the room to take his shotgun down off the wall. "Well, nobody's shot at me today, so I have some dodging points to burn. You go ahead and start shooting. I gotta load this thing." <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f644.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":rolleyes:" title="Roll eyes    :rolleyes:"  data-smilie="11"data-shortname=":rolleyes:" /> Now, before everyone rushes to make some obtuse commennt about how the GM can arbitrarily override the rules in this situation and decide what happens in a given situation, but realize that in doing so you're just going off on a completely unrelated tangent. Here's my statement: d20's hit point system is a flawed and inadequate method for handling realistic or cinematic combat. Saying "a good DM would easilty handle it this way" or "a GM who lets that happen is dumb" doesn't refute my statement one tiny iota. It is irrelevant what a DM can or might do. If the system's adequate, the DM doesn't have to override it and make up house rules on the spot to keep things from getting goofy.Conan is a powerful character. In one story, a handful of guards catch Conan someplace that he shouldn't be. Does Conan just roll initiative and tear the guards apart? No. One of the guards has a crossbow leveled at him and Conan knows he's more than likely a dead man if he tries anything funny. He has to use his wits to wait for an opportunity to strike. In D&D, a couple of barbarians are sitting in a bar when they are  surprised by four goons with crossbows. In a movie or novel, the characters might use a tactic like flipping over their table and using it as a  makeshift mantlet, perhaps picking it up and using it to ram the guards. In D&D, the barbarians needn't bother thinking out a plan like that, they just rush the guards knowing that they can't be killed. In fact, the barbarians are somewhat foolish if they do use the makeshift-mantelet tactic, since in D&D it almost always better to do something offensive than defensive. Characters relying on hit points don't have to use their wits. Interesting perspective. Let's do a field study. When you get a chance, run out to your local hobby shop and find how many published d20 products you can find that provide 15th-level parties with 1HD opponents to fight. Let's keep everyone posted on the results. I'm sure we'll find it enlightening how many dummies are making a living scaling every opponent in every encounter to the party's level. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f631.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":o" title="Eek!    :o"  data-smilie="9"data-shortname=":o" /> Oh, that's the answer! ROFL! Good one. Any time I see some hero fighting on despite mortal wounds, I'll just think "Oh, he's got that feat from one of the splatbooks!" Heh. You're a real card. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" /> But wait a sec...Remain Conscious has Iron Will as a prerequisite, and that's hardly appropriate for Boramir, is it? <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f615.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":confused:" title="Confused    :confused:"  data-smilie="5"data-shortname=":confused:" /> Wait, never mind. We'll just say he had a very low Wisdom score, and the Iron Will didn't compensate enough. Yeah, that works. Hey, looks like the time I've spent with you guys must have unlocked the powers of spurious reasoning that lay hidden deep within me. Glad to see that this thread hasn't been entirely unproductive. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f61b.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":p" title="Stick out tongue    :p"  data-smilie="7"data-shortname=":p" /></blockquote>

Verification