[Star Wars] Saga Edition's New Damage System

[rgard]

Saga Edition's New Damage System

What do you think? Something that can be used in D&D? Something for 4th Edition?

I kind of like it, although all those penalties would drive me nuts.

We'll stick with WP & VP. We like it.

Thanks,
Rich

 

[I'm A Banana]

The conditions might be a little insane...maybe. Kind of depends on what else the character is keeping track of. In FFZ, I just created a "wounded threshold" where the character becomes disabled, and then expanded the -10 rule to go on a bit longer, while you're still capable of fighting.

 

[blargney the second]

It's definitely a death spiral. They're theoretically more realistic, but I hate playing games with them.

 

[Ranger REG]

Saga Edition's New Damage System

What do you think?

I think I opened up this discussion two days ago.

 

[Mouseferatu]

It's definitely a death spiral. They're theoretically more realistic, but I hate playing games with them.

I think there's a solid middle ground, and I hope this system finds it.

A death spiral in which the penalties grow too onerous is no fun to play with. But a mild spiral is, to me, tolerable enough, and I'm one of those who has a conceptual problem (though I don't let it bother me all that much) with the "perfect, perfect, perfect, perfect, unconscious, dead" aspect of HPs without such a mechanic.

And frankly, I'm all for the notion of a single "conditions track," in which injuries, nausea, fear, and the like are all accounted for one a single continuum. I think it's all but brilliant, and I fervently hope that such a system, if it's proven workable in Star Wars or some other prior game, does indeed make it into 4E.

 

[Fedifensor]

I actually let one character who was sent to -25 wounds, lose 2 limbs to get back to -5 wounds.

King Arthur: [after Arthur's cuts off both of the Black Knight's arms] Look, you stupid Bastard. You've got no arms left.
Black Knight: Yes I have.
King Arthur: *Look*!
Black Knight: It's just a flesh wound.

 

[blargney the second]

I think there's a solid middle ground, and I hope this system finds it.

A death spiral in which the penalties grow too onerous is no fun to play with. But a mild spiral is, to me, tolerable enough, and I'm one of those who has a conceptual problem (though I don't let it bother me all that much) with the "perfect, perfect, perfect, perfect, unconscious, dead" aspect of HPs without such a mechanic.

And frankly, I'm all for the notion of a single "conditions track," in which injuries, nausea, fear, and the like are all accounted for one a single continuum. I think it's all but brilliant, and I fervently hope that such a system, if it's proven workable in Star Wars or some other prior game, does indeed make it into 4E.

Oooo, I like how you think. Being sickened, shaken, and entangled is irritating to calculate on the fly. -X on the condition track would definitely be easier to track.

 

[delericho]

And frankly, I'm all for the notion of a single "conditions track," in which injuries, nausea, fear, and the like are all accounted for one a single continuum.

The problem is that different types of conditions rightly have different effects, and that even if they did not the stacking of effects isn't clear. Being panicked really should have a different effect from the 'grade 3 wound' category - these simply do different things. Similarly, does being shaken rally impact a character such that he can take less of a beating before becoming unconscious? What about being shaken, fatigued and dazzled? Those are three minor conditions, and yet would combine to render the character almost unconscious even at the outset of combat.

I'll wait until I see the book before making any final judgement, but my gut feeling is that many of these conditions are orthogonal, and as such combining them into a single condition track is a mistake.

 

[Mouseferatu]

The problem is that different types of conditions rightly have different effects, and that even if they did not the stacking of effects isn't clear. Being panicked really should have a different effect from the 'grade 3 wound' category - these simply do different things. Similarly, does being shaken rally impact a character such that he can take less of a beating before becoming unconscious? What about being shaken, fatigued and dazzled? Those are three minor conditions, and yet would combine to render the character almost unconscious even at the outset of combat.

I'll wait until I see the book before making any final judgement, but my gut feeling is that many of these conditions are orthogonal, and as such combining them into a single condition track is a mistake.

I think it's reasonable to assume that someone who is violently ill--nauseated--should be easier to knock out, or at least subdue, than someone in the full bloom of health. Someone under the stress of panic, similarly, should be more susceptible. There's a reason sick or frightened people pass out, after all.

Similarly, I'm all for a consolidation of the consequences of these conditions. I hate the fact that some bestow penalties to attacks and saves, while others bestow penalties to Strength and Dex. I think a single set of penalties that applies (more or less) across the board would do fine for modeling all of these, and would be a hell of a lot easier to keep track of. Having run combats with multiple types of penalties, it quickly bogs the game down in the math and the mechanics; I'd much rather a single, smooth means of keeping track, even if it's a hair less "realistic." (Not that I even agree it is; I'm just saying that even if it were, it'd be preferable.)

As to whether a few of the conditions would "render the character almost unconscious even at the outset of combat," I think that depends entirely on the level of granularity of the wound track. If it's got a sufficient array of "degrees of detriment," I don't think this would be a problem at all.

 

[Frostmarrow]

I think I opened up this discussion two days ago.

You should have called.