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Message: <blockquote data-quote="JamesonCourage" data-source="post: 6155851" data-attributes="member: 6668292">You didn't actually counter my post that talks about this, you just disagreed. Not much I can say on this bit.As long as you have certain goals in mind for what you want out of the game, yes. Which is what I said. Those goals are probably based on your personal preference, though (and if not, they're based on something else you decide, like what might appeal to most people's preferences, etc.). You can try to objectively see if they fit your goals, but your initial goals are just personal preference.I think the idea is that snakes need to be potentially more dangerous, even at high levels. Not 100%, though, as I didn't play any pre-3.X game. But, bypassing HP mechanics aren't necessarily arbitrary. If you want an effect to be more dangerous, to potentially happen regardless of the game's take on HP, etc., then you have strong reasons to bypass HP and institute Save or Die effects.How is this not personal preference? What if the goal is to create an effect / monster / attack / whatever that is that powerful? What if the goal is to kill at least one PC / NPC / Monster / whatever? I can't see how this isn't personal preference.I think rewards based on fights are pretty much based on pacing anyways. Do you want pacing to increase faster than normal when that type of monster / spell / effect is used? If so, then increase XP by the amount you'd like to see. XP for challenges aren't arbitrary, they're a pacing mechanic. If you feel that the SOD effect warrants faster pacing, then do that. If not, then don't. You just use the same reasoning that you do for all other XP rewards based on individual challenges.This is your preference for non-one trick ponies. That's all it is. Sometimes, a monster / NPC / PC / etc. is only a one trick pony, and that's all you need or want, even from a story perspective. You can dislike that, and that's fine. You can design things so this isn't the case. But this is completely based on preference.Personal preference (they thought spiders should no longer be as big a threat as they used to be). I should also note that 3.X is full of SOD, still.Also, "some designers did it in some cases, so it's objective"? I don't get it.Addressed this earlier. If the goal is to make the effect / attack / monster / spell / etc. more dangerous, more random, more lethal, etc., then you'd want to bypass potential mountains of HP. It also depends on what HP means in the game, or potentially even at the table. I don't understand the "it's bypassing another mechanic" argument as somehow bad, if it helps accomplish the goal that the designer has in mind.We play entirely different genres. I've never run a game that was "heroic fantasy where the heroes are awesome and will live to the end", nor have I played the Die Hard style people talk about on this site and others, nor the Big Damn Heroes style either.D&D can be played in different genres. You can advocate for yours, and that's cool, but how is this not personal preference again?This is a design issue with spellcasters having something that you want shared, not a problem with SOD. Which is personal preference. You can definitely solve these issues, too, while keeping SOD, or even granting it to non-spellcasters (high level martial characters in my RPG can make a SOD attack each round).Whereas I think that's pretty obviously the case, since people have to set goals based on personal preferences before trying to objectively judge the system.Unless the goal was "fun for me", in which case, the mechanics are a success. Which, to me, seems like it's well designed.True. It means that the mechanics help achieve the result you aimed for. Your aim is just based on personal preference.Your personal preferences. If you created mechanics that fit these criteria, they would be well designed. I mean, really, yes, you can attempt to judge game mechanics objectively. (I say "attempt" because people often let bias seep in.) You just need to set goals for the mechanics to achieve first, and those goals are founded on personal preference. Right? As always, play what you like <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></blockquote>

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