Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="DND_Reborn" data-source="post: 8592707" data-attributes="member: 6987520">That is the key point for me. Once the specifics are reality and the players have engaged with them, changing them becomes fudging IMO.In the &quot;heat of combat&quot;, so the battle is underway, right?Has anyone attacked or damaged the &quot;hammed up guy&quot;? Have they even seen him? A small change to hp and +1 to AC is fine IMO IF (and big IF) no one has attacked that orc yet. The extra HP could be due to a very high CON or just &quot;rolling hp well&quot; and +1 AC due to a better DEX. It should NOT be due to changing the orc's armor, however, as this is something that would otherwise have been likely noted by the PCs and changing it on the fly breaks reality more:DM: &quot;Oh, that orcs was wearing a cloak and when you attack him you notice he is wearing a chain shirt instead of hide armor. Yeah, that's it.&quot;Player: &quot;Why didn't we notice that before? The cloak might have indicated this orc was their leader. We would have attacked him first!&quot;BUT if a PC attacked the orc, hit AC 12, and you tell them it is a miss because at that moment you don't want that orc hit and so change its AC to 13, that is fudging all the way as I see it.Now, if two orcs have gone down, no one has attack this orc yet, and you realize making him a bit tougher would enhance the encounter, changing things is okay, just not changing the PCs' perceived reality (such as the instant armor-swap).Finally, it is best to learn from experience and have a &quot;commander&quot; orc in mind as part of the random encounter if you think having one will make for a better encounter.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="DND_Reborn, post: 8592707, member: 6987520"] That is the key point for me. Once the specifics are reality and the players have engaged with them, changing them becomes fudging IMO. In the "heat of combat", so the battle is underway, right? Has anyone attacked or damaged the "hammed up guy"? Have they even seen him? A small change to hp and +1 to AC is fine IMO [I]IF[/I] (and big IF) no one has attacked that orc yet. The extra HP could be due to a very high CON or just "rolling hp well" and +1 AC due to a better DEX. It should NOT be due to changing the orc's armor, however, as this is something that would otherwise have been likely noted by the PCs and changing it on the fly breaks reality more: DM: "[I]Oh, that orcs was wearing a cloak and when you attack him you notice he is wearing a chain shirt instead of hide armor. Yeah, that's it.[/I]" Player: "[I]Why didn't we notice that before? The cloak might have indicated this orc was their leader. We would have attacked him first![/I]" BUT if a PC attacked the orc, hit AC 12, and you tell them it is a miss because at that moment you don't want that orc hit and so change its AC to 13, that is fudging all the way as I see it. Now, if two orcs have gone down, no one has attack [I]this[/I] orc yet, and you realize making him a bit tougher would enhance the encounter, changing things is okay, just not changing the PCs' perceived reality (such as the instant armor-swap). Finally, it is best to learn from experience and have a "commander" orc in mind as part of the random encounter if you think having one will make for a better encounter. [/QUOTE]

Verification