Visible AC

[Xeviat]

What do you think about playing D&D where you know your opponent's AC and saves, and maybe even HP? How do you think it would make you play differently? Would it allow you to make better choices? Do you think it would be more fun?

I think it could save the DM a step. I think it would avoid players wasting resources on weak threats. It would let you know when it was safe to power attack, or when a reckless strike would be beneficial. Knowing HP would convey a sense of progress in a long fight.

What are your thoughts?

 

[AaronOfBarbaria]

Any player usually figures out what the AC or saves of their enemies are during the course of a battle anyway, so there genuinely nothing lost by that information being available.

As for HP, since they represent a variety of things which can all be seen in-character, I actually find the player knowing how many HP their opponents have aiding them in their ability to tell how they are doing in the fight - i.e. players don't feel like they must have the battle "in the bag" if they know that all their high damage rolls and constantly successful attacks have barely made a dent in comparison to the HP remaining.

So... basically, yes; Transparency allows the players to make their choices well-informed ones (meaning they have the ability to make better choices, though they can still make poor choices if they so desire), and it is in my experience much more fun than the alternative.

 

[Xeviat]

I'm using roll20 right now. I chose to use visible hp bars, and I like what it's doing. My players all say they don't want to know AC and all that, but it is pretty easy to figure out by paying attention to what dice hit and which miss.

 

[draynay]

I liked HP bars in roll20, sometimes it made them real sad when they'd hit a thing and it would barely move . Its possible to give too much information, usually I will tell them the AC once they've hit it, just to speed things up. If they ask questions I try to answer without giving too much away, my players appreciate some mystery.

I think if you are responsive to their questions you don't need to volunteer too much information. If they keep asking the same question then you adjust what you tell them and save them the trouble.

 

[The Crimson Binome]

Especially in 5E, they've tried exceptionally hard to make AC visible in terms of armor types. Plate armor is always AC 18, for example. That being the case, I have no problem telling the players exactly the AC that they're going against.

 

[Al2O3]

If my players explicit asked for the AC I would tell them, and I sort of expect them to figure it out of they want to. However, unless they make an explicit guess or question about any of those values I don't tell them. I did tell them the HP of one enemy when they started guessing after a cantrip dealing 2 damage took it down.

What I often do them is the DC of ability checks (typically along the lines of "do I know this particular information?" or "can I do this str or dex check?"). That is mostly to keep me from fudging and also to give them a chance to decide if it's worth trying a physical check.

One of the PCs is a Mystic with the discipline allowing psi points to be spent increasing the initiative. When the player considers using that I also tell them if it might be worth it.

 

[delericho]

What do you think about playing D&D where you know your opponent's AC and saves, and maybe even HP? How do you think it would make you play differently? Would it allow you to make better choices? Do you think it would be more fun?

Honestly, it doesn't seem to make much difference - the players may adjust their behaviour slightly, but the d20 is still sufficiently swingy (especially in 5e) that they can only do so much anyway.

That said, I don't reveal everything up front. Typically, I'll reveal the AC after the first attack, reveal each save after the first effect that targets it, and will only ever reveal the hit points in broad terms (unhurt, scratched, bleeding profusely, near-death). Though I do reveal the appropriate indicators - if a character is wearing plate armour the PCs will know he has a good AC right away.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

I'm fine with AC being visible, but I'd much rather communicate HP by description - when the monster is on the ropes, the attacks might get much more brutal in their description, or I might say that they're swaying on their feat.

 

[Kalshane]

I liked HP bars in roll20, sometimes it made them real sad when they'd hit a thing and it would barely move . Its possible to give too much information, usually I will tell them the AC once they've hit it, just to speed things up. If they ask questions I try to answer without giving too much away, my players appreciate some mystery.

I think if you are responsive to their questions you don't need to volunteer too much information. If they keep asking the same question then you adjust what you tell them and save them the trouble.

Yeah, I like using the visible HP bars (but not the values) in Roll20. Not only for the situation you described, but it also saves me time in combat not having to answer "Which one looks the most hurt?" at the beginning of every other turn.

I'd never flat-out tell them HP and AC values, though (though, as others have said, the players generally figure the latter out pretty quick.)

 

[iserith]

I'm using roll20 right now. I chose to use visible hp bars, and I like what it's doing. My players all say they don't want to know AC and all that, but it is pretty easy to figure out by paying attention to what dice hit and which miss.

I use visible hit points bars and include a reference to the AC of the target in the macro so it outputs to chat. So it will say something like "20 | 10 to hit vs. Dick Barrage's AC 12." This saves me from having to say "Hit" or "Miss" before we move on to calculating damage. If I don't need a damage roll, then I can just narrate the result. Every time nobody has to say "hit" or "miss," it adds up into an appreciable time saved which is more time spent moving forward in the adventure. As well, the players knowing the AC is just a way to convey information to players that the characters already likely know, only characters understand it in fictional terms. The goblin's AC is 15, for example, and that's because they wear leather armor, use shields, and are shifty as flumph.