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<blockquote data-quote="genshou" data-source="post: 2330258" data-attributes="member: 13164">Due to GlassJaw's many recent threads about gutting the VP/WP system, I want to see what people think about a crucial topic not yet covered in any of his threads.It's been pointed out to me before that the Vitality Point/Wound Point system, despite its many other favorable qualities (IMHO), isn't very good for Dungeons &amp; Dragons, because it nerfs many special abilities that rely on a successful &quot;hit&quot; to affect the target, such as injury type poison and disease, and energy drain.&nbsp; Since vitality damage doesn't represent an actual successful &quot;hit&quot; against the character, that essentially negates many of these special attacks (touch spells and stunning fist still work normally, unfortunately for their targets).&nbsp; This system is the one in which that problem is most apparent, but it crops up in any d20 System game where vp/wp is featured.So, I've been thinking a lot about a way to overcome the problem that–by the time a character takes wound damage–they're almost dead and those special attacks are nearly pointless.&nbsp; Sometimes, vitality damage may represent &quot;but a scratch&quot; or &quot;only a flesh wound,&quot; so could poison or supernatural abilities sometimes affect a character despite the fact that they did not take any wound damage?My own workable solution follows.For nonmagical attacks such as poison, the attack has a 2% chance per HD of the attacker (maximum 40%) of successfully functioning when the attack deals only wound damage.&nbsp; That equates to a 40% chance for a 20+ HD monstrous vermin to deal poison damage... pretty scary.&nbsp; I'd use a lower number, but that would make it all but pointless to roll the percentile dice at lower HD–it would never work, so what's the point of the rules change?As for effects of the magical sort, such as a vampire's level drain via a slam attack, it is a 5% chance per HD of the attacker (maximum 75%).&nbsp; My reasoning?&nbsp; When that vampire's arm barely misses you or just barely touches you but deals no effective &quot;damage,&quot; you still might get close enough to have the life sucked out of you.I welcome the thoughts of others on my idea, as well as any suggstions of their own.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="genshou, post: 2330258, member: 13164"] Due to GlassJaw's many recent threads about gutting the VP/WP system, I want to see what people think about a crucial topic not yet covered in any of his threads. It's been pointed out to me before that the Vitality Point/Wound Point system, despite its many other favorable qualities (IMHO), isn't very good for Dungeons & Dragons, because it nerfs many special abilities that rely on a successful "hit" to affect the target, such as injury type poison and disease, and energy drain. Since vitality damage doesn't represent an actual successful "hit" against the character, that essentially negates many of these special attacks (touch spells and stunning fist still work normally, unfortunately for their targets). This system is the one in which that problem is most apparent, but it crops up in any d20 System game where vp/wp is featured. So, I've been thinking a lot about a way to overcome the problem that–by the time a character takes wound damage–they're almost dead and those special attacks are nearly pointless. Sometimes, vitality damage may represent "but a scratch" or "only a flesh wound," so could poison or supernatural abilities sometimes affect a character despite the fact that they did not take any wound damage? My own workable solution follows. For nonmagical attacks such as poison, the attack has a 2% chance per HD of the attacker (maximum 40%) of successfully functioning when the attack deals only wound damage. That equates to a 40% chance for a 20+ HD monstrous vermin to deal poison damage... pretty scary. I'd use a lower number, but that would make it all but pointless to roll the percentile dice at lower HD–it would never work, so what's the point of the rules change? As for effects of the [I]magical[/I] sort, such as a vampire's level drain via a slam attack, it is a 5% chance per HD of the attacker (maximum 75%). My reasoning? When that vampire's arm barely misses you or just barely touches you but deals no effective "damage," you still might get close enough to have the life sucked out of you. I welcome the thoughts of others on my idea, as well as any suggstions of their own. [/QUOTE]

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