We fight monsters sometimes.

[Wootz]

I see your point, but I'd like to say as someone who enjoys hunting in real life, D&D had to change the mechanic to make it playable.

You don't have to dig a deep pit to kill a bear, and in fact I doubt they're that stupid to fall in. All you have to do to kill it is hit it in it's vitals (either the heart/lung KZ, or if you really feel the need to, the head) obviously, fighting a bear with a knife would be a little hard, but fighting it with a bow and arrow (especially if it's enchanted) would be much too easy. Same goes for dragons. Make the arrows magical enough to nail through it's skin, then tear up it's brain. It'd be too simple. Part of the fun of RPG's is that they're out there. Your character is a hero. He wrassled giant alligators for fun at 12. He beat up dinosaurs on his spare time. He's no normal man, because playing a game of D&D as a normal peasant would suck. The game allows for everything a dragon (would they exist) would do, and leaves the players with the options they have to figure out how to go about killing said dragon. If your guy is strong enough to cleave a goblin in half in one clean stroke, why not take up your best skills against a dragon? Because if you didn't, everyone would end up being rangers.

I think you left out the fact that in real life, do-or-die situations are almost instantaneous and would be boring in an RPG world.

 

[Scribble]

Probably one of my few gripes with 4th editions obvious slant towards Melee weapon-using classes: the second you get into a fight with a flying creature, the Paladin, Fighter and Cleric (at least) are reduced to Basic Ranged Attacks or (if they've got any) ranged special items.

Did you happen to catch the Beowulf movie? He was a melee combatant and he did pretty well against that dragon... So the thing was flying... he ran his viking ass up to the top of the castle and jumped. Now that's class.

Or stupidity. I'm not sure.

 

[Nebulous]

Did you happen to catch the Beowulf movie? He was a melee combatant and he did pretty well against that dragon... So the thing was flying... he ran his viking ass up to the top of the castle and jumped. Now that's class.

Or stupidity. I'm not sure.

Not to mention practically ripping his own arm off to ultimately kill the thing. That was nasty.

 

[Scribble]

Not to mention practically ripping his own arm off to ultimately kill the thing. That was nasty.

In either case, it's kind of how I see a 4e fight with a dragon.

 

[Minigiant]

My point is that there should be a few strengths and weaknesses creatures of specific types should all have that could be feared or exploited. Just like how holy magic brings the pain to the undead. Each major part of a creaure's basic description should come with special bonuses and penalties and special actions that can only performed on them.

Big creatures have larger reach but their giant feet and legs are easy targets that if hit hard enough can to slow them down.

 

[Umbran]

... Now that's class.

Or stupidity. I'm not sure.

For Vikings, the two are not mutually exclusive.

 

[Jack7]

All you have to do to kill it is hit it in it's vitals (either the heart/lung KZ, or if you really feel the need to, the head) obviously, fighting a bear with a knife would be a little hard, but fighting it with a bow and arrow (especially if it's enchanted) would be much too easy.

Fair Enough. If you're hunting dragons or bears, then you gotta point. But what if they're hunting you?

So just for the sake of argument, let's try a little thought experimenting in shooting bears.

I assume when you are hunting bears you don't step out in front of them and shoot them man-to-bear while they are facing you? That you probably shoot them from a fair distance (from your point of view) when they aren't looking and don't even know you're there? Mostly right? And maybe you got your sidearm slung on your waist, just in case you miss and have an unfortunate close encounter? (The smart way to do it by the way.) Or maybe you got a buddy waiting to loose in case you don't drop him by surprise? Maybe all of these. (The smartest way to do it.)

But now shooting a bear who is staring right at you, or charging right at you, with a recurve bow or even a longbow (and it's real hard to shoot a longbow accurately for most fellas) that's a whole nuther kinda bear, ain't it? Or if a bear is already up on top of you, or worse yet, had ambushed you? (Instead of the other way around.)

That's a very different kind of bear for most folks I suspect than the "I'm bent over gutting a fish and get shot by a modern compound bow with modern sights blindsided sort of bear."

So there's shooting bears and dragons, and then there's shooting bears and dragons.

You shoot a stationary target center of mass, or in the back of the head (assuming you're terrifically good) from a safe distance, take him by surprise and kill him easy (the smart way it do it) and that's one kinda shooting monsters and bears. You shoot him when he's got a red-hot mean on for you, injured and with his blood up, or on the charge, or in his lair, or when he knows you're coming, and that's a whole nuther kinda magic arrow. And you better be awfully good at what ya do or easy might not be exactly how it comes off, assuming, that is, you live to tell the tale.

 

[jdrakeh]

Just like you wouldn't wrestle a grizzly bear in the same way you'd wrestle a man.

Pffffffht. Obviously you haven't wrestled a Grizzly bear

 

[Rechan]

Handing out powers that are used only against a specific group is a bad choice, because they require you to fight those types on a regular basis for the choice to be worth it. Thus it requires your DM to throw them at you.

The less circumstantial the ability, the better it is.

D&D has always been "I stand at the foot of the giant and stab its toes until its hit points run out". Because allowing you to scale monsters is getting more complex, and also asks to deal with things like opportunity attacks, grappling checks ("So a halfling grappling a titan's leg equals immobilization? What?"), and a whole host of other things.

 

[mach1.9pants]

Did you happen to catch the Beowulf movie? He was a melee combatant and he did pretty well against that dragon... So the thing was flying... he ran his viking ass up to the top of the castle and jumped. Now that's class.

Or stupidity. I'm not sure.

Yea and thankfully my fighter keeps an inflatable castle in has backpack