Celebrim
Legend
With all do respect hammymchamham, I don't think you know what you are talking about. (Notice, whenever someone says 'with all do respect', what they mean is that they are about to say something disrepectful.)
If you will look at the attack bonuses of small creatures, you will find that they are actually pretty high - given high DEX, weapon finesse (claw), and that natural 'negative encumbrance' (to use the GULLIVER term) of small creatures (bonuses to BAB and AC). So, if an average unarmored human is facing a D&D songbird, the expectation according to the numbers is that the songbird will kill the human with ease. Considering the low BAB of the average human, and the high AC of a diminutive creatures, the expectation is that a single beserk songbird might not only kill a human, but his entire family as well. Pardon me if I find that a little bizarre and probably not the result desired by the game creator. Certainly it is not the result desired by me.
DIngleberry's combat with the cat is not an unexpected D20 result, and is not an entirely improbable result even if Dingleberry's character had been more combat capable.
I don't think every peck of a song bird that nips a little skin or draws a little blood really corressponds to anything but subdual damage at the most. I feel the same for cat scratches and small bites and insect stings. I feel the same for small falls, and bumps, bruises, scrapes, and contusions that are common to life. Pick me over and you'll probably find all sorts of little scabs and scars. With a different sort of game system it would be pretty easy to suggest that a few more such scratches don't increase my wound level any. Don't get locked into a D&D centered model of the universe. It isn't the only way to describe things, and if it describes things badly at the edges, in the few cases where the edges matter you need to look for supplemental rules.
If you will look at the attack bonuses of small creatures, you will find that they are actually pretty high - given high DEX, weapon finesse (claw), and that natural 'negative encumbrance' (to use the GULLIVER term) of small creatures (bonuses to BAB and AC). So, if an average unarmored human is facing a D&D songbird, the expectation according to the numbers is that the songbird will kill the human with ease. Considering the low BAB of the average human, and the high AC of a diminutive creatures, the expectation is that a single beserk songbird might not only kill a human, but his entire family as well. Pardon me if I find that a little bizarre and probably not the result desired by the game creator. Certainly it is not the result desired by me.
DIngleberry's combat with the cat is not an unexpected D20 result, and is not an entirely improbable result even if Dingleberry's character had been more combat capable.
I don't think every peck of a song bird that nips a little skin or draws a little blood really corressponds to anything but subdual damage at the most. I feel the same for cat scratches and small bites and insect stings. I feel the same for small falls, and bumps, bruises, scrapes, and contusions that are common to life. Pick me over and you'll probably find all sorts of little scabs and scars. With a different sort of game system it would be pretty easy to suggest that a few more such scratches don't increase my wound level any. Don't get locked into a D&D centered model of the universe. It isn't the only way to describe things, and if it describes things badly at the edges, in the few cases where the edges matter you need to look for supplemental rules.
