Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="gizmo33" data-source="post: 3229807" data-attributes="member: 30001">Why did NPC orcs in 1E have hitpoints?  Why not just let the DM use his "judgement and experience" in deciding when the orc dies?  In fact, why do PCs have hitpoints?  If the DM is such a "Master" of the game, why not just decide when a PC is dead?  IMO the facts show that DnD has always had a strong element of simulation to it and DMs have always been part game engine (otherwise - explain the purpose of dice in an RPG?  Just for show?).  The focus of 1E DnD on combat (and rather hazy treatment of skills and such) I think stems from DnD's roots as a wargame.  It's only the standard established by the rules and adhered to by the DM that allows the players to feel that their decisions have meaning and that there is some point to managing resources.  As a player, I know that "+3 to hit and damage" is a cool thing to have because I have a rough idea of the AC/hitpoints etc. of my typical foe.  If a DM were allowed to just decide when a monster got killed during a battle, then my +3/+3 would probably not count for much.  Telling me that my PC is "better at climbing" is useless if success or failure in climbing is based on DM fiat.  (LukeLightning's problems with divination in the game stem from the same basic issue.)However, I think many 3E people go too far on this issue on two ways.  First - the 3E rules aren't meant to describe everything in the world, so it's not "wrong" to say that a darkness effect is a unique permanent 9th level spell - even if there's no such thing in the SRD.  The DM creates the world.  If the "cold" is so cold that it overrides cold spells, then that's the way it is.  Granted it's probably better form to invent some quasi-gamey type term like "uber-cold" and assign it special rules.  I think it's lazy (and bad design) to say stuff like "it's too cold and no spell can counter-act this damage, period."  (Granted, it's debateable whether or not a rule like this ever existed in any published module.)Secondly - saving throw DCs and other game elements are so trivially easy to assign to the various features of classic modules that complaining about Tomb of Horrors, et. al. makes no sense.  Seems like there's really something else going on with that.  Maybe ToH killed someone's puppy.  In any case I don't see the point in ignoring the genius of the classic modules because of a bunch of relatively trivial mechanical issues - but then who cares anyway, it's not really my loss.</blockquote>

Verification