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<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 6654645" data-attributes="member: 42582">You've elided my discussion of 4e's mechanical implementation of &quot;deep reserves&quot;, which is what the &quot;lived experience&quot; reference was about.In Rolemaster, what is &quot;lived&quot; is an incredibly improbable victory: 1-in-400-ish for the double-open-ended roll, and then 1-in-5 for the 80-ish crit, or 1-in-2000 or so overall. This can't happen in AD&amp;D combat, as there is not sufficient granularity of resolution, and there is no mechanic for instant kills outside of spell or poison use.No PC build in AD&amp;D that I'm aware of can kill a powerful warrior or balrog with a single blow. Maximum damage is in the neighbourhood of 18 for 3d6 on your lance or two-handed sword, +8 for magic and specialisation, +12 for storm giant strength, or 38. A powerful fighter or (say) 10th level will have 60 or more hit points (and doesn't take the 3d6, either). A Type VI demon will have 44 hit points on average, and a powerful balrog might be a bit higher than that.Also, by the time you can do that sort of damage you're probably 12th level, attacking with +26 to hit (level + STR + magic + specialisation) and so don't need a spectacular to-hit roll to hit your target.AD&amp;D mechanics can't duplicate either the RM or the 4e experience (nor can either of those duplicate the other). They're a different system, providing a different experience.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 6654645, member: 42582"] You've elided my discussion of 4e's mechanical implementation of "deep reserves", which is what the "lived experience" reference was about. In Rolemaster, what is "lived" is an incredibly improbable victory: 1-in-400-ish for the double-open-ended roll, and then 1-in-5 for the 80-ish crit, or 1-in-2000 or so overall. This can't happen in AD&D combat, as there is not sufficient granularity of resolution, and there is no mechanic for instant kills outside of spell or poison use. No PC build in AD&D that I'm aware of can kill a powerful warrior or balrog with a single blow. Maximum damage is in the neighbourhood of 18 for 3d6 on your lance or two-handed sword, +8 for magic and specialisation, +12 for storm giant strength, or 38. A powerful fighter or (say) 10th level will have 60 or more hit points (and doesn't take the 3d6, either). A Type VI demon will have 44 hit points on average, and a powerful balrog might be a bit higher than that. Also, by the time you can do that sort of damage you're probably 12th level, attacking with +26 to hit (level + STR + magic + specialisation) and so don't need a spectacular to-hit roll to hit your target. AD&D mechanics can't duplicate either the RM or the 4e experience (nor can either of those duplicate the other). They're a different system, providing a different experience. [/QUOTE]

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