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<blockquote data-quote="Vrecknidj" data-source="post: 1655616" data-attributes="member: 7301">[RANT]Okay, here's my gripe.&nbsp; In the game, as it stands, combat is a big deal.&nbsp; Maybe, we should call it Combat, or maybe even, COMBAT.&nbsp; After all, even your average Joe who eats, drinks and sleeps barrel making ends up with loads of hit points by the time he's 50.&nbsp; I get that this is just a side effect of the mechanic of the system, but I've thought about doing away with it.(As I dodge the eggs and tomatoes, I ask you to hear me out.)I'm not sure exactly what I'm proposing yet, but if I propose anything at all, it may end up a house rule for my campaign, hence the forum.&nbsp; After someone gains some specified amount of experience, she gets better at what she does.&nbsp; Perhaps she's a fighter, perhaps she learns spells, but perhaps she paints or sculpts or does algebra problems.But, no matter who you are, once you gain so much experience, new things happen to you.&nbsp; You may be a little better at combat (and, as a result, you may qualify for certain feats that you've never even thought about before--once you have a BAB of +1, you can take Weapon Finesse).&nbsp; You may become more adept at dodging out of the way of falling blocks, or you may be a little harder to convince.&nbsp; Your skills improve, and, finally, you have more hit points--in other words, just because you're better at algebra, or painting or sculpting (or anything), you're now harder to kill.Huh?Has anyone else instituted a house rule that allows someone to trade their level-granted new hit points for something else?&nbsp; How about their BAB improvement?&nbsp; Sure, sure, when the game is being played and the dice are being rolled, and you get &lt;another!&gt; crappy initiative roll, it's good to know that your 35 hp wizard will probably live until his first turn.&nbsp; But, there's no reason that NPCs have to be this way.&nbsp; I can see Einstein having 20 ranks in Knowledge (physics), but if that made him a 17th level expert, then he'd have tons of hit points, and that doesn't make much sense to me.It seems okay to say something like &quot;one hit die can be traded for another 4 skill points&quot; or &quot;an improvement to a save can be traded for another 4 skill points&quot; or something like that.I know all about &quot;what hit points represent in the game&quot; and all that, I've been playing since 1980, and I play d20 Modern and the Star Wars RPG.&nbsp; So, I'm familiar with different systems as well--but they all have this in common.[/RANT]Has anyone out there instituted a mechanic that gets at what I'm ranting about?Dave</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Vrecknidj, post: 1655616, member: 7301"] [RANT] Okay, here's my gripe. In the game, as it stands, combat is a big deal. Maybe, we should call it Combat, or maybe even, COMBAT. After all, even your average Joe who eats, drinks and sleeps barrel making ends up with loads of hit points by the time he's 50. I get that this is just a side effect of the mechanic of the system, but I've thought about doing away with it. (As I dodge the eggs and tomatoes, I ask you to hear me out.) I'm not sure exactly what I'm proposing yet, but if I propose anything at all, it may end up a house rule for my campaign, hence the forum. After someone gains some specified amount of experience, she gets better at what she does. Perhaps she's a fighter, perhaps she learns spells, but perhaps she paints or sculpts or does algebra problems. But, no matter who you are, once you gain so much experience, new things happen to you. You may be a little better at combat (and, as a result, you may qualify for certain feats that you've never even thought about before--once you have a BAB of +1, you can take Weapon Finesse). You may become more adept at dodging out of the way of falling blocks, or you may be a little harder to convince. Your skills improve, and, finally, you have more hit points--in other words, just because you're better at algebra, or painting or sculpting (or anything), you're now harder to kill. Huh? Has anyone else instituted a house rule that allows someone to trade their level-granted new hit points for something else? How about their BAB improvement? Sure, sure, when the game is being played and the dice are being rolled, and you get <another!> crappy initiative roll, it's good to know that your 35 hp wizard will probably live until his first turn. But, there's no reason that NPCs have to be this way. I can see Einstein having 20 ranks in Knowledge (physics), but if that made him a 17th level expert, then he'd have tons of hit points, and that doesn't make much sense to me. It seems okay to say something like "one hit die can be traded for another 4 skill points" or "an improvement to a save can be traded for another 4 skill points" or something like that. I know all about "what hit points represent in the game" and all that, I've been playing since 1980, and I play d20 Modern and the Star Wars RPG. So, I'm familiar with different systems as well--but they all have this in common. [/RANT] Has anyone out there instituted a mechanic that gets at what I'm ranting about? Dave [/QUOTE]

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