HP in 4e
I’ve been back to playing 4e after a few month absence, and I forgot how much I love this game.
However, one thing that’s been bothering me is the immense number of hit points both heroes and monsters have. When I attack, as a monster, I feel like I’m doing nothing. When I attack, as a player, again I feel like I’m not doing anything. After playing Pathfinder and other versions of D&D, I feel like everyone’s too tough to feel like we’re doing anything effective.
When, as a DM, you knock players down until they’re almost out of action, only to have the Cleric boost them back up instantly, it’s frustrating, feeling like you’ve wasted rounds of combat.
I put out, on Twitter, the idea of chopping all HP in half. Right down the middle. However, as pointed out by Eric Paquette, you’ve just made Clerics that much tougher, as they’re able to give massive amounts of HP back in comparison, as well as making Healing Surges hugely powerful. His suggestion? Double all damage.
This may just work. I’ll use my Goliath Fighter I played with the other night as an example: While still maintaining his 62 HP, he’s now dealing 1d10 + 8 x 2 damage with an at-will, or an average of 26 points of damage on an attack. This is a massive amount, sure, but the monsters are dealing it back just as bad. This keeps players on their toes, as well as forcing the DM to plan out his attacks better. Combat is deadlier, moves faster, and you’re ready to move on to more important things rather than spend 3 hours in a single combat (this happened the other night).
As a result of my playing again, I got inspired to get back into running 4e. I’m hoping the new group in Spokane is receptive to this. We’ll see.
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I saw the twitter exchange that prompted this. Color me intrigued. I’d be interested to know if this scheme will continue to work at higher levels.
Keep us updated, and here’s hoping the local group is up for some 4e. I myself have not played 4e in quite a while, and I miss it.
Jeremy Morgan´s last [type] ..Fourthcore Character Creation
Hmmm. Doubling damage feels to me like you’re in danger of creating an arms race, as well as putting a wider divide between the guy who uses Daggers (now 2d4) and the dude wielding a Greataxe (a whopping 2d12 just for a Basic Attack). Assuming they have broadly comparable stats and Powers, that’s going to annoy the little Dagger wielding guy in the end, and produce an Unsatisfied Gamer. Not to mention cause problems when they face their first decent-sized dragon and he’s rolling enough dice to flatten an army.
I suggest taking a more free-form approach to monster Hit Points. Creatures with full HP are in peak physical condition, and that’s rare indeed in a cruddy dungeon environment. Most will have half HP (at best), with the ones higher up the pecking order having perhaps 3/4s. Save the max HP for the Orc Boss’s favourite son (he’s eaten all the other sons, and flosses regularly). This helps differentiate and individualize the monsters, as well as speeds up combat overall.
For players, allow them full HP but they can only regain health during an adventure up to 3/4 max HP. That’s from any source – Magical or Short/Extended Rests. Once they are in the wilds, they lack the comforts of home, and that includes clean sheets, comfortable beds and decent nutrition. Powers and Items which grant Temporary Bonus HP work as normal, and can exceed the 3/4 maximum.
The net result is that the PCs start the adventure at full fitness and will work to conserve those precious top 1/4 of their HP – in other words, they will start to think tactically – and as the monsters have fewer hit points (most of them, anyway), combats will be quicker too.
That’s how I’m starting to approach it, anyhow.
Ok, I misread. You double the result not the number of dice. Think my thoughts about the arms race still hold true though.
The DM of the 4E game I play in has halved monster HP and doubled the static bonuses to their damage. The players don’t make any changes but it has turned the monsters we face into glass cannons. They are a serious and very real threat to PC survival as long as they’re alive – but they aren’t like to last much more than 2 hits. It’s made the combat much more tense and exciting since we hit paragon tier.
PK´s last [type] ..Moves of Grim World
@PK That might actually work really well! It keeps Healing surges firmly in place, makes monsters more fragile, and makes them more dangerous. I may have to give that a try.
I really don’t get it. My PCs are simple non-hacked Essential characters. My monsters are done in online Monster Builder. Attacks doing nothing? C’mon! They bloody and kill. A fight longer than 5 rounds is a rarity. Of 5-7 PCs in the party in the end at least 2-3 are bloodied and some are very nearly dead.
4e did everything just right. I don’t understand what needs fixing there.
Snarls-at-Fleas´s last [type] ..D&D Next – объявлена дата начала плейтеста
I have heard a lot of people halve monster hp and double damage. Which would be roughly equal to just doing double damage, but doesn’t require as much changes to the player side of the table which can be a good thing. I haven’t tried it myself so it’s just hearsay at the moment, but I have heard good things.
James Bryant´s last [type] ..Coming Attractions