Revisited Rules Options

[rgrove0172]

I read some old threads on the following rules options. Any new thoughts on them.

1. Helmets decrease the chance of a critical after a threat - (ie. 2 for Steel Pot, 4 for Full Helm etc.)


2. Max Damage threshold is dependent on a base number plus CON modifier. (ie 10 + CON mod for example)

Thoughts?

 

[Majestic7]

I read some old threads on the following rules options. Any new thoughts on them.

1. Helmets decrease the chance of a critical after a threat - (ie. 2 for Steel Pot, 4 for Full Helm etc.)


2. Max Damage threshold is dependent on a base number plus CON modifier. (ie 10 + CON mod for example)

Thoughts?

All stuff IMHO as usual,

1) I think this might just add too much extra calculation to the fight. Besides, why only helmets? Why not the whole armor? And once we go that direction, why not remove DR altogether and just make armor decrease chances of criticals? I think DR is the most logical way to portray armor, because it is easy, fast and already helps in case of many hits and criticals by preventing the hit from causing massive damage.

2) CON mod already gives a bonus to Fortitude Save, thus giving the character a better chance of surviving massive damage. This system would thus make CON triple important - it would give HP, increase Fort Save and put massive damage limit higher. I wouldn't go for it myself. However, the good thing is obviously that it would make huge monsters with high CON harder to kill in every way.

 

[Axerules]

Also IMHO, Majestic7 is right about 1) and 2).

About 2):

However, the good thing is obviously that it would make huge monsters with high CON harder to kill in every way.

Read the Veterans Tavern thread. If you want to make big monsters more difficult to kill, Clovenhoof's fix about Massive Damage saves was a good idea : Thresholds could be different for larger (or smaller) creatures than medium-size ones :

Size -----> MDT
Tiny -----> 10
Small ---> 15
Medium -> 20
Large ---> 25
Huge ----> 30
Gargant. > 35
Colossal > 40

 

[Clovenhoof]

I also agree with Majestic.

1) Helmets increasing DR is a _huge_ bonus already, if you think about it. Reducing crit chance would be an even bigger bonus (I haven't done the math but it's a feeling). And as Majestic said, if Helmets worked that way, then the same should go for armour, too.
That's too much of a rules rewrite for my liking, and anyway results in too much extra in-combat calculation.
The long and short of it is that this is a typical example of a rule mod trying to "increase realism", and from my experience I can tell that these efforts usually have a directly opposite effect.

2) As for the MDT, CON is alreadypart of the Save, so it doesn't need to be factored into the threshold as well. The proposed fix for different-sized creatures is a quick and easy way to make sure the big buggers don't fall too easily. You don't even need the fix if you make sure that those monsters have a high enough Fort save, and adjust if necessary.
(Unfortunately, since there are official Gargantuan creatures with a measly +8 Fort save, _some_ kind of fix is needed.)