Let the Legends Begin...
Well, like most of my page, this is still under construction, so I'll just put down a few ideas that I've had about Dungeons and Dragons 3rd Edition.
MY RANT ABOUT HIT POINTS AND COMBAT IN D&D:
Okay, here's my one and only big problem with Dungeons and Dragons as a system: The Combat system reminds me of most one-on-one combat games I play. Imagine the following example:
Fred the Fighter, who is played by a Munchkin, is wearing his plate mail +2, and has an armor class of 25. Robert the Rogue sneaks up on him, puts his light crossbow to the back of Fred's head and pulls the trigger. With a +6 to hit bonus, with a DM-given bonus of +6 because Fred didn't hear Robert sneaking up on him, Robert STILL needs to roll 13 or higher on his attack die to hit Fred. Let's assume he gets a 16, good enough to hit, but not to critical. Assuming a sneak attack damage bonus of +3d6 or so, Robert does 1d8+3d6 damage. That's 15 damage on average. Fred almost certainly has more than that many hit points. He just took a crossbow bolt to the back of the head, after which he turns around, totally unfazed, and swings with his Bastard Sword +3 turning Robert into a puddle that Clarence the Cleric will have a hard time healing.
What is the root cause of this seemingly pointless waste of physical laws? One is the need to roll for damage under all circumstances. Two is the disparity between average human hit points and normal fighter hit points. Third was the obviously pathetic DMing skills exhibited. Let's have another example which makes a bit more sense.
Robert the Rogue, having been successfully patched up by his friend Clarence the Cleric, is out prowling again (those rogues never learn). He notices Barbarian Bill in a blind alley, drunk and attacking a trash can in his rage. Robert the Rogue makes a Move Silently roll of 21 and a Hide roll of 18 as he moves in on Bill. Bill, with a DM and Mead-imposed penalty of -5 to his Spot and Listen rolls (and low Wis to boot) and rolls a 7 or 8. He fails to notice Robert silently slipping up behind him AGAIN pulling out his trusty crossbow and pointing it at the back of the Barbarian's head. This time the DM intervenes and states that Robert, having poor Bill cornered and drunk, doesn't even need to roll to hit or for damage, and that Bill should make an immediate Fortitude Save against a DC of 16 (which he'll make, just to keep him alive), but that he'll be bleeding so badly that Robert will be able to kick him a few times while he's down and take anything he wants so that he can pay Clarence for that healing job after last time.
THAT is the way Dungeons and Dragons should work, combat-wise. Now, I admit that I have a bit of a soft-spot for rogues, and I should also state that if your PC's are doing this to each other your game is either going REALLY well or REALLY badly. However, there's one other problem I'd like to point out.
After giving Robert the Rogue a good pounding, Fred the Fighter and his friend Mortimer the Monk go out to beat more things up. Their GM, being annoyed with them from the last encounter, sends an Umber Hulk after them. Fred and Mort's first attacks fail to damage the monster, and the creature gets off a lucky critical hit, inflicting 58 damage to Fred. Fred has a total of 60 hit points. Fred, having lost all but two of his hit points in a single attack which can only be described as the thing's claws ripping him nearly in half, wins initiative next round and delivers a single, x4 critical attack with his heavy pick and immediately kills the creature, despite having nearly had his guts ripped out 3 seconds before.
HELLO? Excuse me, but I think he shoulda had at LEAST a Will save to stay conscious after that... That's what people are capable of doing in D&D that annoys me. That, and the fact that your combat ability is based on your level, not your ability with any individual weapon, as it is in most other systems. This, however is part of what makes D&D it's own unique system.
Well, that's my one rant for now. More to come...
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