Subj : Re: Tabletop war and roleplaying games
To   : Commodore Clifford
From : Arelor
Date : Mon May 15 2023 12:18:39

  Re: Re: Tabletop war and roleplaying games
  By: Commodore Clifford to Arelor on Sat May 13 2023 07:27 am

 > Valid points... I'm not a fan of some systems because of levels.  I
 > really hate the concept of levels and I really hate the way "hit points"
 > tend to work, which is another reason I'm a big fan of GURPS.
 > 
 > I mean, sure... all those systems have a rule like "well, if something
 > happens that is obviously fatal, you're dead".  But let's face it, you're
 > going to have a hard time as a DM pulling that without argument.  For
 > most people, getting shot in the head tends to be pretty fatal.

Haha, that is called the Critical Existence Failure, or something similar.

I think pure HP systems have a place if you want a gamey-styled sort of
adventure, like dungeon crawls in which you break into the Castle of Evil, beat
every baddie and take their stuff.

I tend to like Rolemaster's approach: every time you take a meaningful hit you
roll in a critical table. Depending on your result and the severity of the hit
you take, you are given a particular wound with functional effects. One of the
best RPG combats I have been involved with was a siege in which I played a
support character. Our warrior was blocking a gateway while baddies tried to
break in. Somebody hit the warrior in the knee and shattered it, so he fell
down. Just as he was going to take a stab in the stomach, I took at shot at the
baddie. He took the bullet in the shoulder and lost his sword.

Most non HP systems I am aware of use wound levels or damage levels, though.
Characters move down the damage ladder everytime they take a wound and receive
a functional side effect.


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