Killer Shrike's Increased Leathality System

[azato]

In my FH campaign, I plan to use the following system that KS developed:

http://killershrike.com/FantasyHERO/HighFantasyHERO/shrikeLethalityOptions.aspx

enclosed is a spreadsheet for using as a printed reference.

[Killer Shrike]

Um...which one? That doc has a plethora of options. I'm inferring from the spreadsheet that you mean a CRITICAL SKILL / DEGREE OF SUCCESS approach?

[azato]

Yup!

[azato]

I think this system you came up with is GENIUS! One of the things that confounded me was the exponential effectiveness of armor in relation to weapon damage. A man in full chain had little to fear from a sword wielded under normal circumstances (i.e. no high strength, no Martial Arts). Now one is going to be a little more discerning in combat.

[Trebuchet]

I think this system you came up with is GENIUS! One of the things that confounded me was the exponential effectiveness of armor in relation to weapon damage. A man in full chain had little to fear from a sword wielded under normal circumstances (i.e. no high strength, no Martial Arts). Now one is going to be a little more discerning in combat.From the Oxford English Dictionary: discerning

• adjective having or showing good judgement.


So your swords will be smarter in combat under this system? ;)

I'm not really certain why anyone would want more lethality in a heroic game, but to each his own.

[Killer Shrike]

Azato: Thanks.

Treb: It comes up fairly often in the 100+ point ranges, when quality defenses are available, SPD escalates, maneuvers are common, etc. In other words, nominally "heroic" games, with free equipment, but enough points available to characters to be hyper-competent. It's pretty prevalent in higher end Fantasy and Sci Fi particularly. The middle ranges between low heroic "wow we all suck and can die from a mean look" and low superheroic "I can bounce bullets from most conventional firearms off my naked skin or otherwise avoid their effect". The HERO defensive bias becomes apparent, where it is far more likely to knock out opponents than to kill them with most attacks.

[Trebuchet]

Azato: Thanks.

Treb: It comes up fairly often in the 100+ point ranges, when quality defenses are available, SPD escalates, maneuvers are common, etc. In other words, nominally "heroic" games, with free equipment, but enough points available to characters to be hyper-competent. It's pretty prevalent in higher end Fantasy and Sci Fi particularly. The middle ranges between low heroic "wow we all suck and can die from a mean look" and low superheroic "I can bounce bullets from most conventional firearms off my naked skin or otherwise avoid their effect". The HERO defensive bias becomes apparent, where it is far more likely to knock out opponents than to kill them with most attacks.Oh, I understand the conditions that can induce that kind of trend. I just prefer it to be difficult to kill in combat because that's common to the heroic genres Hero is intended to represent. It's easy enough to modify minor characters to die more easily (I can see that as being quite appropriate for mooks or civilians) by simply halving defenses and Body.

I meant no criticism of your system itself. Consider it more of a philosophical observation.

[azato]

Well,
If a soldier wielding a sword does 1d6 and the character has 6 def, the character only has to worry about being knocked out. This may cause characters to act in ways that one normally wouldn't, even with chain mail on.


Oh, I understand the conditions that can induce that kind of trend. I just prefer it to be difficult to kill in combat because that's common to the heroic genres Hero is intended to represent. It's easy enough to modify minor characters to die more easily (I can see that as being quite appropriate for mooks or civilians) by simply halving defenses and Body.

I meant no criticism of your system itself. Consider it more of a philosophical observation.

[CUnknown]

I do a number of things to increase lethality: raising base weapon damage, adding critical hits, using bleeding and impairment. I also use a 'death by stun' rule that forces people to make CON checks or die when they reach -30 stun. I also have changed the impairment rule to cause impairment at 1/3 Body instead of 1/2 Body.

[JohnTaber]

I ran an Alien Legion campaign and what I did was simply raise the base damage and take away 1 Stun Mod. This has the effect of less stun and more body. Worked great. ;)

[lunaticlord]

I ran an Alien Legion campaign and what I did was simply raise the base damage and take away 1 Stun Mod. This has the effect of less stun and more body. Worked great. ;)

So, what did you do to increase the BODY damage? Just add a flat 2d6 to all EB's and a 1/2d6 to KA or did you add it directly to the powers/weapons themselves?