Theodoxus
2023-06-15, 02:12 PM
I'm just looking for general feedback on if anyone sees any glaring issues I might be missing. I really like the old wounds and vitality system that was used in the 3.X era (most prominently with Star Wars SAGA), but the issue of crits bypassing straight to wounds never felt particularly 'fantastical' - though it felt right for laser swords and blasters...
So, my general thought is to keep Vitality linked to Hit Points on a 1:1 basis, but then have Wounds equal to your HD - so yes, a level 1 character will have 1 measly Wound point.
However, to keep things from being insta-gib, on the player side, DMs won't critically hit. I'm thinking of going one of two possible ways:
1) DMs just don't crit. A nat 20 will always hit, but not deal any additional damage, nor bypass Vitality and strike Wounds. Players are heroic so NPCs (outside of maybe BBEGs) just can't thwart their plot armor.
2) Taking a page from PF2, have 'Critical Strikes', where if the attack roll is AC+10. it will crit, and deal double damage, but again, not bypass Vitality, just do 2x damage to it. A nat 20 will still always hit, but not critically strike unless it's at least AC+10.
Monsters will have Wounds equal to their HD, and players can bypass Vitality with crits. Leading to the potential to mow through mobs on good hits (if I use option 2 above, I'll allow it for players as well).
The goal is to A) speed up combat a smidge by allowing crits to take out monsters, and B) to make PCs a little more cautious as they start losing Vitality; I plan on introducing lingering Wounds and an accelerated Death Save progression when PCs run out of Wounds. It should take care of the yoyo healing as a side benefit too.
So, my general thought is to keep Vitality linked to Hit Points on a 1:1 basis, but then have Wounds equal to your HD - so yes, a level 1 character will have 1 measly Wound point.
However, to keep things from being insta-gib, on the player side, DMs won't critically hit. I'm thinking of going one of two possible ways:
1) DMs just don't crit. A nat 20 will always hit, but not deal any additional damage, nor bypass Vitality and strike Wounds. Players are heroic so NPCs (outside of maybe BBEGs) just can't thwart their plot armor.
2) Taking a page from PF2, have 'Critical Strikes', where if the attack roll is AC+10. it will crit, and deal double damage, but again, not bypass Vitality, just do 2x damage to it. A nat 20 will still always hit, but not critically strike unless it's at least AC+10.
Monsters will have Wounds equal to their HD, and players can bypass Vitality with crits. Leading to the potential to mow through mobs on good hits (if I use option 2 above, I'll allow it for players as well).
The goal is to A) speed up combat a smidge by allowing crits to take out monsters, and B) to make PCs a little more cautious as they start losing Vitality; I plan on introducing lingering Wounds and an accelerated Death Save progression when PCs run out of Wounds. It should take care of the yoyo healing as a side benefit too.