I’ve noted several attempts, hell I may have linked some of them here or discussed them. After some consideration I have to ask why? Why are there DM’s that think the player’s don’t have a hard enough time as it is? If the fights are too easy it’s sooo easy to toss in another squad of minions or go a step higher on the encounter budget or grant some arbitrary +2′s to the npc’s.
Why is there a perception of a need to penalize the players for taking damage? It’s kind of what they do, you know? It’s their reason for being, taking damage, handing out damage, and in general doing what the common man cannot or will not.
Do things like “Each time you get bloodied you lose a healing surge and take -2 to your attack and damage rolls” or “If you fail a death saving throw all your healing surges only heal for half their normal value and you lose all action points.” make it more fun or enjoyable at all? Isn’t the fact that you took enough damage to get bloodied that you’re going to need to use two healing surges to recover, isn’t that right there ‘penalty’ enough for the player? What does stripping out the ability to heal do other than make it so that the players go back to a one fight a day syndrome?
Aren’t we, as DM’s, here to make the game fun for the players and ourselves? And not just for ourselves as we watch the inevitable death spiral commence. The players are penalized for taking damage and as a result their ability to recover and deal damage is reduced which means they take more damage… that cycle repeating until they’re dead, that’s the death spiral. And where is the fun in that.
I believe that as their DM we can give them those tough fights they want and we want to see them beat without stacking penalties on them. If for no other reason than it adds bookkeeping without any real gain that I can see. I’d much rather ‘penalize’ the players with additional monsters, traps, tricky and clever situations, than tack on a -2 to their ability to have fun (cause missing sure as hell isn’t fun).
Or maybe that’s just me.
Image Credits
Jan 21
Grittier slash wounds
4th Edition, Commentary
by Dennis
Why is there a perception of a need to penalize the players for taking damage? It’s kind of what they do, you know? It’s their reason for being, taking damage, handing out damage, and in general doing what the common man cannot or will not.
Do things like “Each time you get bloodied you lose a healing surge and take -2 to your attack and damage rolls” or “If you fail a death saving throw all your healing surges only heal for half their normal value and you lose all action points.” make it more fun or enjoyable at all? Isn’t the fact that you took enough damage to get bloodied that you’re going to need to use two healing surges to recover, isn’t that right there ‘penalty’ enough for the player? What does stripping out the ability to heal do other than make it so that the players go back to a one fight a day syndrome?
Aren’t we, as DM’s, here to make the game fun for the players and ourselves? And not just for ourselves as we watch the inevitable death spiral commence. The players are penalized for taking damage and as a result their ability to recover and deal damage is reduced which means they take more damage… that cycle repeating until they’re dead, that’s the death spiral. And where is the fun in that.
I believe that as their DM we can give them those tough fights they want and we want to see them beat without stacking penalties on them. If for no other reason than it adds bookkeeping without any real gain that I can see. I’d much rather ‘penalize’ the players with additional monsters, traps, tricky and clever situations, than tack on a -2 to their ability to have fun (cause missing sure as hell isn’t fun).
Or maybe that’s just me.
Image Credits
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