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Dungeons and Dragons Pro Option Two

Here is another DnD "Pro" Option

Option Two: Making Combat Deadlier and Faster


Inspiration: Warhammer Fantasy Role Playing
Reason: Hi level characters have too many hit points, slows combat down, makes it less deadly.
Rule Description
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The hit point system should be changed as follows-

Characters start out with 4 hit points, plus any Constitution bonuses.
Fighter / Combat focused characters gain 1 hit point per level
Cleric, Thief, Secondary fighting classes gain 1 hit point per two levels
Magic users, non physical combat types gain 1 hit point per three levels

Example. Strom the fighter has a Constitution of 16, and gains a +2 modifier to his hit points (maybe +3 in some retro game systems). Strom is level one so he gains an additional hit point.  So Strom starts out with 7 hit points.  At level 10, Stom has gained a further 9 hit points, giving Strom a total of 16 hit points.

Example. Jargena the mage starts out with four hit points plus one hit point for being level one, giving Jergana 5 hit points.  Upon reaching third level she gains another hit point, and at sixth level Jargena gains another hit point. Jargena is now at 7th level, in between getting another hit point, so Jargena has 7 hit points.

Monsters/Foes start out with 3 hit points, and gain 1 hit point per hit dice plus any modifiers.

Example. The monster "Mud Dragon" is listed as having 14+2 hit dice.  So the Mud Dragon has 19 hit points ( 3+14+2 = 19).

Variant 2A:  Armor also absorbs damage.  Light armor (leather, padded) absorbs 1 hit point per blow, medium armor (scale, chain) absorbs 2 points per blow, and heavy armor (plate) absorbs 3 hit points per blow. Monster/Foes also at the DM's discretion has armor that absorbs 1-4 hit points per blow taken.

Variant 2B: Weapons do slightly less damage small weapons (daggers, knives) do D4 damage.  Medium weapons do D6 damage, Two handed weapons do D8 damage.  Bows and slings do D3/D4 damage.  Monster attacks do one die less per each attack (2D8 attack becomes 2D6).

Variant 2C: As the base rule, but fighter characters gain 2 hit points per level, cleric/thief types gain 1 hit point per level, and magic / non combat types gain 1 hit point per two levels. Monsters start at 3 hit points plus 2 per hit dice plus any modifiers.

Yes, this rule will make combat a lot more faster and a lot more deadlier.  Characters shouldn't just wade into a sea of enemies on their own and expect to survive.


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