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I realize that this new critical hit mechanic has gotten under a lot of peoples skin because it is so very different than the existing system and different is so often very scary...but I am starting to get excited about the idea that I could apparently design a tough dwarven druid with an absolutely minimized AC and as many hit points as possible that gets hit critically all the time and turns that liability into a way to punish my enemies for thinking the unarmored dwarf was an easy target.
I also like the idea that more of what makes fighters and other martial characters special is the things they can do on their critical hits rather than just how much damage they can do with their critical hits, because it makes accuracy more valuable than for just how much raw damage I can do. All of this sounds promising to me.
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I realize that this new critical hit mechanic has gotten under a lot of peoples skin because it is so very different than the existing system and different is so often very scary...but I am starting to get excited about the idea that I could apparently design a tough dwarven druid with an absolutely minimized AC and as many hit points as possible that gets hit critically all the time and turns that liability into a way to punish my enemies for thinking the unarmored dwarf was an easy target.
I also like the idea that more of what makes fighters and other martial characters special is the things they can do on their critical hits rather than just how much damage they can do with their critical hits, because it makes accuracy more valuable than for just how much raw damage I can do. All of this sounds promising to me.
There's all sorts of fun ways you can play with the criticals! And if you think 3d12 sounds good...well, that ability's damage increases as you level up as a druid!
Agreed, it opens up a nice design space that allows for a lot of options going forward.
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There's all sorts of fun ways you can play with the criticals! And if you think 3d12 sounds good...well, that ability's damage increases as you level up as a druid!I realize that this new critical hit mechanic has gotten under a lot of peoples skin because it is so very different than the existing system and different is so often very scary...but I am starting to get excited about the idea that I could apparently design a tough dwarven druid with an absolutely minimized AC and as many hit points as possible that gets hit critically all the time and turns that liability into a way to punish my enemies for thinking the unarmored dwarf was an easy target.
I also like the idea that more of what makes fighters and other martial characters special is the things they can do on their critical hits rather than just how much damage they can do with their critical hits, because it makes accuracy more valuable than for just how much raw damage I can do. All of this sounds promising to me.
It is pretty bold of your design team to consider powers that flip the critical hit mechanic 180 degrees and I for one appreciate it. Critical hits are a great place for character's special powers to feel special, and I am especially fond of giving players more than one way to exploit that. They can try to maximize their own accuracy or take advantage of others who have tried to do the same. Very interesting!
| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
There's all sorts of fun ways you can play with the criticals! And if you think 3d12 sounds good...well, that ability's damage increases as you level up as a druid!I realize that this new critical hit mechanic has gotten under a lot of peoples skin because it is so very different than the existing system and different is so often very scary...but I am starting to get excited about the idea that I could apparently design a tough dwarven druid with an absolutely minimized AC and as many hit points as possible that gets hit critically all the time and turns that liability into a way to punish my enemies for thinking the unarmored dwarf was an easy target.
I also like the idea that more of what makes fighters and other martial characters special is the things they can do on their critical hits rather than just how much damage they can do with their critical hits, because it makes accuracy more valuable than for just how much raw damage I can do. All of this sounds promising to me.
It is pretty bold of your design team to consider powers that flip the critical hit mechanic 180 degrees and I for one appreciate it. Critical hits are a great place for character's special powers to feel special, and I am especially fond of giving players more than one way to exploit that. They can try to maximize their own accuracy or take advantage of others who have tried to do the same. Very interesting!
The best part comes when you're cruising along doing pretty well with your combo and punishing enemy crits (maybe even with a paladin buddy to also hit and debuff when they crit your druid), only to come across an opponent who does something extra and really nasty on a critical hit! Flips it back around for a double flip.
Jason was the main designer of these kinds of flips, where you punish an enemy critical.
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The best part comes when you're cruising along doing pretty well with your combo and punishing enemy crits (maybe even with a paladin buddy to also hit and debuff when they crit your druid), only to come across an opponent who does something extra and really nasty on a critical hit! Flips it back around for a double flip.Jason was the main designer of these kinds of flips, where you punish an enemy critical.
Well then I owe Jason a thank you, but I also have a question, will these powers go off wether the initial critical drops its target? Or will the character have to survive the critical with positive hit points for their ability to work?
If they go off even if an enemy drops, I see some nasty little masochistic goblins and Kobolds running around screaming "HIT ME, HIT ME HARDER!"
I also see there being a limit to the effectiveness of the glass-cannon critical hit focused high-damage character with no hit-points if there will be exploding Kobolds...which now that I said it, I am desperately hopeful there will be.
| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
The best part comes when you're cruising along doing pretty well with your combo and punishing enemy crits (maybe even with a paladin buddy to also hit and debuff when they crit your druid), only to come across an opponent who does something extra and really nasty on a critical hit! Flips it back around for a double flip.Jason was the main designer of these kinds of flips, where you punish an enemy critical.
Well then I owe Jason a thank you, but I also have a question, will these powers go off wether the initial critical drops its target? Or will the character have to survive the critical with positive hit points for their ability to work?
If they go off even if an enemy drops, I see some nasty little masochistic goblins and Kobolds running around screaming "HIT ME, HIT ME HARDER!"
I also see there being a limit to the effectiveness of the glass-cannon critical hit focused high-damage character with no hit-points if there will be exploding Kobolds...which now that I said it, I am desperately hopeful there will be.
It depends on how the trigger is worded, so it could vary from ability to ability.
It depends on how the trigger is worded, so it could vary from ability to ability.
Please try to minimize the number of abilities where it happens in response to an enemy action and you need a decision each time as to if it should trigger or not. Although that is fine in face to face or VIrtual Table Top (VTT), it can cause a 12 hour or more delay in Play by Post (PbP) games.
The Swashbuckler has a number of those type of abilities that work poorly in PbP.