Welcome back my friends, I'd like to have a word with you regarding your last campaign. It seems that you may be interested in ideas for creating a more believable gaming environment, so, toss back a mug of the Inn's finest ale and let us begin.
Villians: The key to a great campaign lies in the details of the villians within its storyline, we have found that if you create an actual character sheet for you main villians (complete with a short history) you'll find that your players have no choice but to get sucked into the plots you set out before them. I have found that many times simply creating a powerful villian will create its own storyline to explain how that character would exist, and what events would have to take place to make it act the way it is supposed to based upon the history you already created for it.
Another key factor that can kill a good gaming experience is the mechanics behind figuring out who does what, when, and what kind of damage their characters actually managed to achieve. Once again the important thing is making everything believable so that everyone can "Bond" with their character and, for a short time, pretend to be something/someone they're not.
Hit Points: This is the life of a character, without it they are nothing more than a rotting pile of flesh. The trouble lies with most games hit point systems, to kill an opponent all you have to do is simply inflict an amount of damage equal to the hit points of the monster. This is neither believable, nor fun, and often times ends up killing your heros......We suggest adding common sense to the hit point system by adding a dice roll for specific events.
(1) Once an attack is declaired, roll (1d6) to determine where the attack hit the monster. Example.......1. head, 2. R. Arm, 3. L.Arm, 4. Body, 5. R.Leg, 6. L.Leg..... or more depending on the monsters body style. {NOTE: Allow higher level characters the option to make an "Aimed" attack at a specific body part if their character is highly skilled with the weapon they are using....}
(2) After figuring out what they hit roll for how much damage they did as normal, with one little twist...think about what there doing......could it have another effect besides just damage? If the answer is yes, have them make another roll to decide if they do just normal damage/extra damage/or a "Realistic" effect. {Example: a mace does around (1d6 damage), but think about it......wouldn't a mace in the face with no helmet do more than 6 points of damage??? Couldn't it also stun/knock down/knock out that character? Not to mention the effect it would have on their fighting abilities from then on till they get healed.} {NOTE: Swords could break bones, or sever limbs completely with a very strong hit to the arm. Let the dice decide how hard they got hit. Maces stand a much better chance to break bones, or at the very least bruise badly impairing future use of an arm/leg.... etc.etc...} |
