I was sent an article the other day from Dice of Doom that attempted to tackle one of 4th editions biggest downfall, "The Grind." I've spoken at length about how I feel the grind might be alleviated, through better encounter design or through spacing out powers and such, but the folks over at The Dice of Doom blog have come up with a system that is at once effective, both mechanically and narrativly, and simple to implement.
I am speaking about their Morale System.
I was skeptical at first - "A morale system for D&D?" but then I remembered that a morale system has been in place in most editions of the game from the beginning, its just that no one ever used them because they were a pain in the butt. So I gave it a quick read through (as I suggest you do as well) and I thought to myself "Wow, that sounds like it could be really, really fun!" But I did have one or two quibbles with the way it was worded so I am going to basically re-write it here, in my own terms with a few extra rules thrown in to flavor.
I mean think about it, during the high action combats that take place in your game, the miniatures and the dice rolling are used to determine the outcome of a grand battle taking place in a fantasy world. This imagined battlefield is ever changing and extreamly dangerous, every 4-6 seconds swords are clashing together in showers of sparks, and spells are completed that send their deadly energy burning through the air. In this environment it is important to memeber that, while the Player Characters are fearless heroes who throw caution to the wind, most of their adversaries are living, breathing (and often times) sentient beings, who have their own best interests at heart. So when the chips are down, or the situation seems dire, these enemies may break ranks and flee! That is what the Morale System is for.
I haven't been able to playtest this system yet, but I hope to in the near future.
Click through to the full article to read the Moral Systems I've come up with!
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I am speaking about their Morale System.
I was skeptical at first - "A morale system for D&D?" but then I remembered that a morale system has been in place in most editions of the game from the beginning, its just that no one ever used them because they were a pain in the butt. So I gave it a quick read through (as I suggest you do as well) and I thought to myself "Wow, that sounds like it could be really, really fun!" But I did have one or two quibbles with the way it was worded so I am going to basically re-write it here, in my own terms with a few extra rules thrown in to flavor.
I mean think about it, during the high action combats that take place in your game, the miniatures and the dice rolling are used to determine the outcome of a grand battle taking place in a fantasy world. This imagined battlefield is ever changing and extreamly dangerous, every 4-6 seconds swords are clashing together in showers of sparks, and spells are completed that send their deadly energy burning through the air. In this environment it is important to memeber that, while the Player Characters are fearless heroes who throw caution to the wind, most of their adversaries are living, breathing (and often times) sentient beings, who have their own best interests at heart. So when the chips are down, or the situation seems dire, these enemies may break ranks and flee! That is what the Morale System is for.
I haven't been able to playtest this system yet, but I hope to in the near future.
Click through to the full article to read the Moral Systems I've come up with!
