Originally Posted by clavis
Have just blah mobs that are easily one shotted is MMO mindset, not D&D. or most rpgs for that matter. Skyrim Bandit Bosses, Bandit archers, Bandit mages all have different hp levels to show their experience and their training. Goblins should not be any different #goblinsarepeople to. Unless of course you want a world filled with trash mobs, and no realism, one that is without the nuances like goblins having different hp, abilities etc as boring as watching paint peel. Which is an MMO thing and why I don't play them.

On to fights taking longer then they should, yes that is a problem it's not do to hp bloat. It's do to numbers of enemies, balance overall, and to many encounters coming at once. Then again all the encounters is part of most video games, were you mostly walk from one fight to the next. It's not hp bloat it's pacing, which since you can simply camp, fast travel isn't all that much of a problem at times. Though it can be. Which leads back to balance, Balance of not only combat, but the world. How do you make a world feel alive with only a small number of npc's in it. more often then not you dont' because it feels empty. So do you spread the map out a bit more. For instance moving Guts further away from main hall, moving the Zhent trader somewhere else, so on and so forth. Then your using more memory up by adding additional areas, which increases load times. So then you have other issues, which through EA can be fixed. One of the Guts fight problems can be fixed by simply having fewer goblins come to her aid, and having the Zhents stay out of it. Why they would really care about this fight, and not bug out is beyond me. Whoever wins they can trade with.



1 - In this games that you mentioned, EVERYONE criticize that enemies soaks too much damage on harder difficulties.

2 - ToEE was considered an hard game and din't inflated enemy hp and enemy hp uses 3.5e hp values, not 5e which area already inflated

3 - Nobody is complaining about goblins having levels, but a goblin with 50 hp should't be something common. Just like humans with 50 hp should't be a common thing.

Quoting the PHB of AD&D

"These hit points represent how much damage (actual or potential) the character can withstand before being killed. A certain amount of these hit points represent the actual physical punishment which can be sustained. The remainder, a significant portion of hit points at higher levels, stands for skill, luck, and / or magical factors. Let us suppose that a fighter has 55 hit points, plus a bonus of 30 hit points for his constitution, for a total of 85 hit points. This is the equivalent of about 18 hit dice for creatures, about what it would take to kill four huge warhorses. It is ridiculous to assume that even a fantastic fighter can take that much punishment. The some holds true to a lesser extent for clerics, thieves, and the other classes. Thus, the majority of hit points are symbolic of combat skill, luck (bestowed by supernatural powers), and magical forces"

The body of a mid level character is supernatural and hence, he can sustain supernatural amounts of punishment. An Goblin should't be that resistant. And note that on 2e, after lv 10, you barely get any amount of hp. 100 hp was rare even among epic level adventurers.