Other enhancements that apply to all classes:
Critical Hits
Critical hits are fun! We love them! But rolling a 20…. doesn’t really do anything special. Well… here is how we handle them.
A natural 20 is a critical hit. Take the maximum damage (no bonuses) of the weapon, then roll the weapon damage, then apply the bonuses to account for the critical hit.
Example: A fighter with +2 bonus damage for strength, using a +1 longsword who just rolled a natural 20 would do the following damage:
8 (max longsword damage) + 1d8 roll (weapon damage) + [+1 for the magic blade, +2 for the str bonus] = 11 + 1d8. The means a critical hit could range from 12 – 19 points of damage! Quite a blow!
Better Healing Potions
Healing potions are great! But getting one point of healing sucks…
All healing potions have two ways to be consumed: careful, or rushed.
Rushed healing potions means standard rules – a light healing potion heals 1d6 + 1. You can drink it, and still do something that turn. Essentially, you rip out the stopper, desperately aiming to get just a little life saving elixir into your mouth as your guts are falling out. Just as you bring the bottle to your lips, a wave of pain passes over you and you spill most of it on your tunic. “Shit… I only got about a quarter into my gullet!” – you scream to your mates.
However, if you take a full turn to “consume your potion”, you are healed the max of the potion (ie a light healing potion will heal 7 health, but use your full turn).
Vendors might have healing potions but they are quite expensive and rare.
Bloodied
This a visual state to describe how the combatant looks. When a monster (or player) is under half their hitpoints, they are now “Bloodied”. The DM will announce that the monster is bloodied. This means that the monster/player is “half dead”, so you can tell if you wish to keep engaging in combat, pull out all the last stops, or try to escape. A bloodied condition might mean that morale checks might be in order, or special abilities might come out.