Should roots & webs have HP and take damage?

We now have a free attack system where enemies don't have to be specifically targeted and we can damage multiple targets at once.

So why not have roots and webs degrade from damage, rather than degrade with time?

Fire would do the greatest damage, but would also have a chance of burning the player, because he'd be caught in the root or web, and if it were burning, he'd catch on fire as well. The obstacle, whether a root or a web, would also partially block attacks to enemies, meaning that it would take most of the damage directed in a particular direction. But a strong attack would eat up the obstacle pretty quickly.

 

OTOH, you also have to think about a player attacking you when you're rooted or webbed, and how that will work.

 

An area effect spell such as fireball should have a chance to clear them out.

 

Can't I also just jump up and down violently to shake myself loose? If I got no magic in me?

 

Feats of strength should come into play too I would think. Guess that's a D&D thing but it sure makes sense. Stronger players should be able to get themselves out of situations that weaker characters would get stuck in. A weaker player would have to rely on their friends or magic. If a player does try to blink when they're covered in webs, it should be a bit more difficult imo.

That being said - spider webs are 5x stronger than steel. But they can be burned. And perhaps if they're frozen they could be shattered? Someone will have to test the shattered spider web thing

 

yes! there is no counter to root (that I know of) yet. this would be a nice start. IDK about HPs though. I think is should be a chance based on the deifference of levels of the rooter and the rooted.

 

I did not see this thread and started one of my own, so I'm going to repost my thoughts on this here

I was fighting a bunch of spiders today and was getting webbed a lot and that gave me an idea on how to make effects like web and root more interesting. I remember form my AD&D 2e days we could attack spider webs to clear them out or if you were more dangerous you could use fire to burn them away, but you would take damage if you were stuck in them.

I think it would improve game play if we changed slightly how web, root and some other crowed control worked it would make the game feel more real. First we would need to increase the time of these effects, if we are going to allow counters to these effects they should last longer if you don't use the counters as a way of balancing the effect.

So I think the first thing that needs to happen is physical crowd control like root and web will need to have invisible hit points so if enough damage is done they are cancelled. This would allow for AOE attack(be it form weapons or spells) to damage them form the effected player or normal and AOE attacks directed at the player from friend or foe. The friendly attacks would have all of its damage directed at the root or web spell while only a small % of the damage form enemy attack would apply to the web or root. There could even be a small amount of friendly damage applied to the trapped player, mirroring the damage done by foes, but there may be greifing implications there.

On top this basic mechanic each crowd control could be weak and strong vs different types of attack. For example fire spells like immolate would instantly burn up all webs in its AOE, But would also do a small amount of damage to any players trapped in them, say 2-4 points. Roots being living wood would not burn very well so they would be resistant to fire damage, But cold and electrical damage would do more damage because its a living plant.

I'm not sure if this is in the game yet or not, but I also think being able to use jump to be able to get out of root or web would be another good tactic to get out. I would represent physically struggling against the restraints and the price to get free faster would be the stamina lose.

I hope you consider these ideas to make this sort of situation more dynamic and interesting to deal with.

 

Jumping has a chance to break root.

 

Blade attacks can hit up to 2 targets per swing. It would be cool if one of those swings could hit a webbing and make it count as a target.

That way even people who use auto-attacks could free themselves.

 

I'm thinking, though, that when enemies attack you, it shouldn't hit the web or root. If friends attacked you (who couldn't target you), that might be different.

 

As the web/root currently envelops a large portion of you, it should be hit by enemy attacks. After all, enemy attacks can damage armor on legs and feet, so why would it pass through the entanglement, but still damage armor? Otherwise, I love the idea of different spells/skills affecting these OP things and providing a counter. It would also be nice if something like tumble could allow you to maneuver through/avoid the entanglement.