Half Damage for Everyone (3.5e Variant Rule)

Half Damage for Everyone
No matter how seriously or at what balance level you play the game, there always comes a point when, after gaining a bunch of levels you look at your character and observe with quiet consternation the increasing amount of damage it can do. Sooner or later on your quest to become the greatest adventurer who ever lived, there is that sudden realization that the average damage a player character does tends to tend towards infinity - or, in any case, a far greater number than any of the PCs have hit points. This holds especially true for veteran players who know the ins and outs of the system, and the little tricks and feats and level dips that put them ahead of their peers. It's hard for the DM, too, as they have to concoct increasingly difficult encounters in the vain hope of matching the band of nigh invincible heroes that is busy cutting an indiscriminate swath through their legions of darkness. When a party goes into mid-level territory, when people get access to lots of iterative attacks and high power spells. There is only so much that a Low Power point buy can do to stave off this inevitable spiral, and with the sheer volume of third party material out there, no single variant rule will be able to fix it. Some might argue that it doesn't even require fixing. Take the idea behind this rule with a grain of salt then, if you wish;

'All damage in the game is halved. Damage from physical attacks, from magical spells, from psionic powers, from falling, from grappling, from constriction, from natural hazards. Naturally, this also pertains to healing, not just to maintain the level of effectiveness a healer should be allowed to attain but also since healing deals damage to undead. Damage will be halved before applying damage reduction, resistance, etc.'

Who is it For?
Parties that use a lot of material with High or Very High balance level, mainly.

The Result
Battles will take longer to complete across the entire level range of play. Monsters that are supposed to be a challenge or a danger actually pose the threat they represent. Abilities such as damage reduction and fast healing and energy resistance actually pose strategic dilemmas to the party, as powering through them becomes a lot less viable an option. Parties will have to put more thought into preparing countermeasures against spells that focus on incapacitating the target or directing the flow of battle, instead of simply discussing in what way and using what type of special awesome finisher they were gonna curbstomp the next encounter. In short, the goal is to put some challenge back into high-balance play.

Additional Rules
With the halving of all damage dealt in battle, certain changes need to be made to how non-damaging abilities work. For this I propose the following possible guidelines, regarding the following. Note that this variant rule doesn't aim to stop people from doing these things, but that with this rule in mind, they need to be acquired at either a later level or be nerfed somewhat.

'Save or Die' Effects
Starting with the biggest elephant in the room, with damage a smaller factor in battle, the side with the most save or Disable/save or Die magic is gonna have an advantage. Proposed solutions are:


 * Save or Die spells go up 1 spell level. Particularly nasty ones (like finger of death which requires no attack roll or anything, and will hit regardless of defenses as long as there is line of effect) should also get a 1-round casting time on top of the level increase. Any mass save or death effect, or any 9th level spell that creates these effects has a 1-round casting time.
 * Spells that bestow negative levels go up 1 spell level. In the case of 9th level spells such as energy drain, that's a 1-round casting time.

Spells that protect against Save or Die spells, like death ward, go down one spell level.

Another Option: Discount the above, and instead treat save or dies as Pathfinder does, making them deal damage instead.

'Save or Suck' Effects
Spells that prevent a character from acting in the way it wants to are a great way to inhibit the enemy or to change the flow of a combat. dominate spells go up one level. Spells that attempt to alter the disposition of a creature and mane it to non-violent actions, such as charm person, should also be a 1-round casting.

Spells that protect against these forms of magic, like protection from evil, have a longer duration. 1 round/level becomes 1 minute/level, 1 minute/level becomes 10 minutes/level, and 10 minutes/level becomes 1 hour/level. By core, magic items having these spells as a continuous effect become cheaper as a result of this.

Conditions
Negative conditions are a pain in the ass in battle. Even more so using this rule. Non-permanent status conditions inflicted upon a character (such as stunned, blinded, nauseated and the like) last 1 round shorter than they usually would, down to a minimum of 1 round. Spells that remove negative conditions, such as the remove X line of spells do not only remove the effect, but also grant a bonus to saving throws against effects bestowing the removed condition equal to half the caster level of the healer that removed the condition, for the next 2d4 rounds.

Buffs
Spells and abilities that grant temporary hit points or that let a character absorb damage above and beyond their regular hit points (discounting reduction and resistance), like a stoneskin spell, grant half as many 'hit points' as they normally would. Damage reduction, resistance and fast healing, as well as spells that grant them, are unchanged, but may need to be bumped up by 1 spell level.

Thoughts, Ideas?
This is just a bit of a ramble based on a brain fart that I head, but I would really wish to flesh it out to something more altogether usable and with fewer inconsistencies to deal with. Please direct any suggestions to this article's talk page.