Li Shenron
Legend
On the other hand it doesn't resonate with hit points being wounds either. You've been impaled and have a four inch hole in you and somehow this isn't life threatening? And you can keep going without any penalties?
By "wounds" I just meant the physical interpretation of HP. I was thinking that in this case a good old save-or-die roll would be close enough.
Are the Wotcies saying this? Anyways, this is always the issue, has always been the issue....remember, people are getting set on fire, covered with acid, bit by dragons, hit by halberds...
In this case, its easy, for the low level charecter, they are about to die (and may use a lot of healing to recover), for a high level one, the hook is caught in armor, robes, a belt, etc.
I didn't want to start again the HP discussion. I just wanted to point out that if the rules are supposed to serve the game, in this case they perhaps serve balance and playability but certainly not the meaning of the description. Which made me think: why am I telling my players that this monster is dreaded because it impales its victims and then bites them alive, but what actually happens is using up 1d10 of your daily luck?
Admittedly, it's simply a matter of gaming style... in a tactical game this monster is perfectly balanced, but in a game like ours would present a rift between the fantasy description and the rules outcome.
I just wanted to highlight that perhaps monster design should consider things like this too, especially since the article started exactly from the purpose of using monster stats and abilities to represent its story and nature.