D&D General Finally, a real explanation of HP!

[Oofta]

From 1287 Play the Hits - Giant in the Playground Games

 

[not-so-newguy]

Hit Points are a measure of how much the DM loves you.
Mystery solved.

 

[nevin]

Or how much DM hate you can handle...

 

[TaranTheWanderer]

It's funny because, yesterday, I was going to post this exact same thing

 

[EzekielRaiden]

"HP" stands for Howard Phillips. It's always been bizarre and inexplicable because it's literally Lovecraftian.

 

[GMMichael]

We just need to get to the end of this thread, then it'll be like this conversation never happened.

 

[nevin]

 

[jgsugden]

Putting the joke aside, I've always seen hps as toughness. When you lose hps, your toughness is being taxed and depleted. YOu're not getting an actual injury - just scuffs and bruises. Fire breathes dragon and deals 48 fire damage to you? Well, you turned your body away and protected your vulnerable parts. It took a bit out of you, but you didn't actually get third degree burns across your entire body.

So why does cure wounds work on you, then? Well, I treat it as curing those scuffs and bruises while it refreshes you. It doesn't fix your real wounds, right? If someone blinds you by sticking a stixk in your eye, cure light wounds taking you to fll does not restore your vision, right? Other spells restore your lost functionality.

This explanation works really well for me.

 

[Mannahnin]

Just C&P from the '78 PH and '79 DMG for simplicity.

 

[Laurefindel]

HP are “no” points. DM says “the orc kills you”, you say “no”.

DM says “the orc really wants you dead” with 9 “I-want-to-kill-you” points. As long as you answer with 9 “no-I-won’t-die” points, the orc doesn’t kill you.

If the orc wants you more dead than your ability to say no, you die.

Simple

Edit: grammar