How does Boromir keep fighting?

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Playing devil's advocate

I'll argue that Boromir is a low-level fighter (say, 4th level -- see my posts elsewhere on the subject, in the Conversion library). Say he has 40 hp or so.

He burns 20 or so Hp in scratches and fatigue fighting the orcs.

He then takes three arrow hits from a mighty composite shortbow -- roughly 1d6+2 damage each.

That puts him right around 0 hp. He's disabled, then dying.

Hey, it's Hollywood!

 

[Umbran]

Except that people with positive hit points normally don't have arrows deeply emedded in their right breast, near their hearts.

Except that whether he's used Rage, or Instant Rage doesn't change the number of hit points he has. Either way, after the arrow hits, he's running on hit points given by adrenaline, that will disappear and leave him in trouble. Your description is dramatic, but the feat is not necessary to explain the event.

It's just as easy to assume that after running full-tilt for a minute or two looking for halflings the DM had him start rolling Con checks to continue, and he used Rage to keep running longer, and then ran into orcs...

 

[OaxacanWarrior]

b) isn't there a feat somewhere that lets you keep fighting until you actually die at -10? Can't remember where that feat is published, but it'd probably do the job here.

I believe the feat is Remain Conscious in Sword and Fist. Hope that helps. : )

- Ryan

 

[Wikidogre]

Re: Playing devil's advocate

I'll argue that Boromir is a low-level fighter (say, 4th level -- see my posts elsewhere on the subject, in the Conversion library). Say he has 40 hp or so.

He burns 20 or so Hp in scratches and fatigue fighting the orcs.

He then takes three arrow hits from a mighty composite shortbow -- roughly 1d6+2 damage each.

That puts him right around 0 hp. He's disabled, then dying.

Hey, it's Hollywood!

I agree, except i would make him at least 7th. and the bow a mighty +5 bow, Lurtz was very strong. also Gandolf is obviously atleast 15th level...at least since he is a maiar, well Istari when he enters mortal guise. The only 2 that seem close to or higher level than 10th is Aragorn due to his longer mortal life span, and Legolas...DUH! Gimli is posible around 7th and wel as for the Hobbits, try 3rd if that.

 

[ReignofGeekaos]

Well that and maybe he had the Commander prestige class from WOT, the last ability there is called till the bitter end, and it let's you fighting till your negetive 10 hp.

 

[Henry]

Except that whether he's used Rage, or Instant Rage doesn't change the number of hit points he has. Either way, after the arrow hits, he's running on hit points given by adrenaline, that will disappear and leave him in trouble...

...Except that in D&D, the rage doesn't wear off until the end of the duration. If someone is knocked to negatives, they would still have the rage going, according to Skip Williams (and the D&D FAQ, I believe).

I'm not saying it's the only way it could be done, but so far, it's the one that is the most plausible in D&D terms. (Of course, that "Till the end" ability does a good job of translating it, too.)

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

The whole Boromir thing only points out flaws with hit point conventions (1+=healthy, 0=staggered, -10=dead). These are only conventions that make bookkeeping easier. If we cared about realism we would add Fort saves to stay standing/conscious. Because of the style od D&D combat, that is not really worth the trouble.

It is silly to rack your brains over what feats to give Boromir.

It is not particularly rare for warriors with mortal wounds to continue fighting. Uncommon perhaps, but certainly not rare.

Keep in mind that any deep torso wound has a not insubstantial chance of killing you within the next few minutes or day from blood loss unless you have access to a skilled surgeon. Or within the next 10 days from infection unless you have access to antibiotics.

 

[ColonelHardisson]

Now there are a few things we can assume, one each of the Arrows he was shot with was a Critical, two he may have gone down below 0 Hp and kept fighting, Two, He somehow was able to keep fighting the Orc's even though he probably used up his attacks per round, three, he is most likely a high level fighter if not anything else, and four the size of those arrows leaves me to believe that every round he kept fighting they hurt him more, so let's say they where arrows of wounding.

The first and fourth assumptions are ones I wouldn't make.

I've come to conclusion that everything is extremely subjective when it comes to interpreting anything from film or literature into D&D terms. For every assertion that is made that "this is how it would go in D&D," there will be another assertion that "D&D cannot adequately cover that situation."

But it's fun to read how everyone thinks it went.

 

[Broken Fang]

Maybe he's just a 1st level Warrior...with 10 HP's. All his attacks were AoO or his one attack per turn. Orcs only have 4 or so HP's so his d10+2 for strength is a pretty easy kill. The he took 3 low damage arrow attacks.

You could probably figure it at any level in 3rd ed.

Plus being a hero in a book or movie is really what its all about...you are either going to die or not going to die.

 

[ReignofGeekaos]

I mean't assume for this arguement.....hell if I wanted I could have said how does he do it as a fifth level warrior, I'm not, I'm assuming those two things for this arguement, because I thing he has four attacks per round.