In the heat of battle, is hit point loss a wound?

[sheadunne]

It's all blood! Or rather every hit is some blood, some endurance, some everything else. If you take 8 points of damage maybe only half or a third is actual injury, but some of it always is. Perhaps your hp for class is endurance and your con modifier is injury. It doesn't really matter because each hit brings me closer to death! I don't think, how that hit make me tired. I think, a couple of more hits like that and I'm dead!

 

[Alan Shutko]

I've always treated HP like John McClane in Die Hard. He had a ton of hit points. Everything did damage to him, and by the end of the movie he's full of nicks, cuts, holes, contusions, and everything else, but he keeps going.

I have no problem with people doing damage on a miss. Sure, the axe was blocked by the armor/sword/whatever, but the fighter hit so hard it bruised you.

Beyond this, I just remind myself to stop over thinking things. This is D&D, that's just how it works here.

 

[Doug McCrae]

The other possibility is that hit points are purely a game construct - we don't conceive of them as being anything other than hit points.

I reckon that in actual gameplay, I either see hit points as representing nothing real, or as physical wounds. I've never followed the Gygaxian interpretation of them being mostly skill, luck, stamina, sixth sense, or magical protection.

The problem of the high level fighter being as tough as a warhorse is simply ignored. I find it's quite easy to just ignore stuff if you want to.

 

[thewok]

I've always treated HP like John McClane in Die Hard. He had a ton of hit points. Everything did damage to him, and by the end of the movie he's full of nicks, cuts, holes, contusions, and everything else, but he keeps going.

I have no problem with people doing damage on a miss. Sure, the axe was blocked by the armor/sword/whatever, but the fighter hit so hard it bruised you.

Beyond this, I just remind myself to stop over thinking things. This is D&D, that's just how it works here.

Perfect example to use for the hit dice mechanic, too. He gets in a fight, damn near dies, but comes through in the end, then he grabs a smoke and heads off to the next encounter.

 

[Herschel]

Hit points are like the gas tank in my car, I'm okay so long as I don't run out but get nervous when I get pretty low and if I run out I'm not going anywhere until I get some more.

 

[Skyscraper]

You know, an early hit could mean a wound and a later hit could mean loss of endurance/luck. 4E brought the concept that, whatever the earlier hits were (you deicde), the last one hurts that's for sure.

 

[Blood & Bones]

Okay, Ladies and Gents... I'm going to call it. My hypothesis has been proven wrong, and as such there is no sound argument that can be made against the fighter's slayer ability. There is only whining and gnashing of teeth left...

 

[JRRNeiklot]

Okay, Ladies and Gents... I'm going to call it. My hypothesis has been proven wrong, and as such there is no sound argument that can be made against the fighter's slayer ability. There is only whining and gnashing of teeth left...

Just because a thousand people say something, does not make it right. A hit point loss is always a wound, though doesn't necessarily mean blood. It could be a bruise or welt. To quote Jason Alexander, who says it much better than I,

The trick to understanding the hit point system is understand that a hit point is not equal to a hit point. In D&D, 1 hit point of damage always represents a physical wound. However, the severity of the wound represented varies depending on how many hit points the victim has.

For a character with 1 hp, that 1 hp of damage represents a serious wound -- a punctured lung, a broken leg, or something of that ilk.

For a character with 10 hp, that 1 hp of damage represents a meaningful wound -- a deep but or a broken rib.

For a character with 100 hp, that 1 hp of damage represents an essentially inconsequential wound -- a scratch, a bruise, or the like.

Hit points are luck, divine grace, AND general toughness. It's not one of these, it's all of these. Which means some portion of every hit does some damage. This is the way it has always been until 4e. This is the way it must remain. A hit not being an actual hit presents problems in narration and immersion. The opposite does not hold, so the default should be that a sword, hammer, axe, or whatever actually causes injury. Imagine that!

 

[Lanefan]

That's also why your ability scores go up when you level. It's not diet and exercise. You're more full of life stuff.

"You're more full of life stuff." Brilliant!

Life stuff must be what's left over when you die, much like residuum is left over when a magic item breaks.

Lanefan

 

[Mercutio01]

<snip for readability and to save space>

This. Absolutely the way I've always played it.

I've always treated HP like John McClane in Die Hard. He had a ton of hit points. Everything did damage to him, and by the end of the movie he's full of nicks, cuts, holes, contusions, and everything else, but he keeps going.

I have no problem with people doing damage on a miss. Sure, the axe was blocked by the armor/sword/whatever, but the fighter hit so hard it bruised you.

Beyond this, I just remind myself to stop over thinking things. This is D&D, that's just how it works here.

I can stop over-thinking everything right up until a character takes a nap and wakes up completely healed.

Just because a thousand people say something, does not make it right. A hit point loss is always a wound, though doesn't necessarily mean blood. It could be a bruise or welt. To quote Jason Alexander, who says it much better than I,

Hit points are luck, divine grace, AND general toughness. It's not one of these, it's all of these. Which means some portion of every hit does some damage. This is the way it has always been until 4e. This is the way it must remain. A hit not being an actual hit presents problems in narration and immersion. The opposite does not hold, so the default should be that a sword, hammer, axe, or whatever actually causes injury. Imagine that!

Yes. As I said above, this is exactly the way I've played for almost 30 years.