So, there are lots of ways to narrate damage. Without (please) getting in to the argument over what HP represent, I'd like to share the notes I've been using for a while - this came up in a discussion a few days ago in a game I was running, and I ended up putting this into formal shape to hand to one of my players. Hopefully someone else finds it useful.
I personally (accepting that other views are equally valid, but also that when I GM I'll use my own preference) narrate hit point loss as pain, with 0hp meaning you take a serious, life-threatening injury. It's sometimes a bit hard to narrate that with enough variety, though, so I have a few notes of words and ideas I can use for different damage types that I have stuck to the inside of my GM screen. Some of the words I only use for PC injuries - things that give away sensations like "stinging", say - but most work to narrate both PC and monster damage.
I split this into three collections of words for each type of damage - one column for wounds that leave you with more than half your hit points, one column for wounds that leave you with less than half your hit points and one for the damage that takes you to 0hp. If the creature has resistance to a particular damage type, I will usually narrate from the >50% health column; if it has vulnerability, I'll usually narrate from the <50% column.
In this, "Physical Block" means an attempt to block, parry or otherwise take the damage was unsuccessful in some way, causing the loss of hit points. For instance, "Wrench" below I might narrate: "While you catch the blow on your weapon, it's still powerful enough to nearly wench it out of your hand. Take Xhp damage". I use "Block" in a few damage types, since many physical attacks can be narrated this way until you start showing marks from the injury.
(this would be best in a table - I use a scribbled pencil one personally - but hey)
(It was typed up anyway, but hopefully posting it here is of use to someone else, too)
I personally (accepting that other views are equally valid, but also that when I GM I'll use my own preference) narrate hit point loss as pain, with 0hp meaning you take a serious, life-threatening injury. It's sometimes a bit hard to narrate that with enough variety, though, so I have a few notes of words and ideas I can use for different damage types that I have stuck to the inside of my GM screen. Some of the words I only use for PC injuries - things that give away sensations like "stinging", say - but most work to narrate both PC and monster damage.
I split this into three collections of words for each type of damage - one column for wounds that leave you with more than half your hit points, one column for wounds that leave you with less than half your hit points and one for the damage that takes you to 0hp. If the creature has resistance to a particular damage type, I will usually narrate from the >50% health column; if it has vulnerability, I'll usually narrate from the <50% column.
In this, "Physical Block" means an attempt to block, parry or otherwise take the damage was unsuccessful in some way, causing the loss of hit points. For instance, "Wrench" below I might narrate: "While you catch the blow on your weapon, it's still powerful enough to nearly wench it out of your hand. Take Xhp damage". I use "Block" in a few damage types, since many physical attacks can be narrated this way until you start showing marks from the injury.
(this would be best in a table - I use a scribbled pencil one personally - but hey)
- Physical Block
- Resistance OR >50% hp: Wrench, Ringing blow, strain, scrape, stagger, falter, lurch, waver, shaking, struggle
- Acid
- Resistance OR >50% hp: Sting, itch, nausea
- Vulnerable OR <50% hp: burn, blister, lightheaded, discoloured
- 0hp: agony, coughing blood, melting
- Bludgeoning
- Resistance OR >50% hp: See Physical Block
- Vulnerable OR <50% hp: bruise, dent, mark, more extreme narrations of Physical Block
- 0 hp: snapping, breaking, caved in, smashed
- Cold
- Resistance OR >50% hp: numbing, shiver, chattering, pale
- Vulnerable OR <50% hp: weak, shaking, uncoordinated, sleepy, blue, gasping
- 0 hp: frozen, topple, shatter, huddled, frost-rimed
- Fire
- Resistance OR >50% hp: scorch, sting, singe
- Vulnerable OR <50% hp scald, ignite, sear, cauterize, brand
- 0 hp: incinerate, blacken, torch, blaze, char
- Force
- Resistance OR >50% hp: sting, some use of Physical Block
- Vulnerable OR <50% hp: tearing through, impact, agony, trembling, twitching
- 0 hp: smashed, punctured, paste, rupture
- Lightning
- Resistance OR >50% hp: twitch, sting, weak
- Vulnerable OR <50% hp: burn, shaking, jerking, scorch
- 0 hp: blacken, char, cooked, heart attack,
- Necrotic
- Resistance OR >50% hp: pain, weakness, sickness, nausea
- Vulnerable OR <50% hp: agony, sapping, wither, ageing, wrinkled
- 0 hp: rotting, mummified, consumed from within
- Piercing
- Resistance OR >50% hp: See Physical Block
- Vulnerable OR <50% hp: scratched, torn, furrow, nick, leaking blood
- 0 hp: clutching wound, moaning, surprise(heart), confusion (internal injury)
- Poison
- Resistance OR >50% hp: weakness, nausea, stinging, swelling
- Vulnerable OR <50% hp: sickness, movement takes effort, coughing blood, wracked with pain
- 0 hp: heart attack, agony, falls over twitching, frothing at the mouth
- Psychic
- Resistance OR >50% hp: disoriented, stagger, vertigo, balance
- Vulnerable OR <50% hp: confused, migraine, ringing, agony
- 0 hp: heart attack, bleeding from ears/nose
- Radiant
- Resistance OR >50% hp: scorch, sunburn, pain
- Vulnerable OR <50% hp: sear. agony, cauterize
- 0 hp: consumed by light, torch, blasted
- Slashing
- Resistance OR >50% hp: See Physical Block
- Vulnerable OR <50% hp: sliced, furrow, bleeding profusely, cut, weakening
- 0 hp: laid open, gushing blood, dismembered, decapitated, clutching wound, moaning
- Thunder
- Resistance OR >50% hp: Shaken, ringing sensation, some use of Physical Block
- Vulnerable OR <50% hp: pain, balance, bruised, more extreme narrations of Physical Block
- 0 hp: bleeding from ears, ruptured, paste,
(It was typed up anyway, but hopefully posting it here is of use to someone else, too)
