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Skeletons and the Need for Bludgeoning Weapons
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<blockquote data-quote="Jeff Carlsen" data-source="post: 5818879" data-attributes="member: 61749"><p>I took some time away from this thread so I could think on it and avoid the backfire effect.</p><p></p><p>For most creatures, hit points don't directly represent real damage, but a combination of real damage and the ability to mitigate damage taken, either through skill or constitution. When you run out, you can no longer mitigate damage, and the collected minor wounds take you down, or something serious gets through. How you describe it is up to the DM.</p><p></p><p>This could be an argument for simply giving the skeleton more hit points with a weakness to bludgeoning damage.</p><p></p><p>I can't even say that hit points are mostly linked to skill, since many monsters are simply given extra hit dice for being bigger and meaner, though in that case it's mostly meant to illustrate that the monster can take many wounds and keep fighting. It's a representation of the real damage part of hit points.</p><p></p><p>So, in essence the difference between the big monster and the skeleton is that the skeleton <em>doesn't</em> take any noticeable real damage from most attacks. Its invulnerability is a mitigating factor that doesn't decrease, even as the skeleton takes damage.</p><p></p><p>Damage Reduction does model that aspect more accurately.</p><p></p><p>But this does leave us with one last problem to look at. What do the hit points of a skeleton mean? Presumably, the skeleton doesn't feel pain, it doesn't grow fatigued. The only way it loses the ability to mitigate damage with skill is if parts of it actually break. So, for the skeleton, hit points really do represent real damage and nothing but. At the same time, the skeleton can take significant amounts of real damage and still be a threat, so they may still have a high number of hit points.</p><p></p><p>So, my final verdict is that Damage Reduction is the proper rule for the skeleton if you want model intent with a degree of accuracy. I'd rather not lose that. Still, it wouldn't be largely inappropriate to use the high hit point with a weakness method. It's just less precise.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Jeff Carlsen, post: 5818879, member: 61749"] I took some time away from this thread so I could think on it and avoid the backfire effect. For most creatures, hit points don't directly represent real damage, but a combination of real damage and the ability to mitigate damage taken, either through skill or constitution. When you run out, you can no longer mitigate damage, and the collected minor wounds take you down, or something serious gets through. How you describe it is up to the DM. This could be an argument for simply giving the skeleton more hit points with a weakness to bludgeoning damage. I can't even say that hit points are mostly linked to skill, since many monsters are simply given extra hit dice for being bigger and meaner, though in that case it's mostly meant to illustrate that the monster can take many wounds and keep fighting. It's a representation of the real damage part of hit points. So, in essence the difference between the big monster and the skeleton is that the skeleton [I]doesn't[/I] take any noticeable real damage from most attacks. Its invulnerability is a mitigating factor that doesn't decrease, even as the skeleton takes damage. Damage Reduction does model that aspect more accurately. But this does leave us with one last problem to look at. What do the hit points of a skeleton mean? Presumably, the skeleton doesn't feel pain, it doesn't grow fatigued. The only way it loses the ability to mitigate damage with skill is if parts of it actually break. So, for the skeleton, hit points really do represent real damage and nothing but. At the same time, the skeleton can take significant amounts of real damage and still be a threat, so they may still have a high number of hit points. So, my final verdict is that Damage Reduction is the proper rule for the skeleton if you want model intent with a degree of accuracy. I'd rather not lose that. Still, it wouldn't be largely inappropriate to use the high hit point with a weakness method. It's just less precise. [/QUOTE]
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