Mercutio01 said:
Here is 3E's definition of hit points, and it's the one I like the best:
Hit points mean two things in the game world: the ability to take physical punishment and keep going, and the ability to turn a serious blow into a less serious one.
Just a point here.
Isn't "the ability to turn a serious blow into a less serious one" precisely what Plot Armor is? You mentioned earlier about many arrows hitting the target, denting armor and whatnot. All effects that can be shaken off within a day.
So, what do you think Plot Armor means if not reducing the effect of a given hit?
To me, the quote pretty clearly states that there is still a "hit" within the fiction, though. It says "and the ability to turn a serious blow into a less serious one." A less serious what? A less serious blow. What is a blow? It's a connection. It can be a "glancing blow", but it's still a physical connection. With that in mind, I'd disagree with permerton's take on this potentially being "dodging" or "arrow cutting." And, I might disagree with your take on it, if you think it means "reducing the effect of a given hit" to the point of saying "the hit never happened."
Now, don't get me wrong, when I ran 3.X, I would say "you are barely able to knock the strike aside" at times, and have them mark HP off. So, I get this side of the conversation (so much so that I went with a HP (wound) / THP (fatigue/skill) split in hit points, where HP recovers after a long time, but THP recovers quickly).
However, I think that the language which describes hit point damage in 3.X is pretty clear. It's reducing a blow, yes, but it's not full-on Plot Armor. HP represents your ability to turn a hit that connects into a less serious hit, not your ability to land on a pile of feathers, completely dodge, get divine intervention, or the like (which means that certain effects have all sorts of weird interactions in 3.X, like falling damage, being immersed in lava, etc., unless you
really stress the "the ability to take physical punishment and keep going" aspect of hit points).
That HP model definitely has problems when it comes to having an extremely diverse narrative, and I understand the want for a more dynamic mechanic (HP is Plot Armor). Again, I don't know how much I like a "default" being chosen in 5e; maybe they should just go with "HP has meant these things over time:
- . Choose what works best for your group." The obvious problem following this, of course, is designing things that deal HP damage, and things that deal damage (falling, landing on lava) that can't deal with "HP as 3.X defines it" easily.
But hey, nobody said this is easy. That's why I support a split in HP (meat and non-meat), but I doubt that'll be the default. As always, play as what like