D&D 5E Things that make no sense rp wise

[Jediking]

If hit points are abstract, shouldn't armor then increase your hit points?

Armour makes it harder to take your hit points away. I'd keep them separate to keep it simple.

A problem also arises with damage types. For example, what if you are struck by a sword that deals electrical damage, while wearing full plate? The full plate should block the damage from the sword, yet the electricity damage should logically still hit you. And the game rules also make no difference between blunt and sharp weapons against armor. Most of the weapons in D&D just do damage. But obviously these different weapons existed for a good reason.

This has to be handwaved to a point, unless people want to go more in depth with weapon tables. You can narrate the character shaking off the electricity somehow, or dodging the blow entirely. I'd like to differentiate between damage and weapons more, but I haven't found a way to make it worth the added complexity so I mostly ignore it.

And the knight with padding underneath- I never even thought of that. I haven't had enough interest in armour to really see what they were made of or to reflect in my games, but it might be cool to read up on them.

 

[Lanliss]

Don't we also have to include surface density?

Only for falls into water or acid, at which point we must also calculate the splash area of the acid, and roll the percentage chance of someone in that area getting splashed for acid damage. Surface density of rock only becomes an issue when you drop the terrasque from a couple thousand feet up.

 

[Jediking]

Surface density of rock only becomes an issue when you drop the terrasque from a couple thousand feet up.

So that's why dinosaurs are so rare in in the Realms...

 

[Lanliss]

So that's why dinosaurs are so rare in in the Realms...

That, and the fact that everyone knows T-rex steaks are the best. A bit tough to get, but more meat than you will get anywhere else.

 

[Illithidbix]

The fact that spells use material components that are based upon their cost.

Think about this for a moment, this implies that the *physical amount of diamonds* required for a Raise Dead spell literally fluctuates in accordance to real time market prices!

Also from what I understand... diamonds aren't actually that rare but are inflated due to the sheer monopoly that De Beers has or at least had over the diamond trade (I may just be wrong about this).
Are diamonds so valuable in D&D precisely because of being usable for Raise Dead?

Is there some great Divine Conspiracy keeping the poor from being raised?

 

[Mouseferatu]

The fact that spells use material components that are based upon their cost.

Costs and values in D&D settings are fixed by the will of Greenspanius, the god of supply-side economics.

 

[Sacrosanct]

Costs and values in D&D settings are fixed by the will of Greenspanius, the god of supply-side economics.

I thought that was the emperor Kensingtonious

 

[Illithidbix]

Also the classic debate on the True Nature of Hit Points.



(Thanks to 5 Minute Workday: http://www.5mwd.com/)

 

[Imaculata]

Wait, what? Putting a layer of padding under armor doesn't keep you cool. There's a reason why hot climates never saw the use of metal armor.

Yes it does, and anyone who has ever worn a gambeson can tell you this. At first its quite hot to be wearing a thick gambeson and armor on top of that. But as you sweat, the gambeson becomes soaking wet, which then helps keep your body cool. So someone running around in full metal armor with a gambeson, is probably feeling a lot more cool than someone without one.

But in a tropical climate, you'd probably reach a tipping point at some point. But gambesons were mostly worn in colder climates.

 

[Mouseferatu]

I thought that was the emperor Kensingtonious

That was back in Basic. It changed in 1E Advanced.

(Caveat: I am being goofy, not supporting any particular person's economic views, and should probably stop now.)