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

[Uller]

Which shows that the whole "HP represents moral" is just silly.
A nick with a sword in a fight hardly lowers morale at all. But seeing someone close to you dieing does. But as this does not lower HP we can safely conclude that morale has nothing to do with HP.

We can imagine someone using "magic" from a distance to stem the flow of blood to allow a fighter to continue fighting. But imagining a charismatic leader lending words of encouragement to get an injured person back into the fight is "silly". Got it.

Of course one of these things happens in the real world on battlefields,in sports, even at physical therapy everyday....

 

[Campbell]

When running 4e I co-opt Burning Wheel style beliefs in lieu of alignment mechanics. If a player had chosen "I will protect my liege lord at all costs" as a belief I would have no problem delivering hp damage to the player if they failed to protect their king. I would let the players know such a mechanic was in play before the encounter. If the hp loss brought the character down to 0 hp I might narrate that the character is overcome with grief and unable to act. After the encounter they would definitely have to reevaluate their beliefs.

Of course 4e also has fear mechanics that deliver psychic damage . You can literally be scared to death.

 

[Fifth Element]

Of course 4e also has fear mechanics that deliver psychic damage . You can literally be scared to death.

As I recall a bard can actually mock you to death, which I think is awesome.

 

[JRRNeiklot]

We can imagine someone using "magic" from a distance to stem the flow of blood to allow a fighter to continue fighting. But imagining a charismatic leader lending words of encouragement to get an injured person back into the fight is "silly". Got it.

Of course one of these things happens in the real world on battlefields,in sports, even at physical therapy everyday....

Really?

Braves' Beachy to have Tommy John surgery - Yahoo! Sports

Why doesn't Gonzalez just yell at him and send him out to pitch?

 

[Fifth Element]

Really?

Braves' Beachy to have Tommy John surgery - Yahoo! Sports

Why doesn't Gonzalez just yell at him and send him out to pitch?

Doesn't always happen <> cannot happen.

Or are you saying that since some injuries require surgery, all injuries must require surgery?

 

[Derren]

Or are you saying that since some injuries require surgery, all injuries must require surgery?

All injuries which have the potential to kill you (HP loss in D&D) do require surgery, yes.

 

[HeinorNY]

Really?

Braves' Beachy to have Tommy John surgery - Yahoo! Sports

Why doesn't Gonzalez just yell at him and send him out to pitch?

Because his injury in D&D would not be represented by loss of HP, it wasn't caused by an attack, and even if it was so, there are no rules in D&D for disabling injuries unless it's from a specific ability or power. The close to that condition would be stat loss, or some effect of a specific disease.

 

[Derren]

Because his injury in D&D would not be represented by loss of HP, it wasn't caused by an attack, and even if it was so, there are no rules in D&D for disabling injuries unless it's from a specific ability or power. The close to that condition would be stat loss, or some effect of a specific disease.

Ok. Then please show me the army medics who go into the field with a megaphone, boom boxes and a pack of motivational posters as equipment.

 

[Fifth Element]

All injuries which have the potential to kill you (HP loss in D&D) do require surgery, yes.

This isn't true in D&D, or in real life. Many life-threatening injuries heal themselves with time, no surgery required. In D&D, all injuries heal themselves given time.

 

[Fifth Element]

Ok. Then please show me the army medics who go into the field with a megaphone, boom boxes and a pack of motivational posters as equipment.

So you're saying D&D hit points don't model real-life battlefield injuries well? I don't think you'll get much of an argument there. Hit points are very abstract, and expecting them to model reality is foolish.