D&D 5E Keepiing Current HP from players...

[FrogReaver]

Consider these 2 scenarios. The first uses the normal rules of hp.

You are low on hp and know it. Do you suddenly become cautious or do you "throw caution to the wind" as you put it. My bet is that you have your character stop throwing caution to the wind and start acting very cautiously.

The second uses these rules.

You are low on hp and don't know it. What you do know is that you have been hit a few times. You naturally play slightly more cautiously than otherwise. However, comparing this scenario to the above one you are far more likely to play your character more like he has been playing the whole time.

I suppose it depends mostly on what you are looking for. A lot also depends on how you envision hp. If hp is a healthy does of luck with a small bit stamina and a small bit bodily injury then it makes tons of sense to play the same way not matter your hp. If HP is bodily injury and stamina then you definitely should be intimately aware of how injured and out of breath you are. But i'm really trying to avoid the "what is hp" discussion here in this thread. But mentioning how someone sees it shouldn't be problematic.

As a DM, yes I've got enough to keep track of.

As a player... I don't know, I get anxious when my character is low in HP - I think being always concerned would change my play style to being overly cautious. I like charging in and trying to be a hero. Throw caution to the wind...

It's a game after all. I don't want lose fun for uncertainty. Just my 2 cp


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[FrogReaver]

I get you really really don't like it. You never really explained why though?

I'd just ask the DM not to waste our time by doing this.
1) I don't have the patience for this crap.
2) It's a game. There's NOTHING you can do to instill any amount of fear in me concerning my character. The uncertainty? That comes from the d20 & whatever damage dice are being rolled. Don't waste the time/effort trying it.
3) There ARE some things that you can do that will annoy the pis out of me & reduce my enjoyment to zero. This is one of them. So, unless this is a passive agresive way of asking me not to play, why do this?

*I'm fine with it if another player wants the damage they're taken described like this. But when you roll against me? Just tell the #s.

 

[FrogReaver]

...

As a player: No thanks. Why would my character not know how badly hurt it is?

....

Of course your character knows how badly hurt he is. What stat in the game solely represents hurt?

 

[pukunui]

Of course your character knows how badly hurt he is. What stat in the game solely represents hurt?

Hit points.

 

[FrogReaver]

Of course your character knows how badly hurt he is. What stat in the game solely represents hurt?

Hit points.

PHB 196
Hit points represent a combination of physical and mental durability, the will to live, and luck.

 

[pukunui]

PHB 196
Hit points represent a combination of physical and mental durability, the will to live, and luck.

"Hurt" doesn't have to mean physical trauma only. But whatever. Give it a try. See how it works for you. I know that if I were to suggest such a thing for either of my groups, there would be much wailing and gnashing of teeth. I would not be interested in playing in a group that used such a rule either.

 

[LordEntrails]

Of course your character knows how badly hurt he is. What stat in the game solely represents hurt?

If you don't know your current hit points, you don't know how badly hurt you are.

In real life, do you know how you are feeling? Yes, yes you do. You go into an alley, get into a fight, get the sh*$%&t kicked out of you. You know if you are close to dying or not. You know if you can stand up and take another beating or if you should just give up and hope they leave you alone.

If you take away the knowledge of the PC's HPs from them, they won't know this. They will be down one HP and drink their last potion of healing. A complete waste. Or, they will be down to one HP and not know that they are on their last breath, limping and barely able to hang onto the weapon in their hand and they will step up to fight the BBEG rather than retreat.

Then when they die after you describe a glancing blow they will be pissed.

 

[Oofta]

As a DM I would not want to do this, I have enough to keep track of.

As a player, I would just find it annoying. I have nothing to directly compare to HP, but I can't imagine not knowing that I'm on the edge of dying. It would be like driving a car and not knowing how much gas is left in the tank.

I guess I just don't see the point. For me, it adds tension from a player's point of view that I'm getting low on hit points.

As a side note when describing remaining HP, I don't give people the number of hit points left and ask them to describe their own HP. So someone that is at 100-76% is bruised, 75-51% is wounded, 50-26% is bloodied and 25-1% is critical.

 

[FrogReaver]

If you don't know your current hit points, you don't know how badly hurt you are.

Let me correct the above statement:

If you don't know your current hit points, you don't know how close to death you are. In D&D being close to dead isn't dependent on being "hurt". One can be close to dead (1hp) and be unhurt, slightly hurt or massively hurt. Either way though you are just as close to being dead.

In real life, do you know how you are feeling? Yes, yes you do. You go into an alley, get into a fight, get the sh*$%&t kicked out of you. You know if you are close to dying or not. You know if you can stand up and take another beating or if you should just give up and hope they leave you alone.

In real life you know how you are feeling. You know if you are soo hurt you may die soon. However, outside that one scenario (being soo hurt you may die soon) you never know how close to death you are.

If you take away the knowledge of the PC's HPs from them, they won't know this. They will be down one HP and drink their last potion of healing. A complete waste.

I'm not seeing the problem if the potion healed them. They will know it did. They will know it put them up to maximum. They can't get upset that it only healed them by 1 because they will never know whether it only healed them by 1 or not. Is such a use of a healing potion they would have done under circumstances that they knew their hp. Absolutely not. But that's the point of using this rule isn't it? To get the players to do things more naturally without always crunching the hp numbers to see if it's worth it?

Or, they will be down to one HP and not know that they are on their last breath, limping and barely able to hang onto the weapon in their hand and they will step up to fight the BBEG rather than retreat.

Well yes, that is kind of the point. They will not know by glancing at hp if they are on their last breath. But they would know they have had their current hp reduced. They won't know the full extent of course. But to act like there is no indication to them that they have had significant hp loss is an understatement. Also a reduction to 1 hp or some other low amount would lead to mentions that their character feels weak and injured etc. While hp is not necessarily "hurt" it can be described as "hurt" as needed.

Then when they die after you describe a glancing blow they will be pissed.

I'm the DM. Why would I describe a "glancing blow" as what kills the character. No he get's to have a more epic sounding death than that as anything that reduces the character to 0 hp is a hefty fatal blow that he will be lucky to recover from and not a simple "glancing blow". The amount of damage rolled isn't the sole reason for a blow to be described as powerful.

 

[pukunui]

[MENTION=6795602]FrogReaver[/MENTION]: How would something like a paladin's Lay on Hands ability work with a rule like this? Likewise, how is a healer going to know what level spell slot to expend on a healing spell?