D&D 5E Hit points explained

[Nagol]

For those without clairvoyant capabilities, DOAM refers to Damage on a Miss which was a "thing" for a couple of martial class abilities in the beta test for 5e.

 

[Yunru]

For those without clairvoyant capabilities, DOAM refers to Damage on a Miss which was a "thing" for a couple of martial class abilities in the beta test for 5e.

And for most classes during 4e, which I suspect played a big role too.

 

[Warmaster Horus]

The game is an abstraction of a make-believe world. Just go with it and stop worrying.

 

[Artturi Laitakari]

My concept is good for optional healing speeds.
1. hitpoints 50% and over, you heal as quickly as basic rules allow.
2. hitpoints under 50%, you need medic kit to heal, or magic
3. hitpoints down to 0, you heal at slow rate of 1/7 days, or with magic.

 

[Maxperson]

After reading D&D 5e damage rules I concluded thus far:
Hitpoints 50% to 100%

• Describe fatigue from blocking and dodging attacks, you have not been really hit yet.

Hitpoints 0% to 50%

• Describe bruises you have gotten, next day you have a lot of bruises in your body.

Hitpoints 0

• Someone knocked you out, this is the first point where you have gotten some real damage.

All damage, slashing, bruising and piercing is actually bruising damage, same for magic. D6D is a PG-13 reality, nobody gets serious damage, or bleeds.
Death= serious coma, you seem dead, but are not.

Bleeding -> doesn't exist.

Even "reality rules" that slow down healing in DMG make healing pretty fast considering it's only bruising.

Read the sidebar from page 197 of the PHB. I'll quote the relevant part below.

"When you drop below half your hit point maximum, you show signs of wear, such as cuts and bruises."

That right there proves that more than bruising happens at 1-49%. You also get cuts, and cuts bleed. They just don't bleed enough to threaten your life like the serious cuts that happen when a PC hits 0. It also shows that piercing and slashing damage do puncture the skin and do more than bruise PCs. Same with spells.

 

[Artturi Laitakari]

Read the sidebar from page 197 of the PHB. I'll quote the relevant part below.

"When you drop below half your hit point maximum, you show signs of wear, such as cuts and bruises."

That right there proves that more than bruising happens at 1-49%. You also get cuts, and cuts bleed. They just don't bleed enough to threaten your life like the serious cuts that happen when a PC hits 0. It also shows that piercing and slashing damage do puncture the skin and do more than bruise PCs. Same with spells.

Yes, that was my idea generally, you get bruised and at worst, get minor cuts, but nothing you expect from a knife fight.

 

[Mishihari Lord]

The OP is a reasonable interpretation of hit points. There are many others. I now predict a 1000+ post thread in which all of the arguments about hit point since the 1970s are rehashed, just 'cause that's what usually happens.

 

[Artturi Laitakari]

OP?

 

[Nagol]

OP?

In this case, original post. Otherwise can refer to original poster.

 

[Mercule]

Historically? You mean in one edition of the game?

Hey, my group dropped 4E almost as fast as we learned it. The "bloodied" idea is one of the very few things that we kept from it. It's a useful cognitive tool.

Note: that wasn't the only nice thing 4E brought to the party. I'm not bashing the game. We were pretty burned out on fantasy, at that point, too.