What is it like in general?As others have said, there is a system that does exactly this, it's called numenera/cypher system
A few months ago, I came across a Dungeon World hack that was designed for Kids and people new to RPGs
The "Dungeons RPG" free download can be found HERE . It has proven itself in providing a non intimidating RPG experience for my wife and young daughter where other games such as very basic versions of D&D have failed. But on to the main point-
In "Dungeons"- Hit Points are not just traditional hit points but are also "effort" used to fuel die rolls, spells, etc. For example-. The spellcasters have "at wills" but spend hit points to fuel more powerful spells. Fighters can spend a HP to fuel great feats of strength , or a Thief on "sneaky" abilities (and the HP provides a bonus to the roll that will eliminate complete failure). Druids spend a HP to shapeshift, etc etc.
Personally- in play I find it far more interesting than typical "resource management" like Vancian Casting, or per X rest, etc. It's much more simple, and the resource pool is much more valuable to players and raises the dramatic tension "I can spend a HP now to make sure I do X, but I'm going to be lower than I want for that fight I know is coming"
So what do folks think about a D&D game where class abilities/maneuvers/feats/stunts/ spells etc were all fueled by ONE easy to track resource- Hit Points? Then certainly the "idea" of hit points as drive/luck/endurance and their loss and quick return upon resting would make compete sense in the context of the game (though the term "hit" still does not).
P.S- Happy New Year all!
You know, they did this with force users in the first wotc Star Wars, and I gotta say I didn’t enjoy it.
I think I’d prefer to have a resource like vitality, and then have getting taken out of a fight be totally parallel to that resource, or indeed any point resource.
that is, let vitality fuel action, and let injury, something like a condition track, and saves against being knocked out, fuel “taking hits”.
The more I think on it, the more I think, why use hit points for taking damage, in such a system?If you change the HP totals it doesn't have to be a death spiral. It would take some tinkering but I dont think it has to be the case, it just could be the case with poor design decisions. Other systems manage it just fine.
If you could spend the resource in question on defense then that could work, sure.The more I think on it, the more I think, why use hit points for taking damage, in such a system?
you get hit, you record that you’ve been hit. If you get hit by a stronger success (whatever that means in the system. In a dnd hack, it’d be a damage threshold?) you take an injury, and move down the condition track. If it’s a light hit, you move down the track every 3 hits. The end of the track is unconscious, at which point it works just like having 0hp.
You have three pools of "points" representing int, body and mind (I don't remember the names)
If you could spend the resource in question on defense then that could work, sure.