D&D 5E What is one hp of damage in real life?
Rune
Once A Fool
One fourth of a cat scratch?
Immoralkickass
Adventurer
Shower thought: If a human commoner has 4 hp, 1 hp is 25% of the total hp. Doesn't sound like a papercut now huh.
Laurefindel
Legend
a punch in the face
a solid headache
an good asthma attack (followed by 1 level of exhaustion)
getting your hand caught in the door
slipping and falling on the icy sidewalk during winter
a kid running full-speed into your groin (might be gender specific)
the first day of your period (also gender specific)
that one-too-many drink after the poisoned condition has kicked-in
a belly flat from the 5-foot diving board at the pool
going down a ski hill above your skill level (and everything it implies)
a slightly too enthusiastic check during a hockey game
playing rugby
Lucy pulling the football from Charlie's kick (i suspect Lucy gets a temporary hit point out of it...)
that stupid dare you shouldn't have done
a solid headache
an good asthma attack (followed by 1 level of exhaustion)
getting your hand caught in the door
slipping and falling on the icy sidewalk during winter
a kid running full-speed into your groin (might be gender specific)
the first day of your period (also gender specific)
that one-too-many drink after the poisoned condition has kicked-in
a belly flat from the 5-foot diving board at the pool
going down a ski hill above your skill level (and everything it implies)
a slightly too enthusiastic check during a hockey game
playing rugby
Lucy pulling the football from Charlie's kick (i suspect Lucy gets a temporary hit point out of it...)
that stupid dare you shouldn't have done
Garthanos
Arcadian Knight
Charlequin tags it ...
Flamestrike
Legend
Seeing as HP include 'luck, resolve, the will to live' and are influenced by skill and fighting ability, losing HP is as simple as:
- Unluckily getting hit by an arrow, when the 20th level Fighter next to you got missed (although both of you mechanically were hit and take damage)
- zigging when you should have zagged
- Narrowly avoiding getting hit by a punch
- parrying or blocking a killing blow
- bullets hitting your plate carrier
- Tiring during a boxing match
- Struggling to push on in the face of adversity
opacitizen
Explorer
This, absolutely, and not as a joke, obviously. HP is an abstraction, and will mean different things to different characters. In general, full HP is practically a measure of how far away your character is from becoming unable to act because of physical injuries and/or stress etc; and a given single HP of your character is a the smallest fraction/unit your character can measurably come closer to becoming unable to act for the above reasons.
Sacrosanct
Legend
Thank god you're not a level 1 AD&D character, that could have killed you!
As an aside, my first PC was a level 1 B/X cleric who had one hp. My brother, the DM, asked me which direction I wanted to go out of one of the first rooms in Palace of the Silver Princess. The module was between us on the ground, so my left was his right, but as kids apparently we didn't grasp that concept. Because when I said "left" (the door to me), his left was the wall. He said, "you run into the wall and take 1 hp damage. Oh, that kills you? Dang, that sucks."
That's what 1 hp is...
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