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4e Healing was the best D&D healing
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<blockquote data-quote="Fanaelialae" data-source="post: 8051903" data-attributes="member: 53980"><p>The fact that not only has D&D ever modeled this, but that it has not even meaningfully attempted to, suggests to me that it's more likely that it is your interpretation (that someone with 100 HP at 1 HP has been beat to rat-scrat) is not the intended one. That isn't to say that you're wrong for wanting to interpret it that way. Just that, under scrutiny, it makes no logical sense that if someone can function as well a 1 HP as 100, that they can reasonably be interpreted near death.</p><p></p><p>4e's bloodied condition is, as you say, more than most editions have done to model it, sure. However, it's clear that bloodied is not intended to represent nearly dead, as it carries no actual penalties but rather simply functions as a trigger for various abilities, both good and bad. I actually still use bloodied in my 5e games, even though it has no mechanical impact in this edition. When an attack bloodies a creature, I describe it as being bloodied by that attack in some relatively minor way, and this clues in the players that the creature is about halfway to 0. Attacks before and after (which don't take it to 0) are described as attacks that should have hit but for a last second dodge, unless they carry an effect that requires contact in which case I describe it in a minimally injurious way.</p><p></p><p>The closest I can think of actual "nearly dead" status in D&D is (I think) from 1e (I might be mistaken though). IIRC, if a character goes to 0 HP and survives, and recovers without magical healing, they are out of commission until they are able to rest for an extended period of time. Going off of memory, they can follow their allies and speak, but can't fight or otherwise use any abilities, and if they receive even a single point of damage it automatically kills them outright. Note, however, that prior to going to 0 they are fully capable at 1 hp. It is only after recovering from 0 that they are beat to rat-scrat. Which logically implies that there are at least two different ways of defining 1 HP in the fiction of 1e (or whichever edition I'm thinking of). One where you haven't gone to 0 and are mostly fine (possibly a little worse for wear, but not in any way that should meaningfully impair you), and another where you went to 0 and are beat to rat-scrat and cannot meaningfully do much (you are seriously impaired).</p><p></p><p>If you want to institute penalties at 1/2, 1/4, and 1/10, that's up to you (and your table). However, the simpler solution (IMO) is to change how you describe a character at 1 HP, in which case such rules changes (and the death spiral that usually goes hand-in-hand such changes) become unnecessary. </p><p></p><p>"Do not try and bend the spoon, that's impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth...there is no spoon. Then you'll see that it is not the spoon that bends, it is only yourself." -Matrix <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" /></p><p></p><p>YMMV</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Fanaelialae, post: 8051903, member: 53980"] The fact that not only has D&D ever modeled this, but that it has not even meaningfully attempted to, suggests to me that it's more likely that it is your interpretation (that someone with 100 HP at 1 HP has been beat to rat-scrat) is not the intended one. That isn't to say that you're wrong for wanting to interpret it that way. Just that, under scrutiny, it makes no logical sense that if someone can function as well a 1 HP as 100, that they can reasonably be interpreted near death. 4e's bloodied condition is, as you say, more than most editions have done to model it, sure. However, it's clear that bloodied is not intended to represent nearly dead, as it carries no actual penalties but rather simply functions as a trigger for various abilities, both good and bad. I actually still use bloodied in my 5e games, even though it has no mechanical impact in this edition. When an attack bloodies a creature, I describe it as being bloodied by that attack in some relatively minor way, and this clues in the players that the creature is about halfway to 0. Attacks before and after (which don't take it to 0) are described as attacks that should have hit but for a last second dodge, unless they carry an effect that requires contact in which case I describe it in a minimally injurious way. The closest I can think of actual "nearly dead" status in D&D is (I think) from 1e (I might be mistaken though). IIRC, if a character goes to 0 HP and survives, and recovers without magical healing, they are out of commission until they are able to rest for an extended period of time. Going off of memory, they can follow their allies and speak, but can't fight or otherwise use any abilities, and if they receive even a single point of damage it automatically kills them outright. Note, however, that prior to going to 0 they are fully capable at 1 hp. It is only after recovering from 0 that they are beat to rat-scrat. Which logically implies that there are at least two different ways of defining 1 HP in the fiction of 1e (or whichever edition I'm thinking of). One where you haven't gone to 0 and are mostly fine (possibly a little worse for wear, but not in any way that should meaningfully impair you), and another where you went to 0 and are beat to rat-scrat and cannot meaningfully do much (you are seriously impaired). If you want to institute penalties at 1/2, 1/4, and 1/10, that's up to you (and your table). However, the simpler solution (IMO) is to change how you describe a character at 1 HP, in which case such rules changes (and the death spiral that usually goes hand-in-hand such changes) become unnecessary. "Do not try and bend the spoon, that's impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth...there is no spoon. Then you'll see that it is not the spoon that bends, it is only yourself." -Matrix ;) YMMV [/QUOTE]
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