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Message: <blockquote data-quote="thecasualoblivion" data-source="post: 4545255" data-attributes="member: 59096">I think this is the key undercurrent of things. Wargame vs. Action Film. 4E has certainly embraced the 'action film' interpretation of HP fully, there is no doubt about that. The thing is, I would argue that 3E used the traditional 'wargame framework' from earlier D&D, but thanks to the economics of the good old Curestick(Wand of CLW/Lesser Vigor), ended up being more 'action film' in practice. I would guess that most 3E games utilized the curesticks to play like an 'action film' in terms of HP, even if the actual mechanics said otherwise. This created an awkward situation where the mechanics of HP thematically were contrary to how most people played the game.The whole resting to regain HP was good in theory, but in practice how much did it really happen? Curative magic, either from items or from characters, is fairly constant in D&D. It bogged down the game(1e-3e) to lack magical healing, and this being a social game in most cases somebody either chose to play or was pressured into playing a class that could heal. Again, while pretty to read and hold in your head for 'immersion' purposes, these were primarily rules that most people bypassed(either via healers or curesticks) to play the game they wanted to play. The mechanics should represent how the game is being played, and that was not the case during 3E. The treatment of HP you describe may have existed in AD&D, but 3E killed it in practice, if not in theory. What 4E has done is simply to give mechanics to represent how the majority of people actually play D&D, and not some treasured ideal. If nothing else, if 4E actually has damaged the "feel" of D&D in terms of HP in the majority of the community(and IMO this is not true), the fact that the game is playable without a character devoted to healing combined with classes like the Warlord who let you fully fulfill that role without being forced to play a Cleric more than makes up for it.</blockquote>

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