Mike Sullivan
First Post
Hit points are the real sticking point of D&D for me, and the reason why I end up using different systems for many of my games. I don't really want to open up the debate about whether or not hitpoints are a "good" mechanic -- sometimes I like 'em, and sometimes I don't.
This is my latest attempt to get a somewhat more " ' " ' realistic ' " ' " damage system into D&D, without making the entire system unrecognizable.
Hit Points and Dodge Points
At first level, determine your hit points as normal. These hit points do not increase over the course of the game, unless your Constitution raises, or you take a feat or other ability which adds hit points.
For example: Shan is a Cleric with a 14 Constitution. Her hit points at first level are 8 + 2 = 10.
Hit points are treated totally normally. If you lose them, they don't come back until you're healed, etc.
Dodge Points
After first level, you get dodge points (dp) instead of hit points. You get the same number of dodge point as you would get hit points in the vanilla system. Dodge points represent your character's last-ditch efforts to avoid a blow -- a heroic dodge, or turning with the blow so that it glances off your armor, or even sheer, dumb luck, like your opponent stumbling at the last minute.
Dodge points are used to avoid damage. When your character is attacked, after your opponent has rolled a hit, and confirmed their threshold or whatever but before they actually roll damage, you nominate a number of dodge points that you're committing to avoiding the attack. Then, your opponent rolls damage, and subtracts from their roll the number of dodge points that you committed. Dodge point expenditure can reduce the damage of an attack to zero, but not below zero.
If dodge point expenditure reduces the damage of an attack to zero, then the attack never quite lands. This means that incidental effects from the attack (for example, poisoning) do not occur.
If you are attacked by a spell that requires a saving throw, you resolve your saving throw before deciding how many dodge points to commit to defending against the spell.
If you have DR of any kind, the DR stacks with your dodge point expenditure -- for example, if you have a DR of 3/- and spend 5 dp on an attack, subtract 8 from the total damage of the attack before applying it to your hit points.
Recovering Dodge Points
Your lowering total of dodge points represents a physical and psychic wearying -- you become both less able to physically get out of the way of attacks, and less able to notice when you ought to. However, rest quickly restores Dodge Points -- they recover at a rate of your 1 + your Con bonus (minimum 1) per half hour of rest or light exertion (ie, walking, talking, or the like). They do not return while you remain tense and angry.
A spellcaster using a Cure spell may choose to use it to recover hit points or dodge points, but not both. In the case of recovering dodge, it represents both an easing of fatiuge, and the sense of peace granted by the favor of a deity.
Example of Dodge Point Usage
Aren is a 3rd level Fighter with a 12 Constitution. His hit points are 11 (from first level), and he has 14 dp (from his 2nd and 3rd level advancements). Aren is fighting an Orc with a 14 Str and a Greataxe, who does 1d12 + 3 damage.
When Aren is first hit by the Orc, Aren underestimates the damage potential of the Orc, and spends only 5 dp to avoid the attack. The Orc rolls damage, and gets a 4, plus 3 is 7. Subtracting 5 from this yields 2 hp damage, so Aren takes a minor wound (reducing current hp to 9), and also has lost dp (bringing him down to 9 dp).
Aren is hit by the Orc again, and this time Aren spends 7 dp to prevent damage from the attack. The Orc rolls a 6, plus 3 is 9, and Aren again takes a 2 point wound from the Orc. His hp total is now 7, and his dp total is 2. Aren had better kill the Orc before it attacks again!
Pro's & Con's
I've played with this system. What I like about it is that the resullts from it seem "right." A lot of attacks miss the PC's entirely, and those that hit do quantifiably small wounds. There's none of the "death of a thousand cuts" sense that high level D&D often has, where a high level fighter will literally be wounded dozens of times on a routine basis. Unlike a more conventional vp/hp split, it also doesn't suffer the problem that low level characters can totally unload into a high level character without ever once hitting (since small scratches are common in this system). There's also a sense of tension, especially the first few times an opponent hits, before you have a good feel for how much damage they do, and you're guessing on the dp expenditures. The system also nicely seems to handle some conceptual failings that hit points have in terms of things like poison delivery and healing. The fast recovery of dp allows more of a sense that high level characters really aren't being heavily wounded in each fight, but there is still a sense that a fight consumes some resources.
The big downside, for me, is the extra step in combat. It really slows things down, especially for me as the GM. Ultimately, the effect on play is fairly small, so I'm not sure that I'd bother with it next time I play D&D. Nevertheless, I thought I'd present it here as it is, for all its failings, the best I've yet found in terms of shoring up my problems with hp without totally rewriting the game.
This is my latest attempt to get a somewhat more " ' " ' realistic ' " ' " damage system into D&D, without making the entire system unrecognizable.
Hit Points and Dodge Points
At first level, determine your hit points as normal. These hit points do not increase over the course of the game, unless your Constitution raises, or you take a feat or other ability which adds hit points.
For example: Shan is a Cleric with a 14 Constitution. Her hit points at first level are 8 + 2 = 10.
Hit points are treated totally normally. If you lose them, they don't come back until you're healed, etc.
Dodge Points
After first level, you get dodge points (dp) instead of hit points. You get the same number of dodge point as you would get hit points in the vanilla system. Dodge points represent your character's last-ditch efforts to avoid a blow -- a heroic dodge, or turning with the blow so that it glances off your armor, or even sheer, dumb luck, like your opponent stumbling at the last minute.
Dodge points are used to avoid damage. When your character is attacked, after your opponent has rolled a hit, and confirmed their threshold or whatever but before they actually roll damage, you nominate a number of dodge points that you're committing to avoiding the attack. Then, your opponent rolls damage, and subtracts from their roll the number of dodge points that you committed. Dodge point expenditure can reduce the damage of an attack to zero, but not below zero.
If dodge point expenditure reduces the damage of an attack to zero, then the attack never quite lands. This means that incidental effects from the attack (for example, poisoning) do not occur.
If you are attacked by a spell that requires a saving throw, you resolve your saving throw before deciding how many dodge points to commit to defending against the spell.
If you have DR of any kind, the DR stacks with your dodge point expenditure -- for example, if you have a DR of 3/- and spend 5 dp on an attack, subtract 8 from the total damage of the attack before applying it to your hit points.
Recovering Dodge Points
Your lowering total of dodge points represents a physical and psychic wearying -- you become both less able to physically get out of the way of attacks, and less able to notice when you ought to. However, rest quickly restores Dodge Points -- they recover at a rate of your 1 + your Con bonus (minimum 1) per half hour of rest or light exertion (ie, walking, talking, or the like). They do not return while you remain tense and angry.
A spellcaster using a Cure spell may choose to use it to recover hit points or dodge points, but not both. In the case of recovering dodge, it represents both an easing of fatiuge, and the sense of peace granted by the favor of a deity.
Example of Dodge Point Usage
Aren is a 3rd level Fighter with a 12 Constitution. His hit points are 11 (from first level), and he has 14 dp (from his 2nd and 3rd level advancements). Aren is fighting an Orc with a 14 Str and a Greataxe, who does 1d12 + 3 damage.
When Aren is first hit by the Orc, Aren underestimates the damage potential of the Orc, and spends only 5 dp to avoid the attack. The Orc rolls damage, and gets a 4, plus 3 is 7. Subtracting 5 from this yields 2 hp damage, so Aren takes a minor wound (reducing current hp to 9), and also has lost dp (bringing him down to 9 dp).
Aren is hit by the Orc again, and this time Aren spends 7 dp to prevent damage from the attack. The Orc rolls a 6, plus 3 is 9, and Aren again takes a 2 point wound from the Orc. His hp total is now 7, and his dp total is 2. Aren had better kill the Orc before it attacks again!
Pro's & Con's
I've played with this system. What I like about it is that the resullts from it seem "right." A lot of attacks miss the PC's entirely, and those that hit do quantifiably small wounds. There's none of the "death of a thousand cuts" sense that high level D&D often has, where a high level fighter will literally be wounded dozens of times on a routine basis. Unlike a more conventional vp/hp split, it also doesn't suffer the problem that low level characters can totally unload into a high level character without ever once hitting (since small scratches are common in this system). There's also a sense of tension, especially the first few times an opponent hits, before you have a good feel for how much damage they do, and you're guessing on the dp expenditures. The system also nicely seems to handle some conceptual failings that hit points have in terms of things like poison delivery and healing. The fast recovery of dp allows more of a sense that high level characters really aren't being heavily wounded in each fight, but there is still a sense that a fight consumes some resources.
The big downside, for me, is the extra step in combat. It really slows things down, especially for me as the GM. Ultimately, the effect on play is fairly small, so I'm not sure that I'd bother with it next time I play D&D. Nevertheless, I thought I'd present it here as it is, for all its failings, the best I've yet found in terms of shoring up my problems with hp without totally rewriting the game.
