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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Scurvy_Platypus" data-source="post: 5489680" data-attributes="member: 43283">Yeah, I'm another one that _seriously_ dislikes Ability damage/drain. While other folks think it adds all sorts of great whatever to their game, all it adds to mine is annoyances.I go with the "add a penalty equal to the damage" option and call it good. In certain instances I might add a "hit point kicker" to it as well; either a flat 5 hit points of damage or 10 hit points, depending on several factors. The damage is actual damage though, so simply healing up the ability damage doesn't heal the hit point damage.Conversely, it means that the damage _can_ be healed, even if the ability damage can't be sorted out at that time. But like I said, the hit point damage thing is an optional deal and not the "standard" way I deal with stuff.I've thought about condition track stuff before, but I'm honestly not convinced it really brings a benefit to the table; instead, it just seems to be swapping out one set of problems with another. A simple penalty to all actions hits the balance for me between fiddly and doing something other than pure hit point damage.Although to be honest... given how everyone constantly goes on about hit points being an "abstract measurement of many different factors, not just 'wound points'" there's not a whole lot of reason to _not_ just use hit point damage. Since most folks claim they're "abstract" (despite having spells that cure HP... how do you heal uneven footing?) they should be perfectly fine with simply whacking chunks of HP each time ability drain/damage is done.Just carving out a flat amount of damage (ability drain is 5 HP, level drain is 10 HP) would be the simplest approach there is. But I don't especially care for arguments about how "realistic" that is, since so many things in D&D are abstracted out anyway; so my views are certainly a minority.</blockquote>

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