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Are Hit Points Meat? (Redux): D&D Co-Creator Saw Hit Points Very Differently
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<blockquote data-quote="Mannahnin" data-source="post: 8436781" data-attributes="member: 7026594"><p>Right. And this is why the system Dave Arneson was advocating for was also fundamentally not going to do what D&D does. If both an 8th level superhero and a 1st level neophyte can be killed by one sword blow, but the difference is just that on any given round the neophyte is 40% likely and the superhero is 5% likely to suffer that blow, it makes it harder to make smart decisions or observe a changing game-state of increasing danger as a combat goes on. The hero may simply get unlucky and die in the first round.</p><p></p><p>Hit points allow the game state to change over time observably- my hero is being worn down, suffering small wounds, and after a couple of hits I can SEE that one more lucky shot will kill him, and it's time to run! This mechanic enables meaningful decisions in play. OR, if I judge that the party is in desperate need and I can't afford to run, everyone at the table can similarly SEE that this is a dramatic decision- Harbard the Hero is on his last legs, but has decided to stay and try to save Connor the Cleric rather than back off and save his own skin.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>This is true, but on a side note, his point applies directly to the Weapon vs. Armor to hit adjustment chart from Greyhawk and 1E AD&D. In Chainmail the to-hit target number encapsulates both hit and damage. Any successful hit means one serious enough to disable or kill. When D&D added hit points, creating the weapon vs. AC chart to import basically the same modifiers from Chainmail into D&D became, to some extent, double-dipping.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Mannahnin, post: 8436781, member: 7026594"] Right. And this is why the system Dave Arneson was advocating for was also fundamentally not going to do what D&D does. If both an 8th level superhero and a 1st level neophyte can be killed by one sword blow, but the difference is just that on any given round the neophyte is 40% likely and the superhero is 5% likely to suffer that blow, it makes it harder to make smart decisions or observe a changing game-state of increasing danger as a combat goes on. The hero may simply get unlucky and die in the first round. Hit points allow the game state to change over time observably- my hero is being worn down, suffering small wounds, and after a couple of hits I can SEE that one more lucky shot will kill him, and it's time to run! This mechanic enables meaningful decisions in play. OR, if I judge that the party is in desperate need and I can't afford to run, everyone at the table can similarly SEE that this is a dramatic decision- Harbard the Hero is on his last legs, but has decided to stay and try to save Connor the Cleric rather than back off and save his own skin. This is true, but on a side note, his point applies directly to the Weapon vs. Armor to hit adjustment chart from Greyhawk and 1E AD&D. In Chainmail the to-hit target number encapsulates both hit and damage. Any successful hit means one serious enough to disable or kill. When D&D added hit points, creating the weapon vs. AC chart to import basically the same modifiers from Chainmail into D&D became, to some extent, double-dipping. [/QUOTE]
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Are Hit Points Meat? (Redux): D&D Co-Creator Saw Hit Points Very Differently
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