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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Kahuna Burger" data-source="post: 4080017" data-attributes="member: 8439">This is why I asked about DR earlier. Hp were claimed to be abstract in 3e as well (it's been the fluff of every edition) but the DR rules list two fluff ways of description, both of which depend on a wound which should have caused physical damage. More importantly, it explicitly says "in either case, the opponent knows the attack was ineffective". So the mechanics of DR depend on a hp model in which not only in a hit a hit and damage damage, but a 15 hp hit is distinguishable both visually and as you deliver it from a 5 hp hit. This is not a "corner case", this is a mechanic which can come up as early as 1st level and can be reasonably be expected to come up in any adventure. Heck, in my tenth level party, 3 of the PCs could potentially have damage reduction in a given fight. I don't particularly have anything against an abstract hp model, in the abstract as it were, but the entire system must be built around the assumption and make sense with it, rather than the "but it's abstract!" flavor excuse being thrown on the top to explain a couple of mechanics while it directly contradicts others.</blockquote>