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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mengu" data-source="post: 4508280" data-attributes="member: 65726">Hit points are just an indication of how well you are fighting at any given point in time. If you are bloodied, it means you are not doing well in the fight and are about to be defeated unless you do something about it. This something could be words of encouragement from the inspiring warlord, spurring you on, or tips from the tactical warlord so you change your fighting style to buy you more time, or it could be the magic flowing from the devout cleric draining away your fatigue. If you ran out of hit points, you are defeated. Perhaps you blacked out, and all you can hear is the din of battle, when clear and powerful words of encouragement from the warlord can help you shake off the haze. Maybe you got the wind knocked out of you and a splash of water from the wizard's heal check will get you back into the fight. Or it could indeed be that you were gravely wounded and the magical energies from the cleric are closing your wounds. In previous editions, we've been conditioned to think of hit point loss as wounds. I'm trying to think of it now as one's ability to fight. Your offensive abilities are your attack bonus and damage bonus. Your defensive abilities are your defenses and hit points. Together, they define your fighting ability. There is nothing about wounds in that cycle. Wounds can simply be a tool for narrative.</blockquote>