Cure x Wounds - Explain this

[jasper]

last action hero guys

Your friend is a hero! Not an extra.
A first level the 38 kills or puts in the hostipal. By the 5 th sequel aka 5 th level
he knows the assassin in the closet.
At 5th level the extras are dead and Arnold is missing his shirt, strached and breathless.

 

[Clint]

This still doesn't explain how the fighter lived through four times as much damage as he could at 1st level.

Because the fighter didn't take four times as much damage. HPs are not your flesh getting tougher, they describe the ability to live through things that would kill other people. So, likely the fighter deflected/dodged/willed/whatever the axe away from hitting anything vital. It's not as if he stood there and took four full connections to his torso, the same way that the 1st level fighter would.

In my game, we describe all damage as "nearly taking the head off" or "drawing blood" until the hit that lays a foe low, which is a solid connection. Two fighters will nick and slam each other, not really connecting with a lethal blow until one of them has 5hp, and then doesn't get out of the way of the last swing, which is really severely described.

 

[Numion]

This still doesn't explain how the fighter lived through four times as much damage as he could at 1st level.

How do you explain then for example Muhammed Ali? Surely he couldn't take as much beating when he first entered the gym, than say when he was the champion?

 

[John Quixote]

Wow, calling hit points "fatigue points" really prevented a huge bout with confusion on my part...

 

[Geron Raveneye]

Hmmm...

...you know...essentially, it makes sense, even. Hit Points represent the amount of hits (with a certain damage rating) that are needed to bring your character down. They also represent the ability to soak up damage, endure pain and keep going. This ability goes up with levels, as the experiences of fights and taking hits strengthens your character to do those things.

A 1st level fighter, with not much fighting experience and not much tolerance for wounds and pain, takes a hit from an axe. He takes it more or less in one big wound, and it gives him a great amount of pain, enough to nearly disable him combined with the wound itself. His friend the cleric casts "Cure Light Wounds" on him, closing the wound nearly completely, and assuaging the pain it caused.

A 5th level fighter is able to better "distribute" the hits all over his body through experience instead of taking it on one central point. Like that, the damage is less threatening and more widespread. It´s still the same amount of damage, and of pain, but our fighter is better able to minimize the threat to his life and to stand the pain. After the fight, he´s healed by his friend again, with a CLW. The spell still heals the same amount of damage as it did before, and stills the pain...but this time, the amount of damage it heals wasn´t as threatening to the fighter´s life anymore, and the pain he was more used to.

How´s that sound?

 

[Codragon]

Because the fighter didn't take four times as much damage. HPs are not your flesh getting tougher, they describe the ability to live through things that would kill other people. So, likely the fighter deflected/dodged/willed/whatever the axe away from hitting anything vital.

But then how can the various cure wounds spells heal blows that were deflected/dodged/willed? If extra hit points at high levels partially mean dodging-ability/rolling-with-punches/sheer-luck/etc., then how in the heck do you explain cure spells that heal the sword swing that you "dodged"?

You don't. It's part of the abstraction of a hit point system. Does it make D&D an unrealistic game? Sure. Does it make D&D a bad game? Heck no! All my friends realize this! There is no worry about realism when it comes to hp! It's just an accepted, unrealistic, fun measure of how close you are to death.

If you want to change this in your game, try it! Use Ken Hood's rules or mmadsen's suggestion to make HP scaling slower and AC scaling faster. For those of that have tried things like these, how did they go?

 

[Geron Raveneye]

But then how can the various cure wounds spells heal blows that were deflected/dodge/willed? If extra hit points at high levels partially mean dodging ability/rolling-with-punches/sheer-luck/etc., then how in the heck do you explain cure spells that heal the sword swing that you "dodged"?

It doesn´t...you didn´t dodge the sword, it did connect. Dodging attacks is dealt with by Dex modifiers to AC and various feats.
You jsut know better how to deal with the damage dealt than taking it as one great gushing arm wound.

 

[Henry]

Amen, Codragon.

The best way to look at hit points is as overall damage. To think about exactly what a "hit point" is too much is to violate Hong's third Law. It is a measure of gumption, will, muscle pull from dodging the blow that wasn't possible to dodge, the long scar on the pro that would have been a deep cut on a rookie, and general ability to keep going after all punishment.

I used to do this years ago, but I would nowadays never describe being at one hit point out of 50 as "horrible gaping wounds." If someone had that, they would DIE without medical attention. Instead, they look like anybody would who had been through the wringer, but would recover with a good shower, hot meal, and plenty of bed rest. They might have a light sprain; they might have a nasty cut. They might hurt like hell all over. But they'll live.

 

[Thorvald Kviksverd]

Just posted this over in another thread.

First, a little semantic sleight of hand...

Instead of Hit Points, call them Hero Points.

Now, since healing magic is divine in nature, it can be viewed as restoring divine favor, supernatural luck, etc. faster than is otherwise possible. (In other words, you can use up your store of luck, and the powers that be are not always particularly prompt in replacing it.)

Actual serious physical damage would still be represented by the last few HPs, and anything beyond the 1st HD or so would be a result of the character's heroic luck, divine providence, or what have you.

As another possible benefit, if you dislike high HP totals in your campaign, you could allow Hero Points to be useful for something other than simply absorbing "damage"--perhaps allowing characters to choose to burn a little of their luck in order to make crucial skill rolls or saves. This would help to deflate some of the more extreme HP totals I think--while still giving the character some benefit for having them to begin with (as opposed to simply reducing them, or choosing to up the damage of attacks vs the characters).

 

[Ashrem Bayle]

Here is another way to do it.

1st level fighter - The character is pretty new to combat in general. He hasn't fought many battles or taken many wounds. The sight of someone dieing still bothers him.

5th level fighter - The character has seen his share of combat. He has taken serious and maybe even potentially fatal wounds and survived. He has become cold and jaded to the sight of death on the battlefield. Many of those deaths may have been his allies.

What does this mean? Well, maybe it's the nature of the magic. The healing power of a Cure spell works better on those who aren't so emotionally scarred.

The high level character has become harder and his scars are deeper. Because of his experiances, he has a hard time getting his body and mind to relax enough for the magic to be effective. More powerful spells are needed to overcome this.