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<blockquote data-quote="Hussar" data-source="post: 8616848" data-attributes="member: 22779">Oh, I absolutely agree that it's a spectrum.&nbsp; And, I think part of it is intent of the game.&nbsp; Looking at mechanics in isolation doesn't particularly help in judging the game's intent as a whole.Thinking about HP though, I'd say that HP are probably one of the most successful game mechanics ever designed.&nbsp; I mean, think about it this way.&nbsp; Pretty much any game, board game, RPG, video game, you name it, that features single person combat against other individuals uses HP.&nbsp; Everything from FPS and RTS games, loads of RPG's, both table and CRPG's, on and on.&nbsp; You see HP (or some variant of them) used all over the place.&nbsp; I honestly am struggling to think of a more universally popular mechanic that has spread across so many different games.&nbsp; So, I mean, its undeniable that HP are a fantastic mechanic.&nbsp; If they didn't work, you wouldn't see them all over the place.OTOH, you know where you don't see HP mechanics?&nbsp; Simulation games.&nbsp; <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin&nbsp; &nbsp; :D"&nbsp; data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" />&nbsp; I don't recall any sort of HP mechanics in my Flight Simulator games.&nbsp; Or driving sim games (although more combat oriented driving games might) and that sort of thing.&nbsp; I don't measure wing stress on my F-22 raptor in a high-G turn in terms of HP - although I can certainly rip the wings off the plane if I want to. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin&nbsp; &nbsp; :D"&nbsp; data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" />HP are fantastic at what they do - give you just enough to make it interesting without bogging down in too many details.&nbsp; And, most people are quite happy making horsey noises while their knight takes the pawn.&nbsp; We all narrate combat.&nbsp; I've never been to a D&amp;D table that didn't narrate hits to some degree.&nbsp; Watch any Live Play and you'll see the same thing.&nbsp; We all do it.&nbsp; And, by and large, we ignore the inconsistencies, because it's fun.&nbsp; So, it's absolutely not necessary to have HP be a sim mechanic.&nbsp; They really aren't meant to be sim mechanics.&nbsp; Games that lean on the sim side generally don't use them, or use more complex versions of them because you need that complexity to generate enough information to be able to definitively state X and not Y.&nbsp; As far as D&amp;D goes, no one cares.&nbsp; That I can narrate combat damage one way and you can narrate the exact same circumstances completely differently, and even contradictorily doesn't matter.&nbsp; The table is happy and we move on.&nbsp; You can either generate information or you can have speed of play.&nbsp; You can't have both.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Hussar, post: 8616848, member: 22779"] Oh, I absolutely agree that it's a spectrum. And, I think part of it is intent of the game. Looking at mechanics in isolation doesn't particularly help in judging the game's intent as a whole. Thinking about HP though, I'd say that HP are probably one of the most successful game mechanics ever designed. I mean, think about it this way. Pretty much any game, board game, RPG, video game, you name it, that features single person combat against other individuals uses HP. Everything from FPS and RTS games, loads of RPG's, both table and CRPG's, on and on. You see HP (or some variant of them) used all over the place. I honestly am struggling to think of a more universally popular mechanic that has spread across so many different games. So, I mean, its undeniable that HP are a fantastic mechanic. If they didn't work, you wouldn't see them all over the place. OTOH, you know where you don't see HP mechanics? Simulation games. :D I don't recall any sort of HP mechanics in my Flight Simulator games. Or driving sim games (although more combat oriented driving games might) and that sort of thing. I don't measure wing stress on my F-22 raptor in a high-G turn in terms of HP - although I can certainly rip the wings off the plane if I want to. :D HP are fantastic at what they do - give you just enough to make it interesting without bogging down in too many details. And, most people are quite happy making horsey noises while their knight takes the pawn. We all narrate combat. I've never been to a D&D table that didn't narrate hits to some degree. Watch any Live Play and you'll see the same thing. We all do it. And, by and large, we ignore the inconsistencies, because it's fun. So, it's absolutely not necessary to have HP be a sim mechanic. They really aren't meant to be sim mechanics. Games that lean on the sim side generally don't use them, or use more complex versions of them because you need that complexity to generate enough information to be able to definitively state X and not Y. As far as D&D goes, no one cares. That I can narrate combat damage one way and you can narrate the exact same circumstances completely differently, and even contradictorily doesn't matter. The table is happy and we move on. You can either generate information or you can have speed of play. You can't have both. [/QUOTE]

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