describing attacks?

[Sravoff]

any one have trouble describing the attack of ther dragons claw unto a 20th level fighter? The claw is like three times his size and he takes maybe around 1/4 his hp from it. Any normal human would have ben riped apart liek twenty times by that attack.

Things like "you are deeply cut on you arm" or "Their is now a huge gap in your chest" just don't seem to work.

Any one?

-Sravoff

 

[Sgain]

I guess its just one of those problems with hitpoint based systems...we know that in reality the person would be squashed like a bug, but due to their level/based hps are only slightly wounded. I usually put this down to the higher level fighter being better at avoiding the full impact of a blow.

Here's an example;

The dragon slashes out at Bjorn (a 8th level fighter) and crushes him against the rocky floor of the cave, instantly rendering him into a bleeding mass of broken bone and exposed organs. With a roar it snaps at Kalador (a 12th level fighter) and he is just barely able to escape the full force of the massive jaws by twisting at the last moment.

Hit points are more like 'luck points' when you think about it. They aren't based upon your characters size or bodytype, but upon your skills and I guess luck in battle. Sometimes I try to be creative with them, other times I just say "though you would have been spit like a pig, the rapier instead has carved a painful wound across your side" and that sort of thing.

I've played systems that describe in intimate detail every type of injury...and it does really slow the flow of the battle down....try and find a happy medium.

cya
Sgain

 

[Enkhidu]

Remember that hp aren't necessarily about actually being struck. For a dragon, something like "You shift your body as the dragon's claws slam down, threading the needle between his claws. A few more shots like that and your luck is going to run out."

 

[Sravoff]

Ah.. Much better way to look at it.

Thanks!

-Sravoff

 

[DragonTurtle]

And the great paradox...

The first level fighter was impaled by the kobolds arrow, requiring the priest to cast a simple first level spell to bring him back from the brink of death.

"With a roar it snaps at Kalador (a 12th level fighter) and he is just barely able to escape the full force of the massive jaws by twisting at the last moment. " and the 12th level cleric uses the most powerful of their granted magic, the heal spell to bring the fighter back from his flesh wound.

Curious to know how to work around that if hitpoints equal luck and such. Not that I disagree with the idea that hitpoints represent more than how many times you can be hit with a sword. Just don't know how to reconcile that with healing magic.

 

[Sravoff]

well.. rules are rules are rules.....and they work... so...well thats it rerally...they work.

-Sravoff

 

[Sgain]

Hitpoints has always been the bane and boon of D&D. They are simple in concept, but difficult in reality to explain. Spells that affect hitpoints are also difficult. I wish that the system didn't rely on them but it does, so we have to either make rules up that don't use them, or grit our teeth and make do with what we have. I tend to grit the teeth...and make do.

It is fun though to describe injuries and such..I usually do it only for critical hits and misses.

cya
Sgain

 

[Beowolf]

this whole quandry is something i have thought about myself buit in the end i like to use a sort of combined method. usually the hits are minor, just a few hp so they would get a decription like "he slashes you in the arm but your armor defends agains serious harm" or if the charachter is a dodgey type like a monk it would be along the lines of " the goblin stabs for your stomach but you evade at the last moment and suffer XX hp" this works all well and good for lower level play but what about the examples above, a massive dragon can destroy any normal person with ease. dragons and other higher cr monsters are much harder to rationalize surviving their attacks. how i prefer to handle such fantastic challengese is to describe heroic and fantastic characters.. e.g. " the dragon lunges at you and catches you in its mighty jaws. you feel intense pressure and feel like you are being crushed but your magical armor holds out and the creature releses you to the ground winded" or even "the orc general impales you with his spear and blood begins to stain your clothing, through determination you still stand and fight" things along that nature. terrible attacks withstood by awsome heros. by sheer will , amazing reflexes , divine protection, magical defence or whatnot D&D heros are powerfull themselves so as to confront powerfull foes.

 

[Liquidsabre]

And the great paradox...

The first level fighter was impaled by the kobolds arrow, requiring the priest to cast a simple first level spell to bring him back from the brink of death.

"With a roar it snaps at Kalador (a 12th level fighter) and he is just barely able to escape the full force of the massive jaws by twisting at the last moment. " and the 12th level cleric uses the most powerful of their granted magic, the heal spell to bring the fighter back from his flesh wound.

Curious to know how to work around that if hitpoints equal luck and such. Not that I disagree with the idea that hitpoints represent more than how many times you can be hit with a sword. Just don't know how to reconcile that with healing magic.

Sweat soaked, Kalador gulps air as he falls back towards Lorander, a mighty priest of helm, limping from a torn ligament and cradling his badly bruised arm (lost 1/3 hit points). Rapidly murmuring a prayer to his god, Lorander reaches out to touch Kalador's shoulder. A blue glow flows from the priest's hands to encompass Kalador, it's touch removing all the weariness in his muscles, cooling his burning joints, and soothing away the bone-deep bruises. Kalador could feel his full vitality restored, as if he had rested for days.

"Glad you kept one of your powerful cures at-the-ready my friend."

"By the size of this beast, you'll need more of my help soon enough. Duck!"

*WOOSH!* [They both duck as a dragon tail lashes by, thundering into a nearby cavern wall.]

Hit points represent a character's ability to turn a hit into a near miss. Loss of hit points can be any manner you can devise that would debilitate a character's ability to do this. Just as a loss of a significant portion of HPs can be represented by loss of energy, exhaustion, muscle fatigue, bad bruises, ripped ligaments, torn tendons, bone fractures, small cuts, lacerations, and other more severe conditions (bleeding, stab wounds, etc.) - so can cure spells and such restore the body's energy, mend torn muscles, take away bruises, etc. It's just that higher level characters can take alot more of this sort of abuse than lower level characters.

 

[Sravoff]

Thanks every one, thsi has helped a tramendous amount! Now I needn't worry. Thanks again!

-Sravoff