Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="James Gasik" data-source="post: 8827537" data-attributes="member: 6877472">Believe me, I'm fully aware that hit points aren't meat.&nbsp; But they do represent the totality of one's &quot;staying power&quot;.&nbsp; The grit, guts, determination, stubborn resolve, morale, god's-given luck, and anything else that lets you minimize damage that doesn't have a dedicated mechanic (like resistance, Armor Class, and temporary hit points).&nbsp; But if one guy can erode your staying power more quickly than another, that's something people in-universe will notice.&nbsp; And come up with some way to describe.&nbsp; In both the examples of the Gladiator and the Draconic Sorcerer, we have very simple descriptions: one's a &quot;Brute&quot; and the other has &quot;Draconic Power&quot;.It comes down to this: either you see largely D&amp;D's narrative as being merely somewhat informed by the mechanics, and everything is sort of kind of abstract (so people really don't return to full fighting trim from the brink of death in 8 hours, and other strangeness), or you feel that the effects of the game's mechanics are actually observable in-universe to some degree.&nbsp; Most people fall somewhere in the middle on this, I'm sure, and I'm not advocating one over the other.&nbsp; But if a character, PC or NPC, has an ability that dramatically impacts the game world, then since this is a role-playing game, I fully feel that those who witness this ability in action know something unusual has gone on.&nbsp; Be it a Barbarian being twice as hard to take down in combat when they rage, a Rogue managing to completely escape the blast of a fireball, or a doughty gladiator doing the kind of damage one would expect from a large-sized opponent (and doing so in a way entirely different than Battlemaster Maneuvers or Barbarian Rage).Saying &quot;it's just how the game is, there doesn't need to be an explanation&quot; affects my ability to immerse myself in my role and just takes me out of the fantasy, and makes me all too cognizant of the fact that &quot;it's only a game&quot;.&nbsp; I don't care if you say &quot;no, your character doesn't actually see the Gladiator pick up a longsword and do 2d8 damage with it&quot;, just tell me what my character does witness, thanks.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="James Gasik, post: 8827537, member: 6877472"] Believe me, I'm fully aware that hit points aren't meat. But they do represent the totality of one's "staying power". The grit, guts, determination, stubborn resolve, morale, god's-given luck, and anything else that lets you minimize damage that doesn't have a dedicated mechanic (like resistance, Armor Class, and temporary hit points). But if one guy can erode your staying power more quickly than another, that's something people in-universe will notice. And come up with some way to describe. In both the examples of the Gladiator and the Draconic Sorcerer, we have very simple descriptions: one's a "Brute" and the other has "Draconic Power". It comes down to this: either you see largely D&D's narrative as being merely somewhat informed by the mechanics, and everything is sort of kind of abstract (so people really don't return to full fighting trim from the brink of death in 8 hours, and other strangeness), or you feel that the effects of the game's mechanics are actually observable in-universe to some degree. Most people fall somewhere in the middle on this, I'm sure, and I'm not advocating one over the other. But if a character, PC or NPC, has an ability that dramatically impacts the game world, then since this is a role-playing game, I fully feel that those who witness this ability in action know something unusual has gone on. Be it a Barbarian being twice as hard to take down in combat when they rage, a Rogue managing to completely escape the blast of a [I]fireball[/I], or a doughty gladiator doing the kind of damage one would expect from a large-sized opponent (and doing so in a way entirely different than Battlemaster Maneuvers or Barbarian Rage). Saying "it's just how the game is, there doesn't need to be an explanation" affects my ability to immerse myself in my role and just takes me out of the fantasy, and makes me all too cognizant of the fact that "it's only a game". I don't care if you say "no, your character doesn't actually see the Gladiator pick up a longsword and do 2d8 damage with it", just tell me what my character [I]does [/I]witness, thanks. [/QUOTE]

Verification