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Do NPCs in your game have PHB classes?
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<blockquote data-quote="FormerlyHemlock" data-source="post: 6886164" data-attributes="member: 6787650"><p>It's not complicated. I just take (A)D&D at its face value and assume that HP and XP are something real. When you participate in the death of powerful creatures, you siphon off a small portion of their life energy (XP) and when you accumulate enough XP you become better at everything (you level up), which includes getting physically tougher (because life force, not material strength, is the primary binding force between bits of flesh in D&D--this is also why dragons aren't as much tougher than humans as you would expect based on volume calculations) and more resistant to damage. If you stab a high-level fighter in the kidneys, it's very possible that the wound won't even be visible after you withdraw your spear, and to NPCs at my table this is totally normal and expected, to the point where they may actually get squicked out at the thought of amputating limbs from someone who is <em>still alive</em>, which can only be done under special conditions (when at least one death save has already been failed and the binding energy of life force is almost gone, which means the limbs are being held on only with bone and sinew and muscle that can easily be cut).</p><p></p><p> Tony has at various times compared this to Asgardian flesh and Highlander: the Quickening.</p><p></p><p>I should note that I am a big spelljammer fan, and alternate physics don't bother me at all. I don't have to explain how my (N)PCs' cellular biology is changing as they accumulate more life force, because my NPCs don't <em>have</em> mitochondria or a cellular biology. They are made out of "flesh" and "bone" and "blood", which are quasi-elemental substances and nothing to do with elements or atoms in the sense 21st century humans use the words.</p><p></p><p>In short, I run fantasy biology and fantasy physics in my fantasy world.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="FormerlyHemlock, post: 6886164, member: 6787650"] It's not complicated. I just take (A)D&D at its face value and assume that HP and XP are something real. When you participate in the death of powerful creatures, you siphon off a small portion of their life energy (XP) and when you accumulate enough XP you become better at everything (you level up), which includes getting physically tougher (because life force, not material strength, is the primary binding force between bits of flesh in D&D--this is also why dragons aren't as much tougher than humans as you would expect based on volume calculations) and more resistant to damage. If you stab a high-level fighter in the kidneys, it's very possible that the wound won't even be visible after you withdraw your spear, and to NPCs at my table this is totally normal and expected, to the point where they may actually get squicked out at the thought of amputating limbs from someone who is [I]still alive[/I], which can only be done under special conditions (when at least one death save has already been failed and the binding energy of life force is almost gone, which means the limbs are being held on only with bone and sinew and muscle that can easily be cut). Tony has at various times compared this to Asgardian flesh and Highlander: the Quickening. I should note that I am a big spelljammer fan, and alternate physics don't bother me at all. I don't have to explain how my (N)PCs' cellular biology is changing as they accumulate more life force, because my NPCs don't [I]have[/I] mitochondria or a cellular biology. They are made out of "flesh" and "bone" and "blood", which are quasi-elemental substances and nothing to do with elements or atoms in the sense 21st century humans use the words. In short, I run fantasy biology and fantasy physics in my fantasy world. [/QUOTE]
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