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<blockquote data-quote="Philotomy Jurament" data-source="post: 3643085" data-attributes="member: 20854">(Note: the following assumes hit die values that may not hold true for 3E/your campaign, but the general concept would still apply.)I base my description of hit point loss on idea that an average man could be killed with a single damage roll from just about any weapon.&nbsp; IMC, an average &quot;normal man&quot; would have 1-6 hit points.&nbsp; Thus 4-6 points of damage means a potentially mortal wound for most people.&nbsp; A PC with many hit points beyond the 6 point range is picking up additional points from luck, determination, skill, increased endurance, etc.For a PC with a lot of hit points, I describe the initial points of damage as near misses, blocked blows (parried, taken on shield or armor, etc), loss of confidence (i.e. &quot;he barely fends off your assault, and you see surprise and maybe even a little fear in his eyes&quot;), et cetera.&nbsp; Mid-range damage becomes bruises, fatigued muscles, sweat and panting, nicks and cuts, et cetera.&nbsp; Only when damage approaches the &quot;normal man&quot; range do I describe more serious injuries: deep cuts, sprains, damaged bones, et cetera.&nbsp; Mortal wounds come at the end of the hit point pool.An interesting side-effect of this approach is that my players tend to judge how potent a foe they face based on my descriptions of the combat.&nbsp; If they're hitting a lot and doing decent damage, but I'm still describing near misses and blocked thrusts &quot;that would have run through a lesser warrior,&quot; they know that this guy has some serious hit points.&nbsp; On the other hand, if their first hit of 5 damage &quot;lays open a bleeding gash on his hip, causing him to cry out and stagger in pain,&quot; they know this fellow is probably not a 10th level Ranger Knight.Not a perfect system, but it works well, for me.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Philotomy Jurament, post: 3643085, member: 20854"] (Note: the following assumes hit die values that may not hold true for 3E/your campaign, but the general concept would still apply.) I base my description of hit point loss on idea that an average man could be killed with a single damage roll from just about any weapon. IMC, an average "normal man" would have 1-6 hit points. Thus 4-6 points of damage means a potentially mortal wound for most people. A PC with many hit points beyond the 6 point range is picking up additional points from luck, determination, skill, increased endurance, etc. For a PC with a lot of hit points, I describe the initial points of damage as near misses, blocked blows (parried, taken on shield or armor, etc), loss of confidence (i.e. "he barely fends off your assault, and you see surprise and maybe even a little fear in his eyes"), et cetera. Mid-range damage becomes bruises, fatigued muscles, sweat and panting, nicks and cuts, et cetera. Only when damage approaches the "normal man" range do I describe more serious injuries: deep cuts, sprains, damaged bones, et cetera. Mortal wounds come at the end of the hit point pool. An interesting side-effect of this approach is that my players tend to judge how potent a foe they face based on my descriptions of the combat. If they're hitting a lot and doing decent damage, but I'm still describing near misses and blocked thrusts "that would have run through a lesser warrior," they know that this guy has some serious hit points. On the other hand, if their first hit of 5 damage "lays open a bleeding gash on his hip, causing him to cry out and stagger in pain," they know this fellow is probably not a 10th level Ranger Knight. Not a perfect system, but it works well, for me. [/QUOTE]

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