Expressing Damage without hit points?
- Thread starter Ostler
- Start date
Darkness said:I have to disagree with such an absolute statement.
Many people find it useful for their games; others don't. While you 'need' to know, someone else might not. To each their own...
I have to agree. I have used the same approach as Grazzt (I know the current HP, the players don't). I describe things as cinematically as I can: "You duck at the last second as the Ogre's club swings your way. It passes right over your head, crunching into the wall next to you." That might be a 6 hp "hit" for a 5th level Fighter with 44 hp.
I use "stock phrases" like "You feel fine" for 90%+ of normal hit points, "you feel pretty good" for 75-90%, "you're starting to feel tired" for 50-75%, "you're getting worn down" for 25-50%, "you're getting shaky" for 10-25%, and "your knees are getting weak" for 1-10% helps them visualize their state pretty accurately.
What I like is that, instead of "I have 32 hp left, and the ogre does max 18, so I'm good for at least one hit, probably, two. After that, someone better give me a hand" I hear things like "Oh, man, I probably have about 25-30 hp left, and that Ogre's taking a chunk out every time he hits. Guys, I can probably stand one more ... better help me put this thing down NOW."
Darkness said:I have to disagree with such an absolute statement.
Many people find it useful for their games; others don't. While you 'need' to know, someone else might not. To each their own...
I have to agree, I have and I know DMs that do keep HPs out of the players sheets, keeping track of them behind the screen.
For me there is only a few ways of handling damage, 1) take it and keep going, 2) take it and drop but get back up 3) take it and out of action or 4) Take it and die. I guess a threshold system would work.
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