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<blockquote data-quote="Obryn" data-source="post: 4640682" data-attributes="member: 11821">You're excluding a lot of middle ground here.&nbsp; Sure, you can narrate combat as a series of misses, like Imaro suggested.&nbsp; Or you can narrate it as a series of deep wounds.&nbsp; Both run into problems.&nbsp; (Or you can not narrate it at all, which is boring, and a kind of silly suggestion.)I'm not denying that there's some vagueness when a character's dying.&nbsp; That's an extension of the vagueness of the whole HP system, in my mind.&nbsp; But, on the flipside, I don't need to narrate that Bob Fighter's liver is flopping around on the floor after he's dropped below 0.&nbsp; He could, however, have - say - a cut that's bleeding badly, incapacitating him.&nbsp; Maybe it gets a bit better.&nbsp; Maybe it wasn't as bad as it looked.&nbsp; Maybe it IS that bad, but the character is just that badass.&nbsp; After the fight, he probably needs a good bandage or some quick stitches.&nbsp; Maybe some clerical help, even, if any is available.Or, maybe he got a big crack on the head.&nbsp; Maybe it will be fatal, maybe not.&nbsp; These sorts of things tend to be uncertain.All of this description serves the HP system, not the other way around.&nbsp; The PCs only look like regenerating trolls if you spend effort crafting your narrative to make them look that way.-O</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Obryn, post: 4640682, member: 11821"] You're excluding a [I]lot [/I]of middle ground here. Sure, you can narrate combat as a series of misses, like Imaro suggested. Or you can narrate it as a series of deep wounds. Both run into problems. (Or you can not narrate it at all, which is boring, and a kind of silly suggestion.) I'm not denying that there's some vagueness when a character's dying. That's an extension of the vagueness of the whole HP system, in my mind. But, on the flipside, I don't need to narrate that Bob Fighter's liver is flopping around on the floor after he's dropped below 0. He could, however, have - say - a cut that's bleeding badly, incapacitating him. Maybe it gets a bit better. Maybe it wasn't as bad as it looked. Maybe it IS that bad, but the character is just [I]that badass[/I]. After the fight, he probably needs a good bandage or some quick stitches. Maybe some clerical help, even, if any is available. Or, maybe he got a big crack on the head. Maybe it will be fatal, maybe not. These sorts of things tend to be uncertain. All of this description serves the HP system, not the other way around. The PCs only look like regenerating trolls if you spend effort crafting your narrative to make them look that way. -O [/QUOTE]

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