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<blockquote data-quote="Wulffolk" data-source="post: 7303632" data-attributes="member: 6871450"><p>I have always had an issue with the lack of realism when it comes to Hit Points. What I have done in the past has been to consider HP to be a measure of the character's ability to avoid damage, and their Constitution score to be an actual measure of their actual injuries. Basically a Vitality/Wounds system. Any damage that a character takes come from their HP, and this represents them narrowly dodging or parrying or otherwise escaping the effects of something. </p><p></p><p>When their HP are depleted they have run out of luck or are too exhausted to adequately defend themselves. At that point all damage is subtracted from their Constitution score. Those with high Constitutions can carry on with little effect, ignoring the pain of lesser wounds. Once a character's Constitution drops below 10 then they start applying negative modifiers to all of their abilities. Example: CON drops to 7 the character now has a -2 to all rolls.</p><p></p><p>Character's that drop to Zero Constitution are dead. Characters that drop below 10 Constitution must make a d20 + CON modifyer roll to remain conscious. The target of this roll is 10 + the negative modifier of the wound. Example: A Character with 16 CON takes 7 points of wounds, leaving him at 9 CON, now needs to make a roll of 11 to stay conscious, and has only a +2 bonus to the roll because of the -1 from the wound penalty.</p><p></p><p>On occasion, when a critical hit does maximum damage I apply the damage modifier directly to the victim's Constitution score. Example: a Fighter with a 16 STR scores a max damage critical hit on a foe, the victim takes 3 wounds to their Constitution even if they still have HP left.</p><p></p><p>The Vitality of HP can be restored by any normal means of resting or healing. The Wounds done to Constitution can be recovered naturally at a rate of only 1 per Long Rest. Successful use of a healing kit may double this. I use gritty realism rest variant, so a long rest is 7 full days. The Cure Wounds spell will restore 1 point of Constitution damage per level of the spell cast. Greater Restoration heals all Constitution damage. Most other magical healing only works on HP.</p><p></p><p>The end result is that when a character pushes too far and takes real wounds they tend to have a lingering effect. Characters are tougher at early levels, but with the trade off of lingering wounds. This also eliminates the whack-a-mole effect and seems more realistic to me.</p><p></p><p>I also use this same system for monsters and other enemies. While weak creatures such as Koblods or Goblins might be wounded in one hit, few are outright killed in one hit without receiving a critical hit. Every foes becomes a threat, especially when you are outnumbered.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Wulffolk, post: 7303632, member: 6871450"] I have always had an issue with the lack of realism when it comes to Hit Points. What I have done in the past has been to consider HP to be a measure of the character's ability to avoid damage, and their Constitution score to be an actual measure of their actual injuries. Basically a Vitality/Wounds system. Any damage that a character takes come from their HP, and this represents them narrowly dodging or parrying or otherwise escaping the effects of something. When their HP are depleted they have run out of luck or are too exhausted to adequately defend themselves. At that point all damage is subtracted from their Constitution score. Those with high Constitutions can carry on with little effect, ignoring the pain of lesser wounds. Once a character's Constitution drops below 10 then they start applying negative modifiers to all of their abilities. Example: CON drops to 7 the character now has a -2 to all rolls. Character's that drop to Zero Constitution are dead. Characters that drop below 10 Constitution must make a d20 + CON modifyer roll to remain conscious. The target of this roll is 10 + the negative modifier of the wound. Example: A Character with 16 CON takes 7 points of wounds, leaving him at 9 CON, now needs to make a roll of 11 to stay conscious, and has only a +2 bonus to the roll because of the -1 from the wound penalty. On occasion, when a critical hit does maximum damage I apply the damage modifier directly to the victim's Constitution score. Example: a Fighter with a 16 STR scores a max damage critical hit on a foe, the victim takes 3 wounds to their Constitution even if they still have HP left. The Vitality of HP can be restored by any normal means of resting or healing. The Wounds done to Constitution can be recovered naturally at a rate of only 1 per Long Rest. Successful use of a healing kit may double this. I use gritty realism rest variant, so a long rest is 7 full days. The Cure Wounds spell will restore 1 point of Constitution damage per level of the spell cast. Greater Restoration heals all Constitution damage. Most other magical healing only works on HP. The end result is that when a character pushes too far and takes real wounds they tend to have a lingering effect. Characters are tougher at early levels, but with the trade off of lingering wounds. This also eliminates the whack-a-mole effect and seems more realistic to me. I also use this same system for monsters and other enemies. While weak creatures such as Koblods or Goblins might be wounded in one hit, few are outright killed in one hit without receiving a critical hit. Every foes becomes a threat, especially when you are outnumbered. [/QUOTE]
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