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<blockquote data-quote="SableWyvern" data-source="post: 46473" data-attributes="member: 1008">According to the PHB, yes, hp = physical damage capacity. End of story.This is a huge change from 1ed (and, I'm guessing, 2ed), where it was explicitly stated that hp were a lot more. The authors accepted that high level fighters being able to soak up stupid amounts of damage was hard on the old suspension of disbelief. Thus hp measured not only physical health, but also such amiguous concepts as luck, fate and the hand of the gods.In the long term, I don't think it is more feasible to understand hp equating only to physical damage. Kirowan's whole problem began with the idea that each of 15 arrows that hit the fighter in question only scratched him.If 15 arrows hitting home only scratch a target, how then can you argue that luck, fate or destiny was not somehow involved? Even moreso, how do you explain characters who walk through meteor swarms and emerge on the other side no less capable of continuing the fight?As Aziraphale and I have both pointed out, altering healing spells conceptually from mere physical healing to overall blessing meshes fine with the &quot;hp also equal luck/fate/ambiguous stuff&quot; concept.I have always played this way, and have yet to see it require any changes to the system. Mark, I'd be interested to know what sort of changes you think would be necessary.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="SableWyvern, post: 46473, member: 1008"] According to the PHB, yes, hp = physical damage capacity. End of story. This is a huge change from 1ed (and, I'm guessing, 2ed), where it was explicitly stated that hp were a lot more. The authors accepted that high level fighters being able to soak up stupid amounts of damage was hard on the old suspension of disbelief. Thus hp measured not only physical health, but also such amiguous concepts as luck, fate and the hand of the gods. In the long term, I don't think it is more feasible to understand hp equating only to physical damage. Kirowan's whole problem began with the idea that each of 15 arrows that hit the fighter in question only scratched him. If 15 arrows hitting home only scratch a target, how then can you argue that luck, fate or destiny was not somehow involved? Even moreso, how do you explain characters who walk through meteor swarms and emerge on the other side no less capable of continuing the fight? As Aziraphale and I have both pointed out, altering healing spells conceptually from mere physical healing to overall blessing meshes fine with the "hp also equal luck/fate/ambiguous stuff" concept. I have always played this way, and have yet to see it require any changes to the system. Mark, I'd be interested to know what sort of changes you think would be necessary. [/QUOTE]

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