D&D 5E Hit points explained

[Tony Vargas]

Except by RAW fireballs don't miss.

When's the last time you made someone roll to hit with (or to aim) one?

The first time a DM insisted I roll to hit with a fireball was probably c1983. I believe there was an actual rule in 3e (a 'touch attack' to aim a fireball through a small opening, like an arrow slit), but I'm not sure.

However, the point was probably that having your target roll a saving throw and succeed is mathematically the same as rolling an attack and missing. They're both binary succeed/fail rolls on a d20, the distinction is semantic, and adds nothing to the game apart from needless complexity.
There have even been saving throws in D&D that did litterally just indicate whether an attack spell hit or missed. The older-ed versions of Ray of Enfeeblement and Disintegrate, for instance.

 

[Caliban]

There have even been saving throws in D&D that did litterally just indicate whether an attack spell hit or missed. The older-ed versions of Ray of Enfeeblement and Disintegrate, for instance.

The current version of Disintegrate is this way. Dexterity save, all or nothing on the damage. It's gonna hit if you don't move out of the way in time.

 

[Yunru]

There is a difference between a dex save and an attack roll actually (asides from 2 points of difference): Dex saves don't account for armour.

 

[Caliban]

There is a difference between a dex save and an attack roll actually (asides from 2 points of difference): Dex saves don't account for armour.

For spells like Disintegrate, it's the 5e version of a Touch attack.

 

[Tony Vargas]

There is a difference between a dex save and an attack roll actually (asides from 2 points of difference): Dex saves don't account for armour.

Could just as easily be an attack roll vs a 'Touch AC' or REF defense, though, in fact, that's exactly what it's been in 3e & 4e, respectively. The difference between a save and an attack is arbitrary/semantic. It's still an offensive action that succeeds or fails based on a single d20 check.

 

[ArchfiendBobbie]

How I handle hit points: Magic is infusing you and making you hardier. That's why, over time, a warhammer to face goes from potential death to a minor annoyance.

 

[The Crimson Binome]

How I handle hit points: Magic is infusing you and making you hardier. That's why, over time, a warhammer to face goes from potential death to a minor annoyance.

Also known as the Dragonball model. If you combine it with experience points representing magical energy that flows from enemies you kill, it becomes the Highlander model.

All things considered, it's probably the single most-consistent narrative that can be generated from the rules.

 

[ArchfiendBobbie]

Also known as the Dragonball model. If you combine it with experience points representing magical energy that flows from enemies you kill, it becomes the Highlander model.

All things considered, it's probably the single most-consistent narrative that can be generated from the rules.

Just don't call it the Highlander model around some players. Tends to result in a TPK because, as they all know, there can be only one.

 

[Azzy]

Hey, my group dropped 4E almost as fast as we learned it. The "bloodied" idea is one of the very few things that we kept from it. It's a useful cognitive tool.

Note: that wasn't the only nice thing 4E brought to the party. I'm not bashing the game. We were pretty burned out on fantasy, at that point, too.

While I also didn't adopt 4e, either, I'm not trying to bash it. I think that "bloodied" is (at least) as good a concept as any concerning hit points throughout the game's storied history. I was just perplexed (and amused) by the use of "historically" (which generally implies a long tradition or history) to describe the concept.

 

[Mercule]

How I handle hit points: Magic is infusing you and making you hardier. That's why, over time, a warhammer to face goes from potential death to a minor annoyance.

I explicitly want fighters and rogues to be non-magic. I can buy into "Hollywood physics", but that's as far as it goes. If I need magic to explain why a Fighter is tough, he's no longer a Fighter. Better to say, "Don't look behind the curtain."

Obviously, YMMV.