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Message: <blockquote data-quote="N0Man" data-source="post: 4872899" data-attributes="member: 64066">Did you happen to check out the post I made a few posts above yours?   Just because hit points can describe wounds, and things other than wounds, doesn't mean that hit point loss can't mean that it can be both of these things at the very same time.  Even in real life, a wound has more effect than just the wound itself, such as morale and will power.  Isn't that the basic justification of why some use injuries as part of torture when attempting to get something from them?A storyteller isn't going to necessarily describe all of these secondary effects though, the are going to usually focus on either the most dramatic, the most obvious, or whatever supports their theme.I'm sure we've all seen shows and movies where enemies fall over from exhaustion, a tiny poke that pushes them over the edge (but would obviously do no real damage), taking a final hit that causes them to retreat, or fall (without dying or going unconscious) and just staying down.  All of us see the blows and they physical responses, but we don't see what's going on in their head.So, as I stated earlier, people are trying to resolve a conflict between hit points being wounds and hit points also including all of these other factors, when there isn't really actually a conflict.It isn't necessary for NPCs to follow the same rules, because hit points are an abstraction and a plot device anyway.  Expecting PCs and NPCs to all have to follow the exact same rules might appeal to some simulationist nature, but it severely ties your hands as a storyteller.  It's ok for heroes to follow different rules, otherwise we could never have story hooks that involved the heroes being used in order to help save a dying NPC, unless it involved a disease path and a ritual.</blockquote>

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