How does Boromir keep fighting?

[Umbran]

...Except that in D&D, the rage doesn't wear off until the end of the duration. If someone is knocked to negatives, they would still have the rage going, according to Skip Williams (and the D&D FAQ, I believe).

Yes, I know. I fail to see the difference between these scenarios:

1) Boromir has not raged, gets hit by an arrow, taking him to negatives. He Rages so he has a couple positive hit points that will disappear when the Rage runs out, putting him in negatives and killing him.

2) Boromir has used rage before getting hit, has a couple positive hit points left that will disappear when the Rage runs out, putting him in the negatives and killing him.

The two scenarios both have him walking around with a few positive hit points that will go away at the end of the Rage. Aside from dramatics, what's the difference?

 

[ColonelHardisson]

I mean't assume of this arguement.....hell if I wanted I could have said how does he do it as a fifth level warrior, I'm not, I'm assuming those two things for this arguement, because I thing he has four attacks per round.

Well, if you're going to make those assumptions, and impose them onto the discussion, then you should provide a detailed breakdown of how you thought it went in D&D terms at the start. That way others know what the parameters are. For example, it wasn't until this quoted post that I knew you were assuming he had 4 attacks per round.

 

[TiQuinn]

Instead of assuming 4 attacks per round, why not count the number of attacks Boromir makes in 6 seconds? Then make an estimate based off of that. It didn't look like he was getting AoO's, but he might have pulled off a couple of cleaves there. Plus Lurtz looks like he's only getting off one shot per round....two at most. Whether all three are criticals or not, I think is open to debate. I mean, really....what are the chances of all three shots being crits?

 

[Nathanael]

In my games, we always call hit point loss as 'near hits.' In other words, the ability of a high level fighter to turn blows and roll with punches means that severe hits are reduced to near misses or scrapes until around 10 hp or so. Then the hits start connecting and mortal wounds follow. It actually explains hit points like this in either the PH or DMG, I can't remember which, in a Behind the Curtain box.

As for fighting with the three arrows in him, I would think he was at minus HP and using the Remain Conscious Feat from Sword & Fist and Oriental Adventures or, as is more likely considering his station, the Commander PRC.

Also, a deep wound to the torso that misses the heart won't necessarily kill you immediately. The shock may knock you out, and you will die without medical attention, but barring the painful inconvenience of having an arrow sticking in you, blood slowly filling your lungs as you fight for breath, whatever, you could still remain active and conscious. Hell, with only an abdominal wound, you could take many, very painful, days to die...

 

[Broken Fang]

Well and then there is the fact that he wasn't using his shield...so he can't be that high level! Those extra two points of AC could have really helped. He has to be low level...a high level would know that he needs the extra AC against multiple opponents.

 

[Hammerhead]

Boromir can't have Remain Conscious. It requires Iron Will. As can be seen by Boromir's corruption by the ring, he didn't have Iron Will.

Apparently, he got Great Cleave instead.

I see LotR as running off the WP/VP system. He took a crit, resulting in wound damage, but not enough to kill him. Then he runs down the death spiral, as the penalties allow the orc to continue putting arrows into him and causing more wound damage.

 

[Umbran]

Boromir can't have Remain Conscious. It requires Iron Will. As can be seen by Boromir's corruption by the ring, he didn't have Iron Will.

An interesting point, but where does it say that Iron Will assures you that you make all your Will saves against artifact-level magic items?

Actually, maybe Boromir does have Iron Will - he has it to compensate for an average (or lower) wisdom. I mean, anyone without the common sense to listen to the advice of Elrond and Gandalf isn't exactly wise themselves...

 

[mattcolville]

Alright in the vain of Describe how Aragorn beat the Ringwraiths, I present another question to you? How does Boromir keep fighting, and killing those Orc's while he's defending Merry, and Pippin, using Dungeons and Dragon's rules.

Now there are a few things we can assume, one each of the Arrows he was shot with was a Critical, two he may have gone down below 0 Hp and kept fighting, Two, He somehow was able to keep fighting the Orc's even though he probably used up his attacks per round, three, he is most likely a high level fighter if not anything else, and four the size of those arrows leaves me to believe that every round he kept fighting they hurt him more, so let's say they where arrows of wounding.

So here you go how did Boromir keep fighting, and killing countless Orc's, even though he was badly wounded, and had used up his attacks per round most likely used up.

The reason I asked because recently I've been watching this scene over, and over I guess you could say it struck a nerve with me.

Seems obvious to me. He spends courage points. That's why he's a Hero.

What, you don't have Courage points in your game? Well since you're talking about the Lord of the Rings, maybe you should try the Lord of the Rings RPG.

Everyone else is.

This is the most shamless plug I've ever made, BTW. And for a game I didn't even work on! Man.

 

[Uller]

...and already "dead" when he calls Aragorn "my King" (with great dismay of homophobes everywhere) Dead

What the hell is this supposed to mean? One can't declare his love and admiration for a comrade as he dies without being a homosexual? Maybe I'm misinterpritting what you're saying here (given the poor gramer), but if I am understanding what you seem to be saying (that people who disapprove of homosexuality were somehow made uncomfortable by this scene) then me thinks you need to grow up...not everything in life is sexual.

My apologies if that is not what you are trying to say...

As for Boromir's continuing to fight? He's just got a boat load of hit points. Yes, even in real life you could have an arrow sticking out of your breast and be relatively okay. I have a friend who worked in an ER and he said a patient WALKED into the ER with 13 gun shot wounds including several to the chest. Some people are just amazingly tough...

 

[Umbran]

What the hell is this supposed to mean? One can't declare his love and admiration for a comrade as he dies without being a homosexual?

In the eyes of some folks, no. There are some who have problems with "love" being anything but "romantic love". Usually the relationship between Frodo and Sam, as depicted in the books, is the one that gives these folks the willies.

It's silly, of course. There's more than one kind of love and devotion. Not everything is about sex, but there's a minority that does not see that.