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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mallus" data-source="post: 5699173" data-attributes="member: 3887">My experience --obviously not universal, but still, in many groups over 26 years of play-- is that HP damage got described as real, tangible wounds, like JamesCourage's example of the claw going through a PC's back. The more (numerical) damage rolled, the gorier the description.However, despite the graphic descriptions, these wounds never behaved much like actually wounds. They didn't impair, they didn't bleed, except in rare cases, like when struck by certain, powerful magical weapons. Leaving D&D combats resembling the classic Black Knight segment of Monty Python and the Holy Grail -- grievous maulings shrugged off as "just a flesh wound".(because D&D's combat system can produce nothing but "flesh wounds", up until the point you're unconscious and dying/dead)Sure, in theory I agree with this, it's bad, or a least silly, form to describe a PC that's literally flattened, or limb-deprived, or burned to cinders and yet still alive, but it was also commonplace to do nearly that; describing fireballed PC's with 3rd degree burns who still, miraculously and thoroughly cartoon-like, still able to fight the good fight. And so on. The system gave you roughly two choices when dealing with with PC's past a certain HP value: either describe the severity of wounds taken based on when they occur in the fight, and not by the numerical total of the damage dice (ie, the more severe wounds occur when the PC is near 0HP, regardless of the amount rolled), or describe PC's taking epic beatings of video-game proportions, which, conveniently don't break their stride (though they'll require powerful supernatural medical attention afterwards...). Besides, Imaro, weren't you describing precisely the right way to narrate a 4e combat; the wounds aren't that bad until the PC is out of HP (and surges). It's even better when you through old-school item saving throws into the mix. The PC can stand --relatively-- unscathed in the pool of molten steel and gold their armor and coin sack melted into (as happened to my PC more than once back in a game I played in college). Like I've said before, 4e isn't less realistic then previous editions, it's unrealistic in a few new ways.Honestly, I find aspects of the Healing Surge mechanics to be more realistic than previous editions. With surges, it's possible to model stunning/knocking a PC out though vanilla physical damage (they go below 0HP, but sill have surges). In older editions, they're either fighting at full strength or dying.</blockquote>

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