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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pawsplay" data-source="post: 5620072" data-attributes="member: 15538">Saving throws are meant to resolve whether you were able evade or withstand the attack. They were never intended as a device for, as example, mapping out crevices in a room. As for the chain breaking, that is fully within the purview of the GM to rule. Simulation does not mean the rules are considered to be exhaustive.  Saving throws are, of course, somewhat abstract. But in general, they have a pretty obvious relationship to the imaginary world. You duck under the fireball, shake off the charm spell, and so forth. Gygax's comment was not meant to undermine the saving throw mechanic as something that happens in the imaginary world, but to bolster it by making suggestions how to deal with unforseen and unforseeable contexts. It is the last ditch, so to speak, to rationalize saving throws in this way, but the first hurdle for many 4e powers.Because hero points generally have a rationalized way of recharging. Admittedly, True20's Conviction points are more arbitrary and dissociative. It also depends on the power. Many 4e powers are not so simple as doing lots of damage or hitting or whatever. That's probably the best way to do it, yes.I doubt it. Those characters are known for being lucky. Not all games would make that a player choice, but some do. For the record, I tend to prefer games that only allow hero points for PC actions or second chances, but I've played many sorts of game.Concussion hits are, indeed, a form of hit points. Very much so. And death by critical is not at all different than death by "massive damage" or vorpal sword.Abstraction. It doesn't alter the outcome if both fighters receive the same allowances. In reality, meaningful fatigue is likely to occur rapidly, toward the end of a match. In D&D terms, it could be only a round or two. Also, D&d is not a boxing game. Real life battles are very rarely won by extreme attrition, although battles between armored opponents could swing that way. D&D probably has some rules for sailboat somewhere that don't quite model all the nuances, either. It would not be more immersive, or better, if D&D focused on spiraling fatigue as the determination of a fight. The most important determination is who lands a disabling blow first. In D&D, hit points reflect a measure of fighting measure that must be overcome before you land that strike.There are some areas where hit points are dissociative. For instance, it's very hard to ambush and kill a high level character in D&D. Since nobles in older editions were often level 2 to 4 fighters, assassination was a tricky business. If that's an important consideration in my game, I'll have to outlay some effort to patch the hit point rules for this situation.</blockquote>

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