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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Shadowdweller" data-source="post: 7639685" data-attributes="member: 14563">Fair Warning:  This is mostly a thread about narration or "fluff" techniques rather than actual alternative mechanics or anything more significant than perception.  If that's not your cup of tea, then...best wishes finding something more to your tastes elsewhere.Background:  One of the long-standing issues with the concept of hit points is that they return results that break significantly from verisimilitude - the perception of reality.  That is, situations arise for various game purposes that come across as unrealistic.  Characters survive blasts of fire, immersion in acid.  People survive multiple sword blows...and heal up none the worse for wear after an hour or at worse a day.  People have invented various ways to get around this over the years such as describing hit points as "stamina" and damage as "fatigue".  But these run into issues where you have instances of hp loss that can't really be described as causing individuals to become tired - such as when an individual is immersed in lava or falls off a cliff.  But if HP significant physical injury, then it becomes highly unrealistic to heal up after merely an hour or a nights sleep.  Many injuries IRL, such as broken bones, can take months or longer to recover from.  If one ever does. Similarly, in the real world, weapons and armor were often subject to significant damage during battle.  Padding would be cut, rings would break open, wooden shafts would splint, blades would chip or dull.  Metal bits would bend or dent.  And equipment or parts of it would need to be repaired and replaced frequently.  In fact, armor would often fail BECAUSE of progressive wear and tear.  It is MUCH more difficult to pierce padded cloth armor (such as a gambeson) with blades and arrows than many people who haven't studied or thought about this might think.  Medieval soldiers would frequently carry multiple weapons, in part because weapons would break or otherwise fail in a combat.  The game large ignores equipment attrition and for generally for good reason - we play for fun not for excruciatingly detailed realism after all.  But the thought of joining these two ideas into one way of describing hit points and damage has gradually been occurring to me.  I doubt I'm the only one who has had this idea...but I don't personally remember ever encountering someone describe damage this way in a game during my 30+ year gaming history.Proposal:  Equipment damage becomes incorporated in the concept of Hit Points - along with stamina and health/physical wholeness.  So...maybe the boulder doesn't break the skin when it hits you, but tears your clothing or dents your armor.  Under this conception rather than healing from a giant bruise or broken bone during a short rest, maybe you're sewing your clothing back together; renewing your magical wards; hammering the dents out your breastplate; or re-sharpening your weapons.  But what's to prevent someone to from merely putting on a spare suit of armor or picking up a new weapon?  I don't know if this part of the idea is realistic or not, but what if we presume that an individual is constantly optimizing, practicing with, and maintaining their spells and equipment during rest periods.  Tightening straps, oiling leathers, finding and padding the precise places where chafing occurs, or getting used to the exact balance of what they're presently using.  So...merely putting on an undamaged suit of armor doesn't restore hit points in this case because the user needs to make adjustments to or get used to the new item...and usage is more fatiguing (tiresome) until they do.  So someone who lost hit points, for example, could  simply replace his torn leathers...but would be unable to use the new suit as efficiently until they have a chance to adjust it (tighten the straps just so, stitch the loose bits together more tightly) and/or retrain themselves to the new distribution, support, or range of mobility.So someone or something with low HP under this method might be described as "Panting from exertion", "bleeding from minor wounds", "holding a splintering spear", or "wearing clothing that has holes burnt through it".  If they fall unconscious, it could be because their weapon broke rendering them unable to block an injurious strike.Of course, this technique also has its own set of issues that could stand to be addressed.  Like the mending cantrip.  Or how less durable materials don't change the HP equation.  Or how you can restore hp/ repair damaged equipment without the proper tools.  I don't know - maybe this isn't an issue for many other people.  Maybe I'm overthinking things way too much.  Or maybe nobody cares.  Just some thoughts.</blockquote>

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