Kisanji Arael
First Post
Hit Point Separation Zones
This is something that seems too complicated to implement, but with all the talk of “accurately representing hit points” recently, I asked myself: okay, Chris, how would you do it?
Separate hit points into how people take hits.
1st zone: Hits Dodged.
These would be hits that were dodged and blocked. Eventually, characters would run out of natural stamina and start actually taking hits. DR would not help at this phase. A critical hit would bypass this entire zone. Characters in this zone would be penalized by heavier armor, and benefit from wearing looser fitting clothing. Certain weapons could confer benefits (dueling swords, spears, quarterstaves) to hits taken in this zone.
The cleric spread for this would be 0 level- 2nd level spells for a single character, and possibly as high as 5th level spells for a mass heal.
2nd zone: Hits Soaked
These would be hits that would actually hurt characters. Armor would provide either a bonus to AC at this point or it would provide DR. A character's Dex mod would do nothing at this point, but DR would start to help. If weapons could block (as above), they would probably still help.
This section would be divided into two halves. The first half would be the “non-bleeding section,” and the second would be the aptly named “bleeding section,” where damage would, surely enough, begin to provide penalties and/or drain Hp.
Clerics would not be able to heal these wounds at 1st level, but could probably still stop someone from bleeding out at this level.
3rd zone: Disabled.
Characters would be unconscious at this point. Obviously, I would like this a wider margin than just 0 Hp.
4th zone: Dying
From what limited knowledge I have of people dying (mostly Scrubs), I have little knowledge of how this would work. My initial response would be that a character's negative Hp total would give a percent chance of dying every turn, and the character would also possess a natural chance of stabilizing. Clerics could, I don't know, defibrilate? (positive energy+lightning bolt might be a bit extreme, but could there be something a bit more controlled) to regulate the heartbeat and keep it from giving out.
Don't give healers natural ability to fix this until at least 5th level spells (earlier than this, give them a concentration based spell to half the chance of a character dying on any given turn). Make this the zone where the Heal skill could shine. For while non-divine healers certainly have never been the best at giving back Hp, they might be much more capable at actually keeping people alive.
Cleric: My God never taught me about this! What do we do?
Fighter: Looks like the dragon popped some of his squishy tubes. I saw this back in the war. I'm gonna need a needle, some thread, and someone to knock out the priest for about fifteen minutes.
Obviously, this would be followed by the fifth zone: Dead. Clerics can cure this with maybe 7th level magic? Make it harder for people to die, but harder to bring them back?
Any thoughts?
This is something that seems too complicated to implement, but with all the talk of “accurately representing hit points” recently, I asked myself: okay, Chris, how would you do it?
Separate hit points into how people take hits.
1st zone: Hits Dodged.
These would be hits that were dodged and blocked. Eventually, characters would run out of natural stamina and start actually taking hits. DR would not help at this phase. A critical hit would bypass this entire zone. Characters in this zone would be penalized by heavier armor, and benefit from wearing looser fitting clothing. Certain weapons could confer benefits (dueling swords, spears, quarterstaves) to hits taken in this zone.
The cleric spread for this would be 0 level- 2nd level spells for a single character, and possibly as high as 5th level spells for a mass heal.
2nd zone: Hits Soaked
These would be hits that would actually hurt characters. Armor would provide either a bonus to AC at this point or it would provide DR. A character's Dex mod would do nothing at this point, but DR would start to help. If weapons could block (as above), they would probably still help.
This section would be divided into two halves. The first half would be the “non-bleeding section,” and the second would be the aptly named “bleeding section,” where damage would, surely enough, begin to provide penalties and/or drain Hp.
Clerics would not be able to heal these wounds at 1st level, but could probably still stop someone from bleeding out at this level.
3rd zone: Disabled.
Characters would be unconscious at this point. Obviously, I would like this a wider margin than just 0 Hp.
4th zone: Dying
From what limited knowledge I have of people dying (mostly Scrubs), I have little knowledge of how this would work. My initial response would be that a character's negative Hp total would give a percent chance of dying every turn, and the character would also possess a natural chance of stabilizing. Clerics could, I don't know, defibrilate? (positive energy+lightning bolt might be a bit extreme, but could there be something a bit more controlled) to regulate the heartbeat and keep it from giving out.
Don't give healers natural ability to fix this until at least 5th level spells (earlier than this, give them a concentration based spell to half the chance of a character dying on any given turn). Make this the zone where the Heal skill could shine. For while non-divine healers certainly have never been the best at giving back Hp, they might be much more capable at actually keeping people alive.
Cleric: My God never taught me about this! What do we do?
Fighter: Looks like the dragon popped some of his squishy tubes. I saw this back in the war. I'm gonna need a needle, some thread, and someone to knock out the priest for about fifteen minutes.
Obviously, this would be followed by the fifth zone: Dead. Clerics can cure this with maybe 7th level magic? Make it harder for people to die, but harder to bring them back?
Any thoughts?
