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<blockquote data-quote="John Quixote" data-source="post: 5840542" data-attributes="member: 694">Sketchy though it is, I see this as the seed of a pretty good idea.&nbsp; Hit points are already an abstract measure of a character's or monster's ability to stay alive under pressure, so why not use them as the threshold for instant death effects anyway?&nbsp; The medusa example that MM cites is a perfect illustration: the town guards are vulnerable to the petrifaction attack immediately, but the fighter along with them is like Perseus in CotT: he's skilled enough to keep dodging the gorgon's gaze for the entire fight, and so he doesn't even need to save until he gets whittled down to 25 hp remaining -- and his initial, presumably higher hit point total models this better than just luckily continuing to make saving throws.As for players throwing instant death spells at monsters... think of it this way, when was the last time you were playing Final Fantasy, and the black mage's &quot;Death&quot; spell worked on a boss?&nbsp; But toss it at random baddies on a throwaway encounter, and it works just fine.&nbsp; I'm pretty much okay with that.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="John Quixote, post: 5840542, member: 694"] Sketchy though it is, I see this as the seed of a pretty good idea. Hit points are already an abstract measure of a character's or monster's ability to stay alive under pressure, so why not use them as the threshold for instant death effects anyway? The medusa example that MM cites is a perfect illustration: the town guards are vulnerable to the petrifaction attack immediately, but the fighter along with them is like Perseus in CotT: he's skilled enough to keep dodging the gorgon's gaze for the entire fight, and so he doesn't even need to save until he gets whittled down to 25 hp remaining -- and his initial, presumably higher hit point total models this better than just luckily continuing to make saving throws. As for players throwing instant death spells at monsters... think of it this way, when was the last time you were playing Final Fantasy, and the black mage's "Death" spell worked on a boss? But toss it at random baddies on a throwaway encounter, and it works just fine. I'm pretty much okay with that. [/QUOTE]

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