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Message: <blockquote data-quote="LurkAway" data-source="post: 5755308" data-attributes="member: 6685059">As far as I understand from previous threads, we're very different in the sense that you find immersion in games like Rolemaster and very little or zero immersion in gonzo heroic systems like D&D. OTOH, I understand that you're not actively seeking "realism" in D&D anyway. So that's OK if you don't accept that anything "realistic" is happening when your PC takes 4 hp of damage, right?According to the description of hit points in the 4E PHB, any of the above, as narrated by the group based on fictional positioning.For me, in 3E, I could mentally split hit points into 2 pools or layers. One layer is morale, stamina, luck, karma, armor integrity, superficial  wounds. A 2nd layer is serious physical wounds. So if my PC takes 4 hp, maybe it's 4 hp deducted from the serious wounds hit points, but most likely it's a kind of damage reduction absorbed by loss of the other pool of hit points.Do I idealize a separate wounds/vitality track for more "realism"? Sure, but I have yet to see that officially in the game (and I don't know how if it would be fun and compelling). Until then, I've made do with hit points as is.A few people have suggested that familiar mechanics, after being learned and internalized, may better enable for immersion. Although 20-30 yrs later, you still didn't "learn" (I use quotation marks because I don't mean that pejoratively) to find the hit point mechanic immersive. But that's totally OK. The question is whether hit points as an abstraction allows a significant number of other people to have a minimum amount of immersion. I think yes. Because hit points aren't realistic, but they are a "nod" to realism, and that opens at least a small door (clearly not for everyone, but for enough people it seems) to immersion.How about some younger 4E mechanics -- well, this is something that I'm (and clearly other people) are still struggling with very much, and I suspect it will never work out for me.</blockquote>

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