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<blockquote data-quote="Ferghis" data-source="post: 6005368" data-attributes="member: 40483">Can I suggest making the game more lethal and gritty, instead of cutting HP?As far as I make out, HP don't represent significant wounds. They are exhaustion, bruises, cuts, and luck, and this has been the case since first edition. Bloodied is just what a boxer looks like after a few rounds: they're not seriously injured, they're just a mess (I'm going to ignore long-term concussion and repeated nose-breaks for the sake of this discussion). In D&amp;D, the first real injuries occur when a character dips below 1 HP. That's when the monster seriously bites into your leg. Also, HP are a core mechanic of the game. Tweaking it will have all kinds of consequences. I tend shy away from it, but more power to you if you decide to do so anyway.Instead, I would increase the drama of serious wounds. One of my favorite houserules is to penalize failed death saves. This sounds like it would fit your setting. On the first failed death save of an encounter, the player chooses a short-term injury that will plague the character for, say, a week. Endurance and First Aid can reduce the term of the injury. The second failed death save means there is a long term injury: even when the wound is &quot;healed,&quot; it will still hamper the character until some potent healing force can be found. I used remove affliction, but your game can make it something else. Letting the player pick the wound allows them to ham up the roleplaying side of things, which is always fun.Now, if you want to cut HP to reduce grind, that's well worth discussing.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Ferghis, post: 6005368, member: 40483"] Can I suggest making the game more lethal and gritty, instead of cutting HP? As far as I make out, HP don't represent significant wounds. They are exhaustion, bruises, cuts, and luck, and this has been the case since first edition. Bloodied is just what a boxer looks like after a few rounds: they're not seriously injured, they're just a mess (I'm going to ignore long-term concussion and repeated nose-breaks for the sake of this discussion). In D&D, the first real injuries occur when a character dips below 1 HP. That's when the monster seriously bites into your leg. Also, HP are a core mechanic of the game. Tweaking it will have all kinds of consequences. I tend shy away from it, but more power to you if you decide to do so anyway. Instead, I would increase the drama of serious wounds. One of my favorite houserules is to penalize failed death saves. This sounds like it would fit your setting. On the first failed death save of an encounter, the player chooses a short-term injury that will plague the character for, say, a week. Endurance and First Aid can reduce the term of the injury. The second failed death save means there is a long term injury: even when the wound is "healed," it will still hamper the character until some potent healing force can be found. I used remove affliction, but your game can make it something else. Letting the player pick the wound allows them to ham up the roleplaying side of things, which is always fun. Now, if you want to cut HP to reduce grind, that's well worth discussing. [/QUOTE]

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