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<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 7841703" data-attributes="member: 42582">I think your argument is pretty clear. Even in 5e, however, there are features of the system - related concepts in your terminology - that support a &quot;will to live&quot; sort of interpretation rather than durability. Fighter's second wind is one.It's true that 5e, like 4e, uses multiple mechanics to represent the same thing (eg there is the Frightened condition which seems to overlap, in repsect of the fiction, with psychic damage and the will to live). But as I already posted D&amp;D has always had this sort of thing as an aspect of the system.I don't think this is any sort of departure from Gygax. From his DMG, p 61:
Damage scored to characters or certain monsters is actually not substantially physical - a mere nick or scratch until the lost handful of hit points are considered - it is a matter of wearing away the endurance, the luck, the magical protections. With respect to most monsters such damage is, in fact, more physically substantial although as with adjustments in armor class rating for speed and agility, there are also similar additions in hit points.
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[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 7841703, member: 42582"] I think your argument is pretty clear. Even in 5e, however, there are features of the system - [I]related concepts[/I] in your terminology - that support a "will to live" sort of interpretation rather than durability. Fighter's second wind is one. It's true that 5e, like 4e, uses multiple mechanics to represent the same thing (eg there is the Frightened condition which seems to overlap, in repsect of the fiction, with psychic damage and the will to live). But as I already posted D&D has always had this sort of thing as an aspect of the system. I don't think this is any sort of departure from Gygax. From his DMG, p 61: [indent] Damage scored to characters or certain monsters is actually not substantially physical - a mere nick or scratch until the lost handful of hit points are considered - it is a matter of wearing away the endurance, the luck, the magical protections. With respect to most monsters such damage is, in fact, more physically substantial although as with adjustments in armor class rating for speed and agility, there are also similar additions in hit points. [/indent] [/QUOTE]

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