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<blockquote data-quote="Bill Zebub" data-source="post: 9702366" data-attributes="member: 7031982">Thinking more about this, you were specifically referring to &quot;an axe in the face&quot; being lethal.&nbsp; I was using the phrase somewhat poetically, since literally none of the RPGs I play specific location of weapon hits.&nbsp; Instead, we tend to narrate based on results.&nbsp; So if a character (PC or NPC) died from a massive axe strike, we might say, &quot;Doh!&nbsp; Right to the face!&quot;&nbsp; On the other hand, we are unlikely to narrate it that way if the resulting damage is minor.So maybe I should have left that specific phrase out of my original post.&nbsp; Instead I should have just described more generally the ability of a character in many (most?) RPGs to survive any kind of hit at all from an axe-wielding Frost Giant.Of course, we narrate around that by saying that &quot;hit points aren't meat&quot; and those first few hits...the ones you survive...don't actually hit you.&nbsp;&nbsp; Similarly, if the dragon breath doesn't kill you, there are lots of narrative ways to explain that that don't involve gritting your teeth and being enveloped by a 2,000 degree inferno.&nbsp; (It's a little bit harder to narrate your way out of being immersed in a stomach full of purple worm acid, so we'll leave that one alone.)On the other hand, in many games even if you roll max damage, dragon breath and frost giant axes aren't enough to kill a character.&nbsp; You literally cannot die from a single hit.&nbsp; So....similar to most rules for falling?&nbsp; Maybe.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Bill Zebub, post: 9702366, member: 7031982"] Thinking more about this, you were specifically referring to "an axe in the face" being lethal. I was using the phrase somewhat poetically, since literally none of the RPGs I play specific location of weapon hits. Instead, we tend to narrate based on results. So if a character (PC or NPC) died from a massive axe strike, we might say, "Doh! Right to the face!" On the other hand, we are unlikely to narrate it that way if the resulting damage is minor. So maybe I should have left that specific phrase out of my original post. Instead I should have just described more generally the ability of a character in many (most?) RPGs to survive any kind of hit at all from an axe-wielding Frost Giant. Of course, we narrate around that by saying that "hit points aren't meat" and those first few hits...the ones you survive...don't [I]actually[/I] hit you. Similarly, if the dragon breath doesn't kill you, there are lots of narrative ways to explain that that don't involve gritting your teeth and being enveloped by a 2,000 degree inferno. (It's a little bit harder to narrate your way out of being immersed in a stomach full of purple worm acid, so we'll leave that one alone.) On the other hand, in many games even if you roll max damage, dragon breath and frost giant axes aren't enough to kill a character. You literally cannot die from a single hit. So....similar to most rules for falling? Maybe. [/QUOTE]

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