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Message: <blockquote data-quote="The Crimson Binome" data-source="post: 6501426" data-attributes="member: 6775031">I always described hit point loss as physical injury, up until 4E. You could be impaled for 47 damage on a critical hit, and power through it if you were heroic enough. (Think Brock Samson, not the Black Knight.)When 4E came along, I actually did describe it as the OP suggests, because I was stuck on the idea that Cure Wounds must actually repair physical injury and full HP corresponded to no signs of injury. I dropped 4E after six months, in part because I couldn't get the narrative to jive in any meaningful way. I went back to playing Pathfinder, mostly because it made sense to me.With 5E, I'm finally going along with the concept that 4E had suggested all along - that no amount of HP loss could possibly correspond to lasting injury. Everything is just "soft" damage, like a boxer recovering from a bout. It changes the way I narrate in a significant way, but at least it's consistent. (In part, this is thanks to the Lingering Wounds option, which makes it possible for a sword to inflict an injury that won't just heal overnight.)</blockquote>