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Message: <blockquote data-quote="JohnSnow" data-source="post: 4101439" data-attributes="member: 32164">I think the problem is that you want each in-game event to be a separate, explainable occurrence. In other words, when a PC has lost three-quarters of his hit points, you want to be able to say "the sword gashes you in the leg. You're bleeding profusely, but it doesn't seem to affect your mobility."Under that narrative use of hit points, the "healing surge" ability doesn't make sense. But that isn't the only way to model hit points.Bear in mind that D&D has no real rules for "fatigue." Characters can literally fight "all day" without getting tired. On the other hand, as they fight they're using up hit points. Which means that hit points are partially responsible for what you might call "endurance." On the other hand, there is some degree of actual damage being done (by the way, a necessary conceit if the character is struck by a poisoned weapon, say).What you're really asking is "what kind of actual damage was done?" And the answer is, "until it's resolved, you don't actually know." Did that blow reduce Regdar to negative hit points? Then it probably looked pretty serious. Whether it actually was serious depends on the eventual outcome. Does Regdar die? If so, then (obviously) it was serious. If he rolls a 20 on his save as he's trying to stabilize, then it may not be so serious. Maybe it's a head wound that seems to gush blood, but if he rolls that 20, it was just a graze. The gush slows to a trickle, he wipes the blood from his brow, and thinks "whew, close one!" If he stabilizes without that 20, he's down and unconscious, but not in danger of death. If he can be brought around (first aid or some power), he might not be seriously hurt. On the other hand, full recovery may not be instantaneous (Inigo in the Princess Bride is a good example of multiple uses of second wind).Another case in point, in this case, a real world example. I was doing a sword demo last spring at the Renaissance Faire. We were using longswords (what D&D calls a "bastard sword"), and my friend doesn't pull his blow like he's supposed to and I don't duck. SMACK! I take a sword blow to the FACE! It strikes me edge on (blunted...but still), and I go down (duh!), and I'm stunned. In an actual fight, I'm a coup de grace from dead. Five minutes later, I was ready to fight again, although I wasn't allowed to. In the end, all I get is a black eye and a slight nick. That's hit points in action folks. What was I thinking? "Whew! Close one! I'm lucky that didn't take my head off."A D&D character with full hit points might still be a mess of small scratches (all healing nicely thanks), half-healed bruises, and the like. The point is that he's not bleeding profusely.Now, if you want, there might be room in the game for a houserule to handle long-term injuries. Those are probably best represented by conditions, to steal a term from Star Wars Saga Edition, to reflect serious injuries. For more "realism" minded gamers, it might be nice to have a subsystem like that, but most people seem to just prefer characters never being seriously hurt. Hence, no need to burden the game with a system like that by default.That models most novels and movies fairly well. While the characters may be a mess, even in most long-term stories, they don't spend lots of time laid up with injuries. Yes, in the "real world," people take injuries that put them out of action for a while. But it almost never happens to characters that are "plot important" in films or novels.To me, recovery of the kind you're talking about is something that happens between adventures. So after that night's rest, you might still be scratched and bruised, but you're at full fighting strength. And like John McClane, Indiana Jones, Aragorn, or Leonidas and his men at Thermopylae, you can keep going.And then when the adventure is over, you can actually spend a few days in rest and recovery.</blockquote>

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