Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Flamestrike" data-source="post: 6620281" data-attributes="member: 6788736">Ok, so by that logic, you live in this world. How many bullets can you take before it kills you?Heh. Hit points dont represent 'getting hit with the giants greatsword'. They represent ducking out of the way of the sword at the last minute (and you losing hit points) the Giant unluckily slipping at the last minute (and you losing hit points), you summoning a last minute burst of vitality to sidestep the earth shattering blow (and you losing hit points) and so forth.If I swing an axe twenty times a tenth level fighter in DnD with 80 odd hit points, and ten of those swings 'hit' - I dont actually connect with him ten times with the axe. In fact I may not actually hit him with the axe at all despite ten 'hits' and ten 'misses'. That high level fighter has the experience, skill, know how, luck and stamina to duck, dodge, parry, block and avoid the blows, or knows how to turn his body at the right moment to deflect the attacks on the stronger part of his armor (each such parry, dodge, lucky miss, sidestep and twist away tiring the fighter and using up a bit of his luck - leaving some bruising or maybe superficial injuries).The fighter hasnt been hurt at all... yet. He doesnt have ten gaping axe wounds in his body. He is however tiring from fighting off my frenxied axe attack (losing hit points). Eventually, one is going to get though.If he was less experienced with fighting (being a lower level, or being a class with a lower hit dice) I may have connected with him already. If he was a commoner (5hp) there is a good chance that my first decent swing of the axe would connect squarely, dropping him bleeding out on the floor.The fighter and the commoner both know (just as you do in real life) that if I smash them squarely in the neck with an axe, it is extremely unlikely they will survive. That doesnt change if they are the greatest warrior in the world or the least competent. The great warrior is just skillful, lucky and seasoned enough to avoid getting hit in the neck with an axe.Needless to say both the commoner and the high level fighter know what you know - diving into lava results in certain death. By virtue of thier hit points, high level fighters are less likely to fall into rivers of lava though because theyre experienced and lucky enough to avoid such a thing. Think of the 5 Hit Point commoner and the high level fighter with 200 HP both dangling from the volcanoes ledge. One of them is the Redshirt who isnt going to make it back. One of them will. The redshirt plummetting to his death, while the 'hero' survives is due to some contrivance is the staple of fiction.Think of Hit Points as your PC's 'plot hazard immunity' points. The less you have, the closer to a redshirt you become. Now watch any movie, or read any fantasy novel. The heros dont soak lasers to the face, swords to the neck and so forth. The blaster bolts impact on nearby walls, he dodges or parries the attacks at the last second, some lucky plot contrivance stops him from certain death, and so forth. Maybe an attack glances off his shoulder, letting us know that he is getting 'low on hit points'I use these rules. However I use lingering injuries as a 'player buy in'. Once per long rest when your HP are reduced to zero and you are not killed outright, you may choose to instead remain on 1 HP (and gain a lingering injury).It makes 'critical injuries' a player buy in, and doesnt disadvantage the players (as critical injury effects hurt PC's more than wave upon wave of expendable monsters). It also gives me a sense of realism where (once your luck runs out) you can choose to accept a physical injury from a hit to have one last chance of victory.</blockquote>

Verification