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Message: <blockquote data-quote="FireLance" data-source="post: 5900015" data-attributes="member: 3424">This is an attempt to hybridize the traditional hit point framework with some of the features of the 4e hit point framework. If you don't think this is worthwhile, this probably isn't the thread for you.This idea was sparked off after reading [MENTION=63]RangerWickett[/MENTION]'s <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/new-horizons-upcoming-edition-d-d/322514-gamist-defense-limited-combat-healing.html" target="_blank">gamist defense of limited in-combat healing</a> thread.The traditional hit point approach creates strategic tension (how many hit points will I lose in this fight?) but not tactical tension (will I die during this fight?) until the PCs get low on hit points. The 4e approach basically limits the total number of hit points you can bring to bear in any one fight, and then allows you to replenish your hit points during a rest.  This is more likely to create tactical tension in a fight, but at the cost of the hit point yo-yo that some some people dislike (get hurt, get healed, repeat). As a side point, the 4e approach also encompasses quick non-magical restoration of hit points, which can create narrative issues for gamers who have traditionally been used to either quick magical healing or slow natural healing. A simple way to graft the 4e hit point approach onto the traditional hit point model would be to similarly limit the total number of hit points that the PCs can normally bring to bear in any one fight. The basic idea is that all PCs have a particular "pain threshold" which is expressed as a percentage of their total hit points (with perhaps a minimum based on the PC's Constitution score to prevent low-level PCs from going unconscious with just one hit). Whenever the total amount of hit point damage taken by the PC in a short period of time exceeds this pain threshold, the PC goes unconscious.Mechanically, this would require a bit of extra work at the start and the end of each fight. At the start of each fight, if the character's current hit points are higher than his pain threshold, the player should deduct the pain threshold from the character's current hit points and record the pain threshold on a separate piece of scrap paper. During the fight, all adjustments to hit points are made to the pain threshold instead of current hit points. If that figure drops to 0 or less, he is unconscious, but not dying uless he is also dropped to 0 or less hit points. At the end of the fight, assuming the PCs have a chance to take a short rest and treat injuries, any unconscious characters recover, and the characters' hit point totals are increased if there are any points remaining in the pain threshold or reduced further if there is any excess damage (this means that if the rest is interrupted, damage taken during the previous fight would still count towards each character's pain threshold).Barring magical healing, this approach still features the traditional gradual loss of hit points over the adventuring day. However, it also features increased tactical tension in each fight because of the risk of going unconscious regardless of how many hit points the character still has remaining. The tension may not be as intense as the risk of of death, but it is still better (in terms of creating tactical tension) than the traditional approach in which the character remains conscious until he loses his last hit point. To add to the tension, we can also rule that unconscious characters are subject to coup de grace attacks which can cause death regardless of how many hit points he has remaining.Under this approach, non-magical restoration of hit points can be mechanically expressed as a transfer of remaining hit points to the pain threshold (narratively, enabling the character to ignore the pain and fight on). Non-magical hit point recovery thus increases the number of hit points that a character can bring to bear in any one fight, but does not increase the total number of hit points available to a character in a day.Does this sound like something you could live with?</blockquote>

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