AverageCitizen
Explorer
Hit points have always posed a bit of a problem in D&D, which bothers some but not most. A quick recap for the purpose of discussion:
Armor class is your ability to avoid damage. Hit points are your ability to take damage and also your ability to avoid it. The problem comes from the overlap, which wreaks havoc on verisimilitude. There is a very long thread right now about martial athletes, and I think some of the posters are arguing about this HP ambiguity without realizing it.
Some groups avoid this by recasting HP as purely your ability to 'soak' damage, but this makes the game into a bit of a chopping contest where characters hack each other until they fall down.
Anybody have any thoughts on variant AC or HP systems that separate each function? Are there any confirmed for the DMG?
If not, how do you handle this quandary?
Armor class is your ability to avoid damage. Hit points are your ability to take damage and also your ability to avoid it. The problem comes from the overlap, which wreaks havoc on verisimilitude. There is a very long thread right now about martial athletes, and I think some of the posters are arguing about this HP ambiguity without realizing it.
Some groups avoid this by recasting HP as purely your ability to 'soak' damage, but this makes the game into a bit of a chopping contest where characters hack each other until they fall down.
Anybody have any thoughts on variant AC or HP systems that separate each function? Are there any confirmed for the DMG?
If not, how do you handle this quandary?