vitality/wound system...how they work and if u reccomemd them
- Thread starter aradinn
- Start date
Celebrim
Legend
The basic idea is to ensure that high level characters are still threatened by mundane things, like falls, the attack of a low level character, and so forth.
The way that they work is they explicitly define the divide in hit points between that portion of hit points that represent the ability to withstand actual serious wounds, and that portion of hitpoints that represent the ability to avoid serious wounds. Thus, actual serious wounds are deducted from 'wound points', and avoiding serious wounds is first deducted from 'vitality points' if any remain. The critical thing is that if you run out of wound points, it doesn't matter how much vitality you had left, you are dead. Typically, wound points do not increase with level much or at all. You always have basically the same amount of wound points you began with.
The exact details after that depend on the implementation. Common rules include criticals bypass some or all vitality points, and go direct to wound points and that falls, emmersion in acid, or contact with lava and other situations where 'fortune at the end' seems to be involved also directly deduct from vitality points.
As for whether this is something you should do in your campaign, the answer is, 'It depends on what you want to achieve.' By making D&D's abstraction a bit less abstract, you get a more realistic system (or at least, with high reality versimilitude). Perforce, you also get a system where mighty heroes are slain at random from sheer bad luck much more often than you get in typical D&D fantasy.
I'd definately recommend it if you want to use something like D20 for a horror game or a modern military inspired game, but not so much for concensus fantasy.
The way that they work is they explicitly define the divide in hit points between that portion of hit points that represent the ability to withstand actual serious wounds, and that portion of hitpoints that represent the ability to avoid serious wounds. Thus, actual serious wounds are deducted from 'wound points', and avoiding serious wounds is first deducted from 'vitality points' if any remain. The critical thing is that if you run out of wound points, it doesn't matter how much vitality you had left, you are dead. Typically, wound points do not increase with level much or at all. You always have basically the same amount of wound points you began with.
The exact details after that depend on the implementation. Common rules include criticals bypass some or all vitality points, and go direct to wound points and that falls, emmersion in acid, or contact with lava and other situations where 'fortune at the end' seems to be involved also directly deduct from vitality points.
As for whether this is something you should do in your campaign, the answer is, 'It depends on what you want to achieve.' By making D&D's abstraction a bit less abstract, you get a more realistic system (or at least, with high reality versimilitude). Perforce, you also get a system where mighty heroes are slain at random from sheer bad luck much more often than you get in typical D&D fantasy.
I'd definately recommend it if you want to use something like D20 for a horror game or a modern military inspired game, but not so much for concensus fantasy.
They're like two sets of Hit Points, usually paired with "DR/(something)"-type armor, such as ballistic and bruising, for example. Wound/Vitality Points make for a dangerous, gritty feeling in a game. This suits some settings well. Film noir-style, espionage, old west, the list goes on.
(On a slightly-tangental note: is anyone else really looking forward to the upcoming Watchmen movie?)
Back on topic: In a D&D-type system, your character's Wound Points (WP) are generally represented by your raw Constitution score and remains static, while your Vitality Points (VP) are handled like class Hit Dice, increasing with level.
VPs cover things like non-lethal combat, exhaustion, many poisons and illnesses, and are often used to power magic (i.e. the wizard resting after casting a mighty spell). They usually refresh fairly quickly and easily, encouraging brief downtimes and strike-and-stand patterns of movement. As they accumulate players can often spend 'blocks' of VP to produce powerful effects.
Your WP total is the yardstick that measures your life, your physical bod. If it's your Constitution score, then in a "3d6-environment" NPCs will average 10-12 or so, while heroes will pump theirs as they can, let's say 14-16+. This is deadly (repeat -deadly) damage, such as that sustained when hit by a car or thrown out a high window. Game-wise, this is damage from bullets, fire, critical hits (that 2d6/19-20x2 two-handed greatsword suddenly becomes a lot scarier). If you're used to D&D, you can be quite shocked by the vulnerability of even the strongest, highest-level characters. This is the system for James Bond's Man With The Golden Gun and Mako's sorcerer in Conan The Barbarian.
If you want to emulate Lovecraft or Tarentino, this is a natural fit.
Peace.
(On a slightly-tangental note: is anyone else really looking forward to the upcoming Watchmen movie?)
Back on topic: In a D&D-type system, your character's Wound Points (WP) are generally represented by your raw Constitution score and remains static, while your Vitality Points (VP) are handled like class Hit Dice, increasing with level.
VPs cover things like non-lethal combat, exhaustion, many poisons and illnesses, and are often used to power magic (i.e. the wizard resting after casting a mighty spell). They usually refresh fairly quickly and easily, encouraging brief downtimes and strike-and-stand patterns of movement. As they accumulate players can often spend 'blocks' of VP to produce powerful effects.
Your WP total is the yardstick that measures your life, your physical bod. If it's your Constitution score, then in a "3d6-environment" NPCs will average 10-12 or so, while heroes will pump theirs as they can, let's say 14-16+. This is deadly (repeat -deadly) damage, such as that sustained when hit by a car or thrown out a high window. Game-wise, this is damage from bullets, fire, critical hits (that 2d6/19-20x2 two-handed greatsword suddenly becomes a lot scarier). If you're used to D&D, you can be quite shocked by the vulnerability of even the strongest, highest-level characters. This is the system for James Bond's Man With The Golden Gun and Mako's sorcerer in Conan The Barbarian.
If you want to emulate Lovecraft or Tarentino, this is a natural fit.
Peace.
They're like two sets of Hit Points, usually paired with "DR/(something)"-type armor, such as ballistic and bruising, for example. Wound/Vitality Points make for a dangerous, gritty feeling in a game. This suits some settings well. Film noir-style, espionage, old west, the list goes on.
(On a slightly-tangental note: is anyone else really looking forward to the upcoming Watchmen movie?)
Back on topic: In a D&D-type system, your character's Wound Points (WP) are generally represented by your raw Constitution score and remains static, while your Vitality Points (VP) are handled like class Hit Dice, increasing with level.
VPs cover things like non-lethal combat, exhaustion, many poisons and illnesses, and are often used to power magic (i.e. the wizard resting after casting a mighty spell). They usually refresh fairly quickly and easily, encouraging brief downtimes and strike-and-stand patterns of movement. As they accumulate players can often spend 'blocks' of VP to produce powerful effects.
Your WP total is the yardstick that measures your life, your physical bod. If it's your Constitution score, then in a "3d6-environment" NPCs will average 10-12 or so, while heroes will pump theirs as they can, let's say 14-16+. This is deadly (repeat -deadly) damage, such as that sustained when hit by a car or thrown out a high window. Game-wise, this is damage from bullets, fire, critical hits (that 2d6/19-20x2 two-handed greatsword suddenly becomes a lot scarier). If you're used to D&D, you can be quite shocked by the vulnerability of even the strongest, highest-level characters. This is the system for James Bond's Man With The Golden Gun and Mako's sorcerer in Conan The Barbarian.
If you want to emulate Lovecraft or Tarentino, this is a natural fit.
Peace.
(On a slightly-tangental note: is anyone else really looking forward to the upcoming Watchmen movie?)
Back on topic: In a D&D-type system, your character's Wound Points (WP) are generally represented by your raw Constitution score and remains static, while your Vitality Points (VP) are handled like class Hit Dice, increasing with level.
VPs cover things like non-lethal combat, exhaustion, many poisons and illnesses, and are often used to power magic (i.e. the wizard resting after casting a mighty spell). They usually refresh fairly quickly and easily, encouraging brief downtimes and strike-and-stand patterns of movement. As they accumulate players can often spend 'blocks' of VP to produce powerful effects.
Your WP total is the yardstick that measures your life, your physical bod. If it's your Constitution score, then in a "3d6-environment" NPCs will average 10-12 or so, while heroes will pump theirs as they can, let's say 14-16+. This is deadly (repeat -deadly) damage, such as that sustained when hit by a car or thrown out a high window. Game-wise, this is damage from bullets, fire, critical hits (that 2d6/19-20x2 two-handed greatsword suddenly becomes a lot scarier). If you're used to D&D, you can be quite shocked by the vulnerability of even the strongest, highest-level characters. This is the system for James Bond's Man With The Golden Gun and Mako's sorcerer in Conan The Barbarian.
If you want to emulate Lovecraft or Tarentino, this is a natural fit.
Peace.
