What does it feel like to have half of your max hp?

[Janx]

I try to keep the damage descriptions pretty light for all but the last few hit points. Its the ones that take you out that are serious woulds after all.

Thus, until you're down to 2-3 HP (regardless of level), you get slashed and gashed and pierced in all sorts of stinging but non-serious ways.

Just wing it, and avoid any horrible wounds that would be hard to justify explaining how the PC rested for 5 days and was back to normal.

Janx

 

[LGodamus]

I just use the assumption that since D&D basically is a fantasy super hero game...PCs are basically super heroes. Therefore they take massive damage, IMG a blow that inflicts 20 points of damage is a mighty blow that will kill normal men , but a true hero with a few levels under his belt will suck it up and survive....sure he has an arrow through his neck...but he is really tough so its no big deal. I dont like the other way of explaining it ....mostly because it doesnt jive with alot of other little things in the game...if you only got winded and dodged most of the damage why the heck do you need a Heal spell that will get rid of any grievous wound.....

But that is just me...I like my heroes and villains larger than life and I see no need to insert realism into a game with fireballs and dragons..

 

[SlamZanee]

Well your right that there is no right awnser. And the system is definitly flawed but our DM isn't that number oriented (not to say battles are not enjoyed) but i would like to try to represent it properly.

Here are the specifics.

2nd Level Human Fighter - 22HP

18/22 - 14 are temp. & I just used a Potion for the 4

I'm also wondering how it is going to feel when these temps wear off. As for the specific injury well biggest was a mace shot to the shoulder/neck area for 10HP which I knocked me down to 0 in which i had to do a save for or I might not even be able to ask this question right now - lets just say im lucky.

Oh and I almost forgot I'm using 3.5

 

[Bendris Noulg]

That's why I'm a fan of the VP/WP system in Star Wars: there's a clear line between what's tiring you and what's really hurting you. The vitality points are the energy you're expending to dodge blaster bolts or block lightsabers with someone. But I've tried to squeeze it into D&D, and it just doesn't work. Too many D&D abilities assume that you're literally hitting someone, and poison throws everything out of whack.

But hit points are a good compromise, which is why I'll probably keep using them instead of VP/WP or reserve points.

Totally love W&V. The only thing about poison would be with envenomed weapons and the like, in which case they only become less effective in practice (requires a Wound to work) which may or may not be important (it's not to me, but is to you). About the most effective means I have for delivering such poison IMC would be with a blow-dart (which does no damage but only requires a touch attack).

Most everything else simply a matter of down scaling in standard W&V usage (although, IMC, Wounds = (Con x Size) + BAB, so the scale factor on healing spells does indeed stay insynch to a degree without any changes).

 

[s/LaSH]

First paradigm: vitality/luck. Half hp feels like you've run half a mile (or longer, for you fit types) - you're still capable of moving out of the way of blows, but you're certainly not dancing like you did before. Barbarians and dwarves get to endure some more serious wounds in the mix too; after all, they just won't feel them, being built like treestumps.

Second paradigm: my positive energy saturation model. Wherein hit points represent your body adapting to a high-magic adventuring lifestyle, and you become tougher than a treestump. In this model, half hp feels... itchy. You've got bruises, a few chips out of you perhaps, but you're not really suffering and it'll be a while yet before someone's capable of piercing your ablative layers and reaching your vulnerable organs. Especially at high level, arrows stick in your skin, flame leaves a black coating, and axes leave dink-marks on your flesh.

 

[Djeta Thernadier]

Think of the worst you've ever felt, like say during a terrible illness, or after being hurt really bad.

That's probably about what it feels like to be down by more than half. I tend to think of it that way.

Lose a few hit points, you feel kind of winded. Lose more than a few, you're in quite a bit of pain. Lose half, you're the worst you can recall feeling in your life (provided you've never had a life threatening illness etc.). Lose more than that, and it gets worse from there.

What a cheery thought

 

[tzor]

As everyone has pointed out, there is no correct answer. However, I think it is easy to assume that if you were to distribute physical damage among the hit points, you should probably do it uniformly through the whole HP spectrum.

After all, physical damage in and of itself is no uniform standard. My mother, who fell on "black" ice and broke her arm in several places, calmly talked to me while I frantically drove her to the hospital. Other people can be severely effected by a minor bruise.

So let's bear in mind the secret rule of HP ... no damage that can actually hinder ones ability to attack and defend, because the rules say that you don't loose that ability when you are damaged. All other damage is fine.

So a high level character at 50% might have a few cracked ribs, a whole lot of sprains, torn ligaments, and a minor amount of blood loss. All depending on the types of injuries sustained. And of course one can throw a liberal supply of fluf injuries, minor burns, abrasions, cuts, puncture wounds, etc.

Edit: I can't believe I originally typed "dry ice" there. It's kind of hard to fall on dry ice, but that is another issue. "Black" ice is a condition where ice forms on blacktop and it's so transparent that it is for all practical purposes invisible. It is exceptionally dangerous in driving conditions.

 

[Ssyleia]

Currently we play a RAVENLOFT campaign, i.e. the DM traces hp's for the PC's

When a character reaches 75% hp I tell him that he's taken a flesh wound...
When a character reaches 50% hp I tell him that his wounds are bleeding freely and inhibiting his normal actions... (I assign -1 to all actions as well)
When a character reaches 25% hp I tell him that he's severely wounded...

Needless to say, characters working this system often use healing potions/ask the cleric way far ahead of mathematical prediction...

 

[Trevalon Moonleirion]

i agree. there is no right answer. but....




the light at the end of the tunnel. you shuffle off this mortal coil. you push up daisies. you are food for worms. etc...

it depends on what edition you play

When I played first edition, we were dead at KO'd at 0 and dead at -10. We didn't steadily bleed to death either. Maybe that was just a hosue rule perhaps....

 

[Sejs]

I'm another fan of Vp/Wp. It gives a nice distinction between damage you can take due to training - learning to roll with a hit, take it in your Designated Hero Areas (shoulders, upper arms, etc), rub some dirt in it and get back in the fight, etc - and damage you can take that stands a good chance of killing you. When you're in danger, you -know- you're in danger, because you are, or have taken damage to your wound points. Otherwise, you're kinda banged up, but you're otherwise okay. You can press on without much difficulty.

In a straight HP system, I'd generally think the HP you have at 1st level is your character's "Omfg I'm going to die, I can feel the arrow when I breathe" range. Other than that, you're messed up some but you're not in mortal danger and you know it.