D&D 5E What is one hp of damage in real life?

[Maxperson]

Thank god you're not a level 1 AD&D character, that could have killed you!

So could my housecat!

As an aside, my first PC was a level 1 B/X cleric who had one hp. My brother, the DM, asked me which direction I wanted to go out of one of the first rooms in Palace of the Silver Princess. The module was between us on the ground, so my left was his right, but as kids apparently we didn't grasp that concept. Because when I said "left" (the door to me), his left was the wall. He said, "you run into the wall and take 1 hp damage. Oh, that kills you? Dang, that sucks."

That's what 1 hp is...

lol

During 1e I had a wizard with 1 hit point. Somehow I lived to make it to level 2...........and then I had 2 hit points. Alas, level 3 never arrived for me.

 

[Bedrockgames]

I think this is a tough one due to HP being abstract. But generally I would say anything that can kill an extremely frail person (say a 1 HP mage or an elderly person). Anything from blunt trauma to the head, a small stab wound, a fall down steps, to something exhausting enough to task your system.

 

[JasonZZ]

View attachment 137320

Today my group suggested it could also include...

... Stepping on lego
... Cutting your intimates shaving
... papercut with foil!
... biting the inside of your cheek
... spilling hot Kiev butter on your lips.

Any others?

Either just a scratch if you have more, or a serious wound if it's your last HP. Seriously, though, IMHO they don't map in any useful way to "actual damage".

 

[Sithlord]

1 hp is an attack that could kill.

 

[Sithlord]

I mean 1 hp of damage can bring to dying a character with 150 hp.
So 1 point of damage can be a lethal blow, or like you said walking on a lego.

Imho walking on a lego would be difficult terrain

 

[Yaarel]

Hit points is the number of deadly "hits" that one can negate before finally receiving a fatal blow.

A number of factors can negate a deadly hit: alertness, vigor, skill, luck, magic, large size, etcetera.

Having one hit point means, an attacker can stab the creature thru the heart, with the creature having almost no ability to obviate this fatal blow.

 

[Krachek]

Imho walking on a lego would be difficult terrain

Should be include in the equipment list of the Phb. a bag full of loose lego block, as much useful as caltrops or ball Bering!

 

[TheSword]

Either just a scratch if you have more, or a serious wound if it's your last HP. Seriously, though, IMHO they don't map in any useful way to "actual damage".

I thought the spoof nature of the post was clearer... when the original Reddit quote was being stabbed in the roof of the mouth by the pointy bit of a chip...

... obviously not!

 

[Vaalingrade]

You know how sometimes you trip but easily catch yourself? Or you're cutting veggies and notice just how close you came to slicing your finger? Or you step down two steps instead of one and get that little shock of falling?

That's 1HP

 

[Asisreo]

I thought the spoof nature of the post was clearer... when the original Reddit quote was being stabbed in the roof of the mouth by the pointy bit of a chip...

... obviously not!

Hey now, be sensitive, that's how my 3rd cousin died!