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Message: <blockquote data-quote="KarinsDad" data-source="post: 5708043" data-attributes="member: 2011">Serious loss of hit points in earlier editions DID represent serious damage, regardless of the 1E quotes that get trotted out in these discussions. Minor loss of hit points in earlier editions did represent minor damage.If a 15th level PC in earlier editions had 5 hit points remaining after a single encounter and had no magical way to heal, there was no way that PC could effectively act in yet another encounter. Hence, he was damaged. It wasn't that he was fatigued or had ran out of luck. Magic Missiles that hit him in that first encounter didn't make him unlucky.In 4E, a PC losing 95% of his hit points in the first encounter of the day always has ways to recover most or all of those hit points by himself. Hence, it is not serious damage per se until all healing surges are used and hit points are low (shy of the two game mechanics of death saving throws and death by heavy hit points).That quote doesn't negate the actual game results, nor does it negate the game mechanics or the plethora of terminology that indicates that a significant portion of hit point loss is damage: healing, damage, cures, etc. The entire game historically revolved around hit point loss being damage.That quote was a rationalization for explaining gaining hit points at each level which could be confusing if a player thought that the 5 points of damage from a sword should kill someone. But virtually everyone who has ever played the game considered that their PC got damaged when s/he took hit point damage. They didn't think that their PC got unlucky or fatigued or no longer protected by the gods. That's not how the vast majority of players think about hit point "damage" and they never have.I've never heard at a gaming table "Your PC is now unlucky". I've often heard "Your PC got hit". That 1E quote is a rational used to explain why healing surges is a good idea in 4E, but was not really used in earlier editions other than to explain gaining hit points as PCs gained levels.I agree that taking hit point damage in D&D does represent a series of minor wounds, but they were still wounds in earlier editions. Now, they aren't quite wounds because we can all wish them away. woo hoo.In my 3+ decades of gaming, no player has ever said 'Boy, I'm down to 5 hit points. I sure am unlucky now.". <img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/laugh.png"  class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":lol:" title="Laughing    :lol:" data-shortname=":lol:" /></blockquote>

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