D&D General When the fiction doesn't match the mechanics

[DEFCON 1]

It’s no better at generating a narrative than Risk is.

Hey hey now! Risk has generated perhaps the greatest narrative in gaming, which is that Australia is the greatest defensive nation on Earth!

 

[jasper]

73 Plus Races living in perfect harmony with 39 having darkvision. With most races now living as long as a human. And everyone goes adventuring at 18.

Magic items recharging at dawn.

Sudden changes to fiction. Hey book x just dropped. Suddenly PC races stat change. And Bob has the Cruel feat.

And the standard… Cool Movie/cartoon is just out. PC clones of hero or weapon appear.

 

[fluffybunbunkittens]

Elves have lived for hundreds of years by the time the game starts... still lv1.

Anyone can go from lv1 to lv5 in a week. They just haven't bothered until the campaign starts.

 

[James Gasik]

Elves have lived for hundreds of years by the time the game starts... still lv1.

Anyone can go from lv1 to lv5 in a week. They just haven't bothered until the campaign starts.

Maybe in order to pack hundreds of years of memory into their brains, Elves form long-term memories slowly. You know that person who can never seem to remember someone's name until they've met them a few times? Yeah, that's a typical Elf right there. As a result, Elves learn new skills more slowly (at least until later in life).

So a 120 year old Elf is absolutely equal to a 20 year old human!

YMMV if that's more or less ridiculous.

 

[fluffybunbunkittens]

Maybe in order to pack hundreds of years of memory into their brains, Elves form long-term memories slowly.

But then they zoom from lv1 to lv5 in a week, just like every other race... so that doesn't fix the dissonance.

I just say that long-lived weirdos like them spend a hundred years weirdly obsessed with a completely useless skill (like perfecting their calligraphy for the elven version of Y), and for a brief period between such interests, there is a more functional 'oh yeah I actually live in a world' bit where they seek to experience things... until something inevitably grabs their attention, and there they go again, ignoring everything else they've learned, in order to cross-breed just the right shade of a flower / develop a new language that only they can learn to speak / try to develop a new math where 1x1=2.

Yes, this makes elven villages weird. Anyone living such a long time would be loopy in some way.

 

[Lanefan]

But then they zoom from lv1 to lv5 in a week, just like every other race... so that doesn't fix the dissonance.

The dissonance there is the 'zooming from 1st to 5th in a week' part, doesn't matter what species you are.

 

[Voadam]

Perhaps. You have to wonder why D&D has never described it thus.

I think you are overlooking 4e and warlords. Lots of non-wound hp healing power narrative descriptions that fit the 4e definition of hit points.

Hit points (hp) measure your ability to stand up to punishment, turn deadly strikes into glancing blows, and stay on your feet throughout a battle. Hit points represent more than physical endurance. They represent your character’s skill, luck, and resolve—all the factors that combine to help you stay alive in a combat situation.

Using the inspiring word power, warlords can grant their comrades additional resilience with nothing more than a shout of encouragement.

Healing: Powers that restore hit points.

Level 2 Utility Exploits
Aid the Injured Warlord Utility 2
Your presence is both a comfort and an inspiration.
Encounter ✦ Healing, Martial
Standard Action Melee touch
Target: You or one adjacent ally
Effect: The target can spend a healing surge.

Level 5 Daily Exploits
Stand the Fallen Warlord Attack 5
You will not be denied victory! A determined strike lifts the spirits of your beleaguered allies and restores their fighting spirit.
Daily ✦ Healing, Martial,Weapon
Standard Action Melee weapon
Target: One creature
Attack: Strength vs. AC
Hit: 3[W] + Strength modifier damage.
Effect: Each ally within 10 squares can spend a healing surge and regains additional hit points equal to your Charisma modifier.

Stand Tough Warlord Utility 6
You fortify your allies with a few words of encouragement.
Daily ✦ Healing, Martial
Minor Action Close burst 5
Targets: You and each ally in burst
Effect: The targets regain hit points equal to 10 + your Charisma modifier.

Lion’s Roar Warlord Attack 7
With a bloodcurdling roar, you swing your weapon in a wide, sweeping arc that breaks through your enemy’s defenses. The blow reinvigorates you or one of your allies in need.
Encounter ✦ Healing, Martial, Weapon
Standard Action Melee weapon
Target: One creature
Attack: Strength vs. AC
Hit: 2[W] + Strength modifier damage.
Effect: You or one ally within 5 squares of you can spend a healing surge.
Inspiring Presence: Your ally (but not you) gains additional hit points equal to your Charisma modifier.

Defensive Rally Warlord Utility 10
You marshal your comrades and provide instructions to help them prevail.
Daily ✦ Healing, Martial
Standard Action Close burst 5
Target: Each ally in burst
Effect: Each target can spend a healing surge and make a saving throw against any single effect that a save can end. In addition, all targets gain a +2 power bonus to all defenses until the end of your next turn.

Even clerics have some healing that is consistent with inspiration instead of mending wounds.

Using the healing word power, clerics can grant their comrades additional resilience with nothing more than a short prayer.

Level 6 Utility Prayers
Bastion of Health Cleric Utility 6
You invoke a prayer that instantly fortifies one of your allies.
Encounter ✦ Divine, Healing
Minor Action Ranged 10
Target: You or one ally
Effect: The target can spend a healing surge. Add your Charisma modifier to the hit points regained.

Strengthen the Faithful Cleric Attack 7
You utter a solemn prayer as you bring your weapon down upon your foe, invoking the power of your deity to physically bolster you and nearby allies.
Encounter ✦ Divine, Healing,Weapon
Standard Action Melee weapon
Target: One creature
Attack: Strength vs. AC
Hit: 2[W] + Strength modifier damage, and you and each ally adjacent to the target can spend a healing surge. Add your Charisma modifier to the hit points regained.

Divine Power Cleric Attack 9
You swing your weapon in a wide arc around you, creating a halo of divine energy that drives foes back while fortifying you and your allies.
Daily ✦ Divine, Healing, Radiant, Weapon
Standard Action Close burst 2
Target: Each enemy in burst you can see
Attack: Strength vs. Fortitude
Hit: 2[W] + Strength modifier radiant damage, and you push the target 1 square.
Effect: Until the end of the encounter, you gain regeneration 5, and you and each ally within the burst gain a +2 power bonus to AC.

 

[Voadam]

For me falling huge distances is a break for me as the fiction of say a whole party falling 40 feet down a pit and getting up and continuing is not really covered in the narrative of what hit points cover.

The same reason it hurt my suspension of disbelief when the Black Widow and John Wick fell off multistory buildings, groaned a bit in pain, but got up and kept going.

 

[Bacon Bits]

The dissonance there is the 'zooming from 1st to 5th in a week' part, doesn't matter what species you are.

I don't even think the time is really the issue. I would say the dissonance is being able to take multiple hits full-on from a crossbow just because you spent a some time underground and found The Lost Gewgaw of Hocus Pocus.

Nevermind stuff like, "Now that I have defeated the Goblin King in single combat, I can speak the ancient language of dragons and understand Diplomacy so well that I am rightly called an expert."

 

[cbwjm]

Hit points have always been a weird one, though I have managed to more or less get over it and accept that it is just a game convention. It's one reason why I thought bloodied was good, was that it explained that this was when you started to show cuts and bruises. It still didn't do much (as in, you're bloodied, you now have a -2 to attack and skill rolls) other than trigger other effects that could be beneficial or detrimental.

hit points cause issues because assassins can't assassinate some people. I feel like we need the 3e coup de grace back in 5e and poisons that kill no matter the number of hit points of the target, though perhaps not for combat purposes, which then starts bring in exceptions making things even weirder between the fiction and mechanics.