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When your DM asks you how many hit points you have left...
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<blockquote data-quote="barsoomcore" data-source="post: 2131019" data-attributes="member: 812"><p>I never ask my players how many hit points they have left. I try to keep track of damage myself, and out of combat I'll verify my totals with theirs, but I don't ask before dishing it out.</p><p></p><p>Two facts that influence my practices: my party has gotten very adept at getting to and stablizing fallen characters (and that 10-hit-point buffer of "Dying" seems to catch most of them okay), and Swashbuckling cards. Players tend to hang on to those until they see me rolling the big dice. I let them play cards (and even share cards) in moments like that, and a number of PCs have been saved at the last minute (or actually, after the last minute) by creative application of Swash cards:</p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Me: You take... 73 points of damage.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">PC1: Oh. I'm at minus 21.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Me: <em>giggles madly, hoping to begin establishing some cred as a Rat Bastard DM</em></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">PC1: K, wait, can I play this card? It says, 'Useful object comes to hand.'? Can I happen to put my hand out and grab a healing potion that was just lying there?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Me: Don't be silly.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">PC2: Wait, I've got a card! It says, 'Gain access to a place you would otherwise be barred from.' Can I use that to get over next to PC1 and stabilize him?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Me: He's at minus 21. It's not a question of stabilizing him, it's a question of finding all the bits.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">PC3: I have a card that says 'negate all damage dealt to you this round.' So he suffers no damage, right?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">PC1: <em>Looks imploring at me.</em></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Me: <em>Abandons dreams of Rat-Bastardism</em> Yeah, alright. Fine.</li> </ul><p>What can I say? I'm a sucker.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="barsoomcore, post: 2131019, member: 812"] I never ask my players how many hit points they have left. I try to keep track of damage myself, and out of combat I'll verify my totals with theirs, but I don't ask before dishing it out. Two facts that influence my practices: my party has gotten very adept at getting to and stablizing fallen characters (and that 10-hit-point buffer of "Dying" seems to catch most of them okay), and Swashbuckling cards. Players tend to hang on to those until they see me rolling the big dice. I let them play cards (and even share cards) in moments like that, and a number of PCs have been saved at the last minute (or actually, after the last minute) by creative application of Swash cards: [list][*]Me: You take... 73 points of damage. [*]PC1: Oh. I'm at minus 21. [*]Me: [i]giggles madly, hoping to begin establishing some cred as a Rat Bastard DM[/i] [*]PC1: K, wait, can I play this card? It says, 'Useful object comes to hand.'? Can I happen to put my hand out and grab a healing potion that was just lying there? [*]Me: Don't be silly. [*]PC2: Wait, I've got a card! It says, 'Gain access to a place you would otherwise be barred from.' Can I use that to get over next to PC1 and stabilize him? [*]Me: He's at minus 21. It's not a question of stabilizing him, it's a question of finding all the bits. [*]PC3: I have a card that says 'negate all damage dealt to you this round.' So he suffers no damage, right? [*]PC1: [i]Looks imploring at me.[/i] [*]Me: [i]Abandons dreams of Rat-Bastardism[/i] Yeah, alright. Fine. [/list] What can I say? I'm a sucker. [/QUOTE]
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