D&D 5E Why are potions of healing so expensive?

[Democratus]

So how does it feel to be on low HP? Do the people in D&D land have some mysterious senses we real humans do not have? That of course is perfectly possible in fantasy, but it will have world building implications.

In D&D there are many senses that we do not have. How it expresses itself regarding HP is entirely up to you and your table.

 

[tetrasodium]

Since this turned into a "what are hit points" debate it's worth noting how they came about In short...

Combat in Chainmail is simply rolling two six-sided dice, and you either defeated the monster and killed it…or it killed you. It didn’t take too long for players to get attached to their characters, and they wanted something detailed which Chainmail didn’t have. The initial Chainmail rules was a matrix. That was okay for a few different kinds of units, but by the second weekend we already had 20 or 30 different monsters, and the matrix was starting to fill up the loft.

I adopted the rules I’d done earlier for a Civil War game called Ironclads that had hit points and armor class. It meant that players had a chance to live longer and do more. They didn’t care that they had hit points to keep track of because they were just keeping track of little detailed records for their character and not trying to do it for an entire army. They didn’t care if they could kill a monster in one blow, but they didn’t want the monster to kill them in one blow.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

In D&D there are many senses that we do not have. How it expresses itself regarding HP is entirely up to you and your table.

No, I know how I express HP loss in my table: it means being injured. But it was a question to those who do not think HP loss means being injured. How does it feel? How do the characters know they have lost HP? What do healing spells and potions do?

 

[Democratus]

No, I know how I express HP loss in my table: it means being injured. But it was a question to those who do not think HP loss means being injured. How does it feel? How do the characters know they have lost HP? What do healing spells and potions do?

Again, that's up to your table. At mine, a character knows when they are low on hp and by how much. For some it is a feeling of impending doom. Others feel like their battery is running out. My last dwarven cleric of death was able to feel his proximity to the boundary between the living and the dead.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

Again, that's up to your table. At mine, a character knows when they are low on hp and by how much. For some it is a feeling of impending doom. Others feel like their battery is running out. My last dwarven cleric of death was able to feel his proximity to the boundary between the living and the dead.

Right. So in your world everyone (or at least every PC) has a mysterious sense that tells them how close to death they are. To me that sounds like metaphysically rather significant world building element.

 

[Cadence]

No, I know how I express HP loss in my table: it means being injured. But it was a question to those who do not think HP loss means being injured. How does it feel? How do the characters know they have lost HP? What do healing spells and potions do?

(bolding mine)

Injured always makes me want to ask what injury, which brings up the old critical tables. I guess I picture hit point loss being "beaten, nicked, scraped, bruised, and worn down".

 

[Cadence]

Right. So in your world everyone (or at least every PC) has a mysterious sense that tells them how close to death they are. To me that sounds like metaphysically rather significant world building element.

And it seems to get glossed over a lot in some systems, like 13th age with Minions or a lot of 5th edition where monsters die at 0 but PCs get death saves. It's really #$%!% frustrating to not be able to question the bad guys if you miscalculate how tough they are.

 

[Democratus]

(bolding mine)

Injured always makes me want to ask what injury, which brings up the old critical tables. I guess I picture hit point loss being "beaten, nicked, scraped, bruised, and worn down".

Brings back memories of Role Master and MERP.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

(bolding mine)

Injured always makes me want to ask what injury, which brings up the old critical tables. I guess I picture hit point loss being "beaten, nicked, scraped, bruised, and worn down".

Yes, it can be accumulation of minor injuries. Perhaps even some bigger ones and adrenaline still keeps them functioning. Cinematic, somewhat vague, but they clearly are not physically fine and they know it.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

Brings back memories of Role Master and MERP.

Yeah, I definitely don't want that! Playing Rolemaster actually made me appreciate D&D's hit point system much more.