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<blockquote data-quote="Dausuul" data-source="post: 4101859" data-attributes="member: 58197">&quot;Correct?&quot;&nbsp; Correct how?&nbsp; Correct in that his definition of &quot;hit points&quot; was totally at odds with everything else in the game?Players read Gygax's definition.&nbsp; Then they played the game and noticed that everything that took away your hit points was something that wounded you, everything that gave back hit points was something that healed you, and every single mechanic that interacted with hit points in any way was predicated on the idea that hit points equals physical toughness.And then they realized that Gygax's definition was merely a half-assed attempt to obfuscate the issue, because his mechanics implied high-level characters could survive being repeatedly stabbed in the chest, and he didn't like that.4E is actually, for the first time, making the mechanics match a different definition of hit points.&nbsp; Exactly what that definition is remains a bit fuzzy, though I hope the Player's Handbook will offer at least a general idea.But before 4E... nope.&nbsp; I won't call Gygax's definition &quot;incorrect,&quot; because you can't really do that with a definition, but I will call it &quot;utterly inconsistent with everything else.&quot;</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Dausuul, post: 4101859, member: 58197"] "Correct?" Correct how? Correct in that his definition of "hit points" was totally at odds with everything else in the game? Players read Gygax's definition. Then they played the game and noticed that everything that took away your hit points was something that wounded you, everything that gave back hit points was something that healed you, and every single mechanic that interacted with hit points in any way was predicated on the idea that hit points equals physical toughness. And then they realized that Gygax's definition was merely a half-assed attempt to obfuscate the issue, because his mechanics implied high-level characters could survive being repeatedly stabbed in the chest, and he didn't like that. 4E is actually, for the first time, making the mechanics match a different definition of hit points. Exactly what that definition is remains a bit fuzzy, though I hope the Player's Handbook will offer at least a general idea. But before 4E... nope. I won't call Gygax's definition "incorrect," because you can't really do that with a definition, but I will call it "utterly inconsistent with everything else." [/QUOTE]

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