Wrapping my head around hit points

[GreyLord]

I am currently in China and the Communists have blocked Youtube, but I assure you, sir, that if I were in America right now I would procure for you the most awesome John Woo dual wielding Berettas gunfu fight scene ever for your enlightenment.

I would give you some XP for that statement, but the site says I have to spread more love around first.

 

[Michael Silverbane]

When I am running, I tend to embrace the wackiness, having hit points represent actual physical toughness.

This allows for things like a character having a dozen non-fatal arrow wounds, with arrows sticking out at all crazy angles. Or a halfling getting smacked in the face by a giant's club without being launched like a golf ball. Or a character falling hundreds of feet and getting up, more or less unscathed as he walks out of the impact crater.

Sure, it requires my players to suspend disbelief somewhat more strenuously, but it makes for very amusing description.

 

[Greenfield]

I tend to look at hit points as the ability to minimize damage. The blow that does 8 points and nearly cuts a 1st level fighter down is barely a scratch on the 10th level guy. He's learned how to roll with the blow, to maximize what he gets from armor, and to turn the edge of a blade so the deep slash becomes a paper cut.

The "hero shield" idea is a good one too, until you consider poisoned weapons. Then it gets hard to rationalize an attack that "hit" but never actually made contact, and still somehow managed to deliver the poison.

And they all fall apart when it comes to healing: Loss of your luck/hero-shield shouldn't be visible, but a Healing check can somehow tell how badly down you are. And that shallow flesh would that was only 8 hit points on the veteran should take far less to heal than the deep, near fatal mauling that was a full 8 hit points on the rookie. Yet, somehow, they're both 8 hit points.

The flesh wound will heal faster, if left to heal naturally, but magical healing falls flat here, and reveals the man behind the curtain. (Thunderous voice: "Pay no Attention to That Man Behind the Curtain!")

 

[Jimlock]

Hit points = Vitality/stamina + AC + ...actual hit points.

 

[Jackinthegreen]

When I am running, I tend to embrace the wackiness, having hit points represent actual physical toughness.

This allows for things like a character having a dozen non-fatal arrow wounds, with arrows sticking out at all crazy angles. Or a halfling getting smacked in the face by a giant's club without being launched like a golf ball. Or a character falling hundreds of feet and getting up, more or less unscathed as he walks out of the impact crater.

Sure, it requires my players to suspend disbelief somewhat more strenuously, but it makes for very amusing description.

In some cases, the reality actually trumps the fiction. Vesna Vulovic, for example, fell 33,000 feet and still lived, although she was paralyzed after the fall. Vesna Vulovi? - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia for the details on that one.

Many other people have survived 10k+ falls by simply landing in trees, bushes, haystacks, or snow.

As for hit points, not only in D&D but also in other games like WoW and so forth, it's best to take reality's precepts and toss them out the window. They are an abstract concept that really can't be compared to reality, and for the game to work properly shouldn't be. Heck, even comparing different levels within the same game can prove mind-melting.

 

[HeavenShallBurn]

Yeah, HP isn't realistic. It's a mechanic to run combat. Otherwise, when your PC was first hit with the piercing damage of a Rapier somewhere in the chest region, he'd die.

There are many ways to interpret hitpoints. The main divide is the abstract vs simulationist issue caused by concerns of realism. I say 'screw realism this is D&D it should be EPIC!.' I want you to envision the unholy love-child of BASTARD!, 300, the Illiad, every power metal album ever made, and Conan. Turned up to 11.

That barbarian has seven arrows sticking through him, and he's still chopping orcs in half with a giant axe while screaming like a madman. The fighter has enough pointy metal bits jabbed into the gaps in his armor to start a piercing shop, his armor is covered in acids burns and a pair of fireballs have set the bodies around him burning but he's building a pile of dead so high he'll be able to walk right over the castle ramparts. And there on the other side of the fight is your druid oh yeah he's a bear the size of a small elephant EATING TROLLS!