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<blockquote data-quote="Tranquilis" data-source="post: 5678317" data-attributes="member: 71124">Just some background first: long time 0/2/3 D&amp;D player (never played 1st), so I'm not a neophyte per se, but my experience has been &quot;inbred&quot; (for lack of a better word) because I've been playing with (only)the same group for 20+ years.&nbsp;Hit points have always bugged me a bit.&nbsp; I understand why D&amp;D has them and they work for combat.&nbsp; That really should be enough.&nbsp; When I discovered the Vitality Points/Wound Points systems (and other iterations) in 3rd edition's &quot;Unearthed Arcana&quot;, I really liked it and my group uses a modified version of it.&nbsp;What I can't seem to resolve, however, is the concept of hit points and ranged attacks with ammunition.&nbsp; I can accept that hit points represent the &quot;ebb and flow&quot; of a fluid battle in melee combat; that a &quot;hit&quot; may not actually be a &quot;hit&quot;, etc.&nbsp; However, how do you apply that explanation to ammunition that is being fired and &quot;hits&quot; its target?&nbsp;Example: 10th level fighter caught with no armor:&nbsp; AC 10; and let's give him 60 hit points.&nbsp; He's attacked by a ranger (any level) who is devoted to ranged combat and shot by an arrow!&nbsp; Ok, that's, let's say, 1d6 points of damage (to keep it simple) AND his attacker is down one arrow from his finite stash.&nbsp; The battle contines as the fighter closes the range.&nbsp; Arrow 2, arrow 3, arrow 4, arrow 5... hit, hit, hit, hit... but they're not &quot;really&quot; hits!?&nbsp; The awesome archer's arrows are &quot;parried&quot;, &quot;dodged&quot;, &quot;reduced in damage&quot;, &quot;hand-waved away&quot; in the spirit of hit points!?&nbsp;How do you explain to the ranger PC that, well, your shots &quot;hit his hit points&quot;, but he doesn't have 5 arrows sticking out of him (did he dodge the all!?) OR how do you explain that he DOES have 5 arrows sticking out of him, but he's not dead!!&nbsp;Reality would dictate that if an arrow hit its target, that target is wounded.&nbsp; Same goes for a sword strike.&nbsp; The difference in fantasy (to me) is that you can &quot;hand wave&quot; the melee combat using hit points;&nbsp; It's not as easy to me with ranged combat with ammunition.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Tranquilis, post: 5678317, member: 71124"] Just some background first: long time 0/2/3 D&D player (never played 1st), so I'm not a neophyte [I]per se, [/I]but my experience has been "inbred" (for lack of a better word) because I've been playing with (only)the same group for 20+ years. Hit points have always bugged me a bit. I understand why D&D has them and they work for combat. That really should be enough. When I discovered the Vitality Points/Wound Points systems (and other iterations) in 3rd edition's "Unearthed Arcana", I really liked it and my group uses a modified version of it. What I can't seem to resolve, however, is the concept of hit points and ranged attacks with ammunition. I can accept that hit points represent the "ebb and flow" of a fluid battle in [B]melee[/B] combat; that a "hit" may not actually be a "hit", etc. However, how do you apply that explanation to ammunition that is being fired and "hits" its target? Example: 10th level fighter caught with no armor: AC 10; and let's give him 60 hit points. He's attacked by a ranger (any level) who is devoted to ranged combat and shot by an arrow! Ok, that's, let's say, 1d6 points of damage (to keep it simple) AND his attacker is down one arrow from his finite stash. The battle contines as the fighter closes the range. Arrow 2, arrow 3, arrow 4, arrow 5... hit, hit, hit, hit... but they're not "really" hits!? The awesome archer's arrows are "parried", "dodged", "reduced in damage", "hand-waved away" in the spirit of hit points!? How do you explain to the ranger PC that, well, your shots "hit his hit points", but he doesn't have 5 arrows sticking out of him (did he dodge the all!?) OR how do you explain that he DOES have 5 arrows sticking out of him, but he's not dead!! Reality would dictate that if an arrow hit its target, that target is wounded. Same goes for a sword strike. The difference in fantasy (to me) is that you can "hand wave" the melee combat using hit points; It's not as easy to me with ranged combat with ammunition. [/QUOTE]

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