batsofchaos
2006-08-25, 01:32 PM
Hit points are a rather common topic for contention on these boards due to as they are written a fighter could be hit by so many arrows he'd look like a sea urchin before dying, while a commoner can be taken out by one. The current alternative is wound points/vitality points a la Star Wars D20. This usually sparks a debate about realism, proponents for VP citing this system as far less insane, while detractors state it makes combat too deadly. I developed a fairly simple re-tooling of the current HP system for my campaign that allows a more realistic fight, without making the PCs as vulnerable to 'lucky shots' like they are with Vitality Points.
(note, I posted an outline of this system elsewhere to make a point, thought I should elaborate here and get some critiques)
The main reason I developed this is because when describing melee, a loss of hit points didn't necessarily mean the character was wounded. Maybe they dodged the blow entirely, it glanced off equipment, struck but didn't cut deep, etc., but the character took an HP loss because they 'expended energy' or some such reasoning. A lot of people I've talked to agree with this way of playing, basically boiling down fluff-play to a player only receiving a couple of wounds before going down, regardless of level. This is all well and good, but where this system doesn't work for me is concerning Nonlethal damage. If the judgement call is that the PC dodged the blow, but lost some energy doing it, why on Earth would they lose a different type of energy dependant on whether they dodged a knife or a fist?
My solution:
Characters receive HP at the same rate as per RAW. However, the first hit die is listed as Mortal Hit Points (MHP), and all additional dice are listed as Dodge Hit Points (DHP). If the PC's constitution score were to be raised (this includes a temporary raise due to magic or raging), any bonus HP would be considered MHP (as well as HP from the toughness feat), but these would otherwise remain a static number. For monsters, and PCs with racial HD, all racial HP are mortal HP. In play, as attacks cause damage DHP are removed and the fluff is adjudicated as the character dodged, or otherwise avoided being wounded but lost energy as a result. Once DHP have been lost and the character only has MHP left, hits start being wounds.
Exceptions:
Critical hits, hits that require a fortitud save due to massive damage, and sneak attacks all result in wounds to the PC. However, this is purely a fluff rule; no damage is removed from MHP if it can be instead removed from DHP. These wounds don't necessarily make a 'devastating wound,' as are usually described, they could just be a nasty gash to the arm or some such. Thought process is it's 'critical' and does a lot of damage because it's more likely to slow a player down.
Nonlethal Damage:
Up to the point where the PC has exhausted their DHP, there is no mechanical difference between lethal and nonlethal damage. When receiving nonlethal damage either from being hit or from fatigue rules, it's counted as regular damage to be removed from DHP. Once there are no more DHP, nonlethal damage comes back into play and is adjudicated as per RAW as if the character's maximum hit points were their MHP total.
Result:
You have a character with the exact same number of hit points, can take the exact same number of hits, and have the exact same lethality as the rules currently outline, but gets killed after getting wounded only a handful of times. Best of both worlds, IMO.
Thoughts? Comments? Horse-shoes?
(note, I posted an outline of this system elsewhere to make a point, thought I should elaborate here and get some critiques)
The main reason I developed this is because when describing melee, a loss of hit points didn't necessarily mean the character was wounded. Maybe they dodged the blow entirely, it glanced off equipment, struck but didn't cut deep, etc., but the character took an HP loss because they 'expended energy' or some such reasoning. A lot of people I've talked to agree with this way of playing, basically boiling down fluff-play to a player only receiving a couple of wounds before going down, regardless of level. This is all well and good, but where this system doesn't work for me is concerning Nonlethal damage. If the judgement call is that the PC dodged the blow, but lost some energy doing it, why on Earth would they lose a different type of energy dependant on whether they dodged a knife or a fist?
My solution:
Characters receive HP at the same rate as per RAW. However, the first hit die is listed as Mortal Hit Points (MHP), and all additional dice are listed as Dodge Hit Points (DHP). If the PC's constitution score were to be raised (this includes a temporary raise due to magic or raging), any bonus HP would be considered MHP (as well as HP from the toughness feat), but these would otherwise remain a static number. For monsters, and PCs with racial HD, all racial HP are mortal HP. In play, as attacks cause damage DHP are removed and the fluff is adjudicated as the character dodged, or otherwise avoided being wounded but lost energy as a result. Once DHP have been lost and the character only has MHP left, hits start being wounds.
Exceptions:
Critical hits, hits that require a fortitud save due to massive damage, and sneak attacks all result in wounds to the PC. However, this is purely a fluff rule; no damage is removed from MHP if it can be instead removed from DHP. These wounds don't necessarily make a 'devastating wound,' as are usually described, they could just be a nasty gash to the arm or some such. Thought process is it's 'critical' and does a lot of damage because it's more likely to slow a player down.
Nonlethal Damage:
Up to the point where the PC has exhausted their DHP, there is no mechanical difference between lethal and nonlethal damage. When receiving nonlethal damage either from being hit or from fatigue rules, it's counted as regular damage to be removed from DHP. Once there are no more DHP, nonlethal damage comes back into play and is adjudicated as per RAW as if the character's maximum hit points were their MHP total.
Result:
You have a character with the exact same number of hit points, can take the exact same number of hits, and have the exact same lethality as the rules currently outline, but gets killed after getting wounded only a handful of times. Best of both worlds, IMO.
Thoughts? Comments? Horse-shoes?