Quote Originally Posted by Lyc

But if 3.x regards 'unconsciousnes' as hit point loss there is something wrong there.
You're "unconscious" when you run out of subdual damage.

The whole point of having 100 hp (a good amount for a 10th level Fighter) is that it's a measure of luck, skill & toughness. So you can't just get a single punch and KO someone who is that skilled.

Now I think there are alternatives that deal with being flatfooted (ie, not evading the blow).

I can't recall for sure. Having played D&D in about a year. Been running Spycraft 2.0 and that handles some of these principals differently.

But really, it's a tradeoff. If you allow PCs to be auto KOed by a sucker punch, then how they can hope to stand up against 30 orcs and a dragon? You might be placing expectations you'd have for a normal person on someone who is for all intents & purposes a trained superhuman.

You'd want a game that was less "heroic" and more "grim/gritty"

Quote Originally Posted by Lyc
By that token you could beat someone around the head with a sap/lead pipe/truncheon for hours and they would laugh at you. Ditto with a garotte.
If by "beating someone for hours" you mean about a combat lasting about a minute (in game) or longer, then yeah.

I can't see combats lasting an hour in game. And if you're in a combat beating someone down for hour and rolling dice all that time, it's time your GM just make a call that you took the guy down or he laughs at your puny attempts and walks away... or start a real combat.