Damage, Inc. – 3WD Discuss What Hit Points Represent And How To Improve Your D&D Game By Changing Your Perspective.

3 Wise DMs

What do Hit Points represent? Who knew that this was a controversial question on par with asking about Alignment? Following our episode reviewing the Avatar Legends RPG and their use of Fatigue and Conditions, we posed the question regarding what hit points represent on our socials and the response was impressive.

In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave take a deeper dive into what Hit Points represent in their games, how they describe the loss of them, and how other systems approach one of the oldest traditions of D&D.

1:10 DM Dave’s article on Fatigue and Conditions from Avatar Legends.

1:45 What do Hit Points represent?

4:00 The history of hit points and armor class and the evolution towards 5e.

7:50 5e’s “Big Bag of Hit Points” and how DM Tony adjusted for his Journey to Ragnarok campaign.

12:30 When the “Big Bag of Hit Points” still doesn’t matter, even in 5e.

13:00 DM Dave’s article on Vampyr and the Dark Powers.

14:35 Should severe hit point losses carry additional consequences?

21:05 The simplicity of hit points to dial up the tension at the table.

23:30 How do we envision hit points and how do we ideally like to describe the loss of them.

32:48 How 4th edition handled this in a player-centric way through the Bloodied condition.

35:45 Lingering Wounds and additional consequences… are they right for YOUR table?

39:20 Final Thoughts.