What is a Wound? An attempt to bridge the divide.

[Argyle King]

At 1 hp, he can't fight as well, because a lucky hit from a goblin can drop him. At 100 hp, it can't. Therefore, he does not function the same.

True, but any hit at all from my character probably kills the goblin; no luck required. I do the exact same damage; move the same, and have the same ability until I am knocked unconscious or killed. That is not the case in other games.

 

[Mengu]

For the purpose of the game, a wound is a cosmetic change in the virtual depiction of your imaginary character based on an oft unstated agreement between you and your DM.

HP's are a number on a paper that indicate whether your character is conscious, or not.

I find the attempt to draw any analogies between the two and/or real life, to be a futile exercise in endless discussion which never gets anywhere, unless there is a poll, in which case lemon curry coconut cupcake wins.

 

[Argyle King]

For the purpose of the game, a wound is a cosmetic change in the virtual depiction of your imaginary character based on an oft unstated agreement between you and your DM.

HP's are a number on a paper that indicate whether your character is conscious, or not.

I find the attempt to draw any analogies between the two and/or real life, to be a futile exercise in endless discussion which never gets anywhere, unless there is a poll, in which case lemon curry coconut cupcake wins.

I'd say that's true of D&D, but not necessarily rpgs as a whole.

 

[Texicles]

...They hurt, they make things you'd ordinarily do with ease difficult. And they do not heal overnight.

In a similar vein, fatigue from strain, while not a traditional "wound," can have debilitating consequences. While I've never engaged in hand-to-hand combat where anyone's life was at stake, I imagine it would be at least as taxing as a long ruck march or a hard day at the gym. As both of those things have the capacity to leave one physically fatigued to the point that normal activity is not only difficult, but impossible, I must conclude that a life or death battle could yield the same kind of results. Not from wounds proper, but from the mere act of extreme physical exertion.

How does one reconcile this in game systems design? I honestly don't know. I can't call it a wound, and maybe this and "strawberries" are best ignored by all but the most simulationist of roleplayers. I'm not advocating that a housecat poses a real threat to life or limb, but it's difficult to find exactly where to draw the line on what we think of as wounds.

 

[Mengu]

I'd say that's true of D&D, but not necessarily rpgs as a whole.

Sure. In say Rolemaster, you can have broken ribs, that stab you in the lungs, and cause internal bleeding. But the system also allows for healing broken bones, organ damage, and bleeding. Historically that's not D&D, and it is highly doubtful D&D would adopt such a system. I made the assumption we were talking about D&D here.

 

[FireLance]

At 1 hp, he can't fight as well, because a lucky hit from a goblin can drop him. At 100 hp, it can't. Therefore, he does not function the same.

You see it as a lucky hit from a goblin. Someone else could see it as a hit from a goblin that isn't turned into a minor wound because the PC's own "luck" has run out.

(As an aside, in narrative terms, what makes a hit from a goblin "lucky" if the worst that could happen is the PC gets a scratch? It seems to me that it is only the process of making an attack roll for the goblin and seeing high numbers come up on the dice that leads us to say that the goblin was lucky when it hit, whether the attack actually kills the PC, or whether the goblin's "luck" was countered by the PC's own luck, vigor, or skill.)

However, I think we have enough trouble defining the nature of wounds without branching out into a discussion on the nature of luck, too.

 

[Zaphling]

Please take time to read Pathfinder's Vigor Points and Wound Points alternate system found in Ultimate Combat.

This is what DnDNext needs.

but i dont agree that it should be the standard default option since HP is too easy to understand and track.

THe Wound Point system is a bit complicated, just a bit. but i like the stystem altogether and im using it.

 

[Minigiant]

A wound, in the D&D sense, is an injury that would hinder the inflicted slightly but does not kill them. Painful bruises, bumps, and cuts. Twists of the leg and arm. Headaches and backaches.

They make you slower to dodge or parry, force to defend yourself in a different way, or even rob you of abstract defensive action.

Now since you do not (by default) suffer penalties for HP loss, D&D seems to use some sort of "adrenaline fixes all 'til it doesn't" system where you a bruised arm doesn't affect your attacking ability.

It's abstract and silly but it is a lot less work.

 

[Herschel]

I'll give it a shot. I'm pretty athletic, played ball in college, so I'll use that as a familiar ground. I pretty much kept my knees skinned up, such that I still have scars around my knees, and I still can't grow hair on my left calf. A really bad strawberry is a wound. It hurts like hell, and the scabbing makes it such that you can't bend your leg very well. That's a wound. It's not life threatening, but it makes everyday things like climbing stairs difficult, much less actually kneeling. A bad blister on your ankle or heel will make even walking difficult. That's a wound.

I played ball in college and a blister, strawberry or bruised ribs had better not affect me in any appreciable way or I'm on the bench and likely off the team. I still need to hit the hole, make my cuts, block, catch and hold on to the ball even when my ribs were tender. The only guy who could get away with a blister holding him out was if that blister was on the pitching hand of a baseball player or maybe on a QB's throwing hand he might miss a practice.

 

[erleni]

HP are just a measure of your ability to avoid being knocked unconscious. Wounds in D&D terms have no meaning and there is no clear connection between HP and real body damage.
It's a simple system that does not want to mimick reality in any way (I think the dev came up with the D&DN definition only to appeal to a part of the fan-base) and so anything related to HP (healing, healing surges and so on) should not be strictly simulationist.

The only important blow is the last one. All others can be refluffled in any way.