Hit points and damage, it is often observed, don't "make sense." They're wonderful game abstractions that persist because they are fun and work well, even if you sort of have to unfocus your eyes or rename HP to hit protection or boldly declare that characters get more blood as they level up or mutter something about fighting spirit, luck, and moxie. Regardless of your explanation of how HP is justified in the fiction, it just works. What I propose here isn't out of a desire to rationalize the game but seek another neat approach.
What if PCs had relatively bounded HP, asymptotically approaching 18, say, after several levels; and everything that did damage did 1d6 damage?
Some things which in the fiction and genre have no chance of lethality (sprained ankle, cat attack, unpoisoned dart) don't do damage, but might give a penalty of some kind.
Some things which in the fiction and genre may be lethal (sword stroke, 30 foot fall down a pit, 30 foot fall down a pit onto spikes) deal 1d6 damage. Particularly nasty harms might also come with a penalty or save.
Some things which in the game and genre are almost definitely lethal (deadly poison, 100 foot fall down a pit, eaten by a dragon) come with a save vs death.
It is a known and beloved house rule to have all weapons deal an equal 1d6 damage, differentiating them by their affordances in the fiction. This proposal is essentially a universalization of that principle.
As a treat, magic weapons can still get a bonus to damage, potentially exceeding a bare 1d6 damage. Won't that feel special?
The intention of this change would be to level out the HP/damage race, to make it easier to write a dungeon for a broad range of character levels, preserve a sense of heroism and heroic risk, and keep play in that sweet spot where PCs are always 1-3 bad turns away from doom.
I have come to something similar in my Live Action Role Playing game. PCs have 6 HP, modified sometimes by armor and magic items up to 12 (fully armored) to 18 (if you are really kitted out with amulets and magic rings). Weapons deal 1 damage, 2 for daggers, +1 for proficiency, +1 for magic weapons (if they like you). Keeps fights long enough to be interesting and short enough to not be boring.
ReplyDeleteIn this system, would you also bound monster HP and damage? I often find that it makes it easier to say "fights as 2 men" or some such if the powerscaling is pretty flat. I recall the immortal words of Arnold: "Zulin has 10 HD"
You definitely want to bound monster damage. Sort of like my recent giant post, it would be okay to exceed the HP bound, but ideally using special abilities or defenses to enhance a monster's fortitude rather than just a bigger number.
DeleteI've had some thoughts around HP in the 3-18 (ish) range before, see here: https://the-robgoblin.blogspot.com/2025/01/hit-points-as-ability-score.html
ReplyDeleteI'm not fully sold on all weapons doing 1d6 damage, though it's clearly popular. I have some thoughts of my own on keeping characters close to death, still writing the post but it's inspired by the Sanity mechanics in Call of Cthulhu. Nobody ever accused that of not keeping players on their toes!
Iris, a friend on a discord server, suggested pairing the old Greyhawk weapon attack table to differentiate weapons while keeping damage the same. That would address some of my own apprehensions about this rule.
DeleteI'll have to take a look at that - hacking around with Chainmail and OD&D is a bit of a pet interest of mine. Lots of interesting ideas that got streamlined out.
DeleteFrom enemy units being taken out in a hit, to certain units having multiple "hit points," to damage vs HP being a core mechanic, and back has been a circuitous journey for a lot of RPG development I think. This sort of thinking defined my approach to wounds in His Majesty the Worm. If the average fighter can take X hits doing average damage, let's get rid of the randomness and just have a defined number of wounds you can take.
ReplyDeleteIt's a worthy approach, but for my money I've always said combat is at its best when you have 4 HP and your enemy is rolling 1d6 for damage. That uncertainty is really exciting for me! Though I see how flat damage plays into HMtW's broader steez.
DeleteWorks fine for BRP-derived games, I like it.
ReplyDelete