tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post7075341438332715049..comments2023-10-14T03:58:59.333-06:00Comments on The Tao of D&D: BU to HPAlexis Smolenskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10539170107563075967noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-51254428142244535092015-01-21T07:23:45.137-07:002015-01-21T07:23:45.137-07:00Scarbrow,
Your first paragraph more or less has i...Scarbrow,<br /><br />Your first paragraph more or less has it right, except that you Can train to bleed less. A sword cut that would hit directly and cut open a mere soldier would only tear the skin on a master at arms because of how the latter would shift to avoid the direct hit. Comparatively, the master would bleed less because the wounds the master received would be less deep.<br /><br />According to the post above, the 'wound' would be half the defender's BU above zero. However, I added the content above wounds for this post in order to bring home the difference between BU and hit points. I actually run my wounds according to <a href="http://tao-of-dnd.wikispaces.com/Wounds" rel="nofollow">these rules on my wiki</a> - which makes every hp damage of a certain amount count as a wound, while enabling persons with higher levels to survive wounds better.<br /><br />Alexis Smolenskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10539170107563075967noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-25695004511581862462015-01-21T02:53:54.336-07:002015-01-21T02:53:54.336-07:00If I understand correctly, you'll spread the p...If I understand correctly, you'll spread the positive hit points over the "healthy" positive BU's (>0) and the (leveled characters') fixed nine negative hit points over the (fixed) three negative BU's (<0), with 0 BU always corresponding to 0 HP. So negative hit points will always translate to negative BU's as 3:1, but as hit points increase, the HP:BU ratio will grow from 1:1 to 2:1, 3:1 and so on. This means all "wounded and stunned" creatures will die at the same moment and at the same rate, consistent with the hypothesis of BU's being an expression of pure physical fitness. You cannot train to not die and you cannot train to bleed less. Have I understood it right? <br /><br />Then, concerning wounds, the advantage of higher-leveled characters is not that they are more resistant to wounds, but that they are harder to wound (need to lose more HP to lose half their BU) owing to skill and training. <br /><br />I have, however, a question. You say in the text that the wound would happen when losing "half the defender's BU above zero". Would that be <i>total</i> BU over 0 (which seems consistent with the fixed scale of 11HP shown on <a href="http://tao-of-dnd.wikispaces.com/Wounds" rel="nofollow">wounds wiki page</a>), or <i>current</i> BU over 0 ("at the time the damage was done", as suggested by the "stunning" wiki page). I suppose it's the former, but I'd like to make sure. <br /><br />I'm also interested in the extension of this system to greater masses, as you hinted you would treat another time. Would you extend the negative range too, or just the positives? With time-to-death-from-0-HP depending on this, I think I would. How about you? <br /><br />Thank you again for a clear example of how to design and explain mechanics.Scarbrowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14354844943665937610noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-14234617367550708842015-01-13T14:51:32.346-07:002015-01-13T14:51:32.346-07:00Exactly! My thought was to translate that to other...Exactly! My thought was to translate that to other mechanics. The person at 1 BU might take a -2 penalty to attack and AC either because they are just completely worthless in a fight, or because they have beaten into being completely worthless in a fight.<br /><br />I don't think I'm the only one who saw this post as a natural expansion of those HP posts. I've been so excited about commenting because I loved the insight those posts had. They got me thinking about transparency with my players, and how much information I could impart by just sharing HP values.Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17939309042792833333noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-57419007120059193992015-01-13T14:36:10.446-07:002015-01-13T14:36:10.446-07:00Matt,
That makes me think of the party encounteri...Matt,<br /><br />That makes me think of the party encountering orcs patrols outside their lairs. I've done all this math to indicate that these orcs ought to have more health than average orcs, like 7 or 8 BUs, rather than 1-8 like the book suggests.<br /><br />Wait, wait, I think I wrote about this once before! Was it <a href="http://tao-dnd.blogspot.ca/2014/07/back-to-beginning.html" rel="nofollow">here</a>?Alexis Smolenskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10539170107563075967noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-26126885231002782962015-01-13T14:21:14.651-07:002015-01-13T14:21:14.651-07:00Yes, Discord.
Humans and demi-humans fall into th...Yes, Discord.<br /><br />Humans and demi-humans fall into the 1 HD category as far as creatures go. Everything above would dovetail with my own wider mass per hit die rule.<br /><br />Most dumb creatures (anything without trained skills) will fit into a 1 BU = 1 HP framework - but dragons would have extra hit points for mage training, rakshasa would have extra hit points for clerical training, a hill giant army commander would have extra hit points for fighter training and so on.Alexis Smolenskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10539170107563075967noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-88513370032693934232015-01-13T14:11:50.704-07:002015-01-13T14:11:50.704-07:00It also just occurred to me that you could use BU ...It also just occurred to me that you could use BU to give situational bonuses and penalties to a character, if that was your bag.<br /><br />If we wanted to use low BU to simulate being unfit to fight, we could say that any character at 1 or 2 BU suffers a penalty to attack, or to armor class. Conversely, a character at 7 or 8 BU might gain similar bonuses. <br /><br />I doubt that you want to use the system that way, but it is very exciting how many uses this scale has. I will definitely be using this.Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17939309042792833333noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-71301153582932670432015-01-13T14:01:58.098-07:002015-01-13T14:01:58.098-07:00This system is pretty amazing. I especially relish...This system is pretty amazing. I especially relish the fact that you've put more time, effort and RESEARCH into the problem than the original designers did. Major kudos!<br /><br />I notice in the post that 12 BUs are listed as the maximum for a human of such-and-such mass. Do you plan to expand this for: different human masses, different masses for different humanoid races (human versus dwarf) and different non-humanoid races (horses, dragons, etc.)?Discordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08043118219587453293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-4769147425802737602015-01-13T07:35:27.813-07:002015-01-13T07:35:27.813-07:00Matt,
Yes, as hit points are accumulated, they wo...Matt,<br /><br />Yes, as hit points are accumulated, they would be evenly distributed.<br /><br />The same rate for wounding is intended - as you level, the wound has less impact upon your action and effectiveness in combat.Alexis Smolenskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10539170107563075967noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-56325581839518539112015-01-13T07:32:31.583-07:002015-01-13T07:32:31.583-07:00This is brilliant.
If I understand correctly Eric...This is brilliant.<br /><br />If I understand correctly Erick's BU and his HP are linked. If Erick takes 4 points of damage reducing his HP from 7 to 3, his BU will similarly be reduced to 2 (and he will be wounded, which will cause him to lose 1 BU per round hereafter.)<br /><br />If he is effected by something that directly damages his BU, dropping it from 4 to 2, his HP will be reduced to 4. (And he is still wounded.)<br /><br />How does this translate to higher HP values? If Erick is higher level, and has 32 hit points how are those assigned across his BU? Are they just evenly distributed? <br /><br />Also, it seems by the wounding rules that once you are wounded, whether you are level 1 or level 10 you are bleeding out at the same rate. I assume this is working as intended, but I can imagine my players' faces as they hemorrhage 8 HP per round.<br /><br />If I can add my own thoughts: Inclimate Weather. If the party finds themselves travelling in the constant rain, or through colder winds than they prepared for, a loss of 1 BU would be devastating for the poorly conditioned mage, but pretty manageable for the well travelled Fighter.Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17939309042792833333noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-82246352467975783502015-01-13T04:42:51.713-07:002015-01-13T04:42:51.713-07:00This looks like a good system. I'm not really ...This looks like a good system. I'm not really playing these days, but it feels nice to finally see an explanation of hit points that makes some logical sense, so I just wanted to say I think you're doing good work here.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14189911599909073698noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-8236962804756108742015-01-13T03:35:31.244-07:002015-01-13T03:35:31.244-07:00This is really good, and distils something that ha...This is really good, and distils something that has been on my mind for a while into a really workable system. I had experimented with not giving players extra HP as they levelled but instead reducing damage based on their level previously, and while it was worked into a usable system in the end, it did not have the simplicity or elegance that your way has the potential to have, and the way your system naturally expands to allow for attacks directly to the BU is nice and neat!<br /><br />I know you're not a huge fan of 5th edition, I agree with you, but for me, there is a lot to like in it too and I am determined to house rule it into submission and this is definitely going to be the basis on how I handle heath and HP(though I am thinking over using CON actually as the BU, a rejiggle of your numbers), so thanks! Now all I have to do is work out how to present it neatly and intuitively on a character sheet!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00640140513753627174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-71183583099508766962015-01-12T22:27:10.360-07:002015-01-12T22:27:10.360-07:00That second chart made the post. Very cool to thin...That second chart made the post. Very cool to think about, and the possibilities it creates in terms of potential in-game effects is amazing.<br /><br />Diseases or poisons could actually be made to deal damage directly to BU, making them potentially debilitating/lethal even to higher-level characters.<br /><br />Imagine a weary warrior-king forced from his sickbed to take up arms against an invading force, stuck with a fraction of his hp at most! So cool.<br /><br />This is the stuff that keeps me reading, bravo.Pandredhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03917809464727878157noreply@blogger.com