RPGs: strength, health, and hit points

Norman Barrows · 2015-11-16T18:26:18

whats the difference between strength and health? if we take strength as an indicator of body size, and it governs encumbrance, then what is health when it governs hit points? is it body size as well? or how healthy you are? if its how healthy you are, most characters ought to be 100% health, with only a few having some chronic condition which permanently reduces their hit points (less health = less hit points). hit points as a function of body size makes pretty good sense. a 3/4" deep laceration across the shoulder on a petite 110 lb female would be a more serious wound than it would be on an Arnold Schwarzenegger type, just based on arm size. but "strength" based on body size also makes sense, unless you model "getting fit" to increase your base strength. then body size would determine your base strength. so instead of strength, health, encumbrance and hit points, maybe it it should be body size, strength, encumbrance and hit points. body size governs base strength, you can "workout" to increase strength, but it goes back down over time. strength governs encumbrance and damage done, body size governs hit points. but maybe strength should affect hit points as well. someone in better shape can survive things a less fit person might not - such as six pack abs vs dagger or claw attacks. so that would mean you have a base strength, which goes up through use, and you can also train up, but its goes back down over time. and encumbrance, hit points, and damage done are all governed by/affected by strength. and the health stat goes away - assuming everyone is relatively healthy. in most RPGs your character doesn't have some crippling disease that leaves you with just a handful of hit points the whole game. caveman currently uses strength and health. strength is fixed and governs encumbrance and damage done. health is also fixed and governs hit points, and perhaps healing rate, disease recovery chance, chance to get sick, that kind of stuff. maybe strength should be variable as described above, and govern hit points, with health just affecting healing and sickness? IE health would be an indicator of the strength of your immune system. thoughts? comments? suggestions?

Game Design and Theory Game Design

Started by Norman Barrows November 04, 2015 05:19 PM

18 comments, last by DifferentName 9 years, 2 months ago

Brain

19,059

November 11, 2015 01:54 PM

You do not learn a new complex skill in days, or by just visiting a teacher once. So its all abstractions I guess

You can effectively hand-wave this and say it's possible due to magic and learning spells (fantasy setting) or matrix style knowledge upload directly to the mind (Sci fi setting). It's all about making your player suspend belief and accept it as part of the game world. Generally xp points is something like this, just accepted design for an rpg...

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DifferentName

1,371

November 16, 2015 06:26 PM

But most games don't hand-wave it with magic or technology. Thematically, most games treat leveling as natural growth and skill development. You suspend your disbelief in the rate of improvement because it's a game, and leveling up is fun. It's not meant to happen at a realistic pace, because that would be boring.

Radiant Verge is a Turn-Based Tactical RPG where your movement determines which abilities you can use.

RPGs: strength, health, and hit points

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