Thinking currently about how I want health to work in my TTRPG. I've defaulted to straight DnD-style hit points, unsurprisingly, but I also want to consider wound thresholds as well as any other health measures out there (seeking recommendations if you have them).
But for now, I'm willing to play with the notion of HP (a pool of points diminished over time by the number of damage received, replenished by healing and rest, and which upon reaching 0 results in unconsciousness and risk of death) and try to make that general idea work for the vibe, and other mechanics, of my game. It is straightforward, after all, and likely familiar to the theoretical average player of my game.
But I do definitely want to avoid the "only hit point that matters is the last one" trope that is strongly present in DnD 5e - there should be some consequence, some detriment, to being at 5 HP out of 25 total. On the other, possibly mutually exclusive but we'll see, hand, this is a game intended for heroic, superhuman feats. The player characters are called Paragons, after all. And as a result, I want to a) avoid the Death Spiral, wherein you are easier to kill the closer you are to dying, and b) make being near death feel like it does in shonen anime, or superhero comics, or ancient mythology: an opportunity for sheer force of will to shine through and empower the hero to unprecedented strength.
All this to say two things: 1) I have a long road ahead of me. This is an exercise in balancing both mechanics and vibes that might prove untenable, but I'm cautiously excited to make the attempt. And 2) my first attempt will be something like this: while being near death might impede your ability to land a hit or avoid one, it will also increase the damage you resist and the damage you deal.
