Are most people in a typical D&D setting aware that people can take more damage as they get more experience?
They don't have to know the term HP and the exact numbers, but if say a veteran fighter takes a flask of acid to the face and is okay, at worst needing only a full night's rest to fully heal, would most people attribute it to luck even though it's a consistent repeatable phenomenon, or would they acknowledge that there's something special about that fighter as a result of being in so many fights?
No, the veteran fighter didn't dodge the acid. No, the acid wasn't a dud. No, it's not a person's will to fight. No, it's not because the veteran fighter is wearing magical armor. No, it's not a combination of factors. Any way to explain how HP actually represent something realistic only creates illogical edge cases. Please assume HP literally exist for the purpose of my question.
Yes, I know HP are an abstraction. That doesn't answer my question. This is not a why question. This is a yes or no question.
I don't want your excuses. I don't want a pat on the back for realizing this very obvious acceptable break from reality. I don't mind HP in games. I'm asking whether people in the setting are aware that HP exist.
I do not care that game mechanics are unrealistic. I do not want to change any game mechanics to make them realistic. This is not about realism at all. It is about the awareness and behavior of NPCs.
My issue is with fictional characters in a fictional setting, where the game is all they've ever known, acting as though their setting worked exactly like real life when it obviously doesn't.
This is not a why question. This is a yes or no question. Do they know it, or do they not know it?
>>47538214
I think most people would accept a battle hardened veteran to be able to take more of a beating than a fresh newcomer and recover faster too. The problem is if the acid leaves no mark whatsoever and this repeats, then either the people think it's luck or magic or the game doesn't make other people aware of the "HP" stat.
>>47538214
People in DnD are generally aware that legendary heroes are capable of taking blows that would fell lesser beings, and keeping on trucking.
This is in keeping with our real world myths and fantasy tales, where similar things happen. Even in our action movies and video games and animes and whatever.
However:
Do people really try making DnD 'realistic' in any way? that's pretty dumb of them. The world is literally created out of the intersection of the elemental planes into the Prime Material plane, and is under no obligation to follow our RL rules of physics, chemistry and biology. I'm not sure why people think it does.
Also note:
Rules for PCs are rules for PCs. NPCs and monsters are under no obligation to follow those rules.
Usually non-lethal damage is assumed to be caused by an off-target attack if it something like an acid throw. Even if you aim at their face it might hit them indirectly if it only did something, say, 12 damage. Enough to kill a low-level character, but not a high-level one.
Of course, there is the alternate explanation that once you reach a certain level you are more than just an ordinary human. Even regular sword and board fighters are closer to being a legendary hero than just a very good swordsman once they reach a certain level. Such a powerful being may easily shrug off an attack that would kill a mere peasant.
The very fact of you being level 2 makes you a better fighter/rogue/wizard/whatever than 80% of general population. It's not a huge diffrence but it's there and the HP shift also signifies it.
In general, whenever I have to roleplay the massive diffrence between HP and damage, it's just the character being resilient to the point of the stuff not even leaving a mark on them.
>>47538214
No, because HP technically don't exist. They're a pure game mechanic.
No, NPCs are not aware of the mechanics of the game. The mechanics that govern NPC development and PC development are largely exclusive to one another. PCs develop to overcome challenges. NPCs are created whole cloth to be challenges. Only things like hirelings "level up" in regards to NPCs.
>>47538214
It's a game mechanic, not an ingrained physical law of the world.
Thinking that way leads you to those stupid jap "I'm a retard in an MMO world!" type of deals.
In 5eDMG they say that progress after lvl20 is an asciencion to Godhood.
So I'd say that yes, people would actually look at that as Godly favor to his/her champion.
But also it could be seen as an accustomization to damage.
In the real world, Wim Hof is capable of bearing temperatures so low it could kill a random person. And apparently he achieved it by practice.
People from medfan setting don't have our knowledge of biology, and could think that what doesn't kill us LITERALLY make us stronger in the physical sense.
So I'd guess it represents both Godly luck and physical advancement.
I hope i helped.
>>47539764
>stupid jap "I'm a retard in an MMO world!" type of deals.
KonoSuba is pretty funny.
