Open4E:Hit Points

Hit Points

Hit points represent a character’s ability to withstand damage and keep fighting. A character’s base hit points are equal to twice their Constitution score, plus any points gained from their character class. A character gains a certain number of hit points per level (including first level); these are added to their base hit points to determine their total hit points.

Attacks which would harm your character are normally subtracted from your hit points. A character who has lost half their total hit points is bloodied; certain actions and effects only affect a bloodied character. Once your hit points are depleted, you are dying - a dying character must make an Endurance save each turn to stabilize, with a DC equal to the amount of damage they have taken in excess of their hit points.

Vitality

While hit points represents a character’s ability to withstand damage, vitality is a measure of a character’s actual health and survivability. Your character has a Vitality score equal to 5 + his Constitution modifier. Critical hits, the dying condition, and certain particularly grievous attacks cause damage to your Vitality.

Whenever your character (or any creature) suffers a critical hit, you automatically suffer one point of vitality damage. If the critical hit deals more damage than your surge value, you lose an additional point of vitality due to the severity of the wound. If the critical hit deals more damage than your bloodied value, you lose yet a third point of vitality. Additionally, whenever you are reduced to 0 hit points by an attack, you are dying, and must begin making Endurance saving throws during each of you turns to attempt to stabilize; each failed saving throw causes you to lose another point of vitality.

Healing Surges

Each point of vitality also provides you with one Healing Surge, which is an expendable resource that represents your ability to push through pain and reinvigorate yourself to keep fighting. Various feats allow you to spend a healing surge; when you do, you regain hit points equal to your Surge Value, which is equal to half your bloodied value, rounded up. When you take Vitality damage, you also automatically lose any healing surges in excess of your new Vitality, which you cannot recover until the Vitality damage heals.

Whenever you take a Short Rest, you may choose to spend any number of healing surges, regaining hit points equal to your surge value for each surge that you spend. If you have per-encounter feats that allow you to regain additional hit points when you spend a healing surge, you may use each of those feats once during the Short Rest.

Whenever you take an Extended Rest, you regain a number of hit points equal to your surge value times your remaining healing surges, then regain 1 point of lost Vitality if you have taken any Vitality damage. You then regain all healing surges up to your current Vitality.

Optional Rule - Lingering Wounds

Characters who want to play a more gritty game may utilize the following rule for detailed critical hit damage: whenever a character suffers one or more points of Vitality damage due to a critical hit, roll 1D20 + the amount of vitality damage lost to the hit, then subtracts the target’s Fortitude defense. Apply that status effect (if any) until all of the target’s vitality damage is fully healed.

• Roll Result Lingering Wound Effect
• 0 or lower No Effect
• 1 to 2 Cannot use main hand
• 3 to 4 Cannot use off hand
• 5 to 7 Slowed
• 8 to 9 Weakened
• 10 Deafened
• 11 Blinded
• 12 Dazed
• 13 or higher Stunned

Particularly gritty settings may wish to force players to make an Endurance roll during each extended rest in order to regain a point of vitality; a failure means no vitality is regained during that rest, while a critical success means two points are regained, and a critical failure means that one Lingering Wound effect becomes a permanent affliction until healed with high-level magic. One character may make a Heal check once per day to attempt to aid healing; if they succeed, one additional point of vitality is healed, and on a critical success two additional points are regained. A critical failure on this Heal roll should be treated as a critical hit from a weapon, inflicting damage equal to the character’s Surge Value.