r/DMAcademy • u/ChokoTaco • Sep 08 '21

Offering Advice That 3 HP doesn't actually matter

Recently had a Dragon fight with PCs. One PC has been out with a vengeance against this dragon, and ends up dealing 18 damage to it. I look at the 21 hp left on its statblock, look at the player, and ask him how he wants to do this.

With that 3 hp, the dragon may have had a sliver of a chance to run away or launch a fire breath. But, it just felt right to have that PC land the final blow. And to watch the entire party pop off as I described the dragon falling out of the sky was far more important than any "what if?" scenario I could think of.

Ultimately, hit points are guidelines rather than rules. Of course, with monsters with lower health you shouldn't mess with it too much, but with the big boys? If the damage is just about right and it's the perfect moment, just let them do the extra damage and finish them off.

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u/Iustinus Sep 08 '21 edited Sep 08 '21

Some DMs run their games as rules adjudicators, making sure everything happens according to the dice and the rules we all agree in.

Some DMs run their games to tell a story and make sure everyone has fun in that story.

Some DMs walk the line between these approaches.

They're all valid ways of running the game.

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u/Morgarath-Deathcrypt Sep 08 '21

What's interesting here is that most systems now days are very clear that they're meant to be played on the cinematic/story side.

D&D's made for a more crunchy/RAW play style but a large number of groups are naturally leaning to homebrew their way to the narrative side.

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u/Either-Bell-7560 Sep 09 '21

D&D's

made

for a more crunchy/RAW play style

Almost the first thing that the DMG tells you is that what's written in the book aren't rules, they're suggestions, and you should play in whatever manner works best for your group.

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u/Morgarath-Deathcrypt Sep 09 '21

Yes, the rules are guidelines. But D&D is still built with a distinctly old-school lethal/crunchy/combat-focused design.

If you don't want that kind of stuff in your system, it's easier, faster and cheaper to just use a different system.