OSR Old school wizards, how do you play level 1?

Celebrim said:

I agree that they aren't "necessary" but I'm in the midst of running a long campaign for the first time in a system without hit points, and wow do hit points make life as a GM much easier. That ablative plot armor is almost better for GMs than it is for PCs because it allows you to prepare and run challenges in a much more predictable fashion. Without hit points, the line between an easy walk over and a TPK is just super narrow. Without hit points, too many things come down to single die rolls. Hit points mitigate against luck and let the dice fall where they may so much better than other concepts.

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Mannahnin said:

I agree. Especially for a game in which we want the characters to stick around and be part of ongoing narratives while still participating in battles on a regular basis.

You could also make a more abstract or less granular rule for injury and wounds, maybe something like the wound levels Ars Magica or the White Wolf Storyteller games used. But HP definitely serve the narrativist goal of having ongoing heroes who aren't quickly crippled or killed by regular participation in combat.

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Micah Sweet said:

I prefer a modification of the hp system, where once you hit zero your condition is in question until someone checks on you. At that point you roll on a table corresponding to the type of injury that brought you down, factoring in modifiers such as healing herbs, magic, how long you've been down, how far below zero, etc. The result is the severity of your injury, and how must bed rest you need to recover.

This strongly encourages taking measures to stay upright during combat, as whack-a-mole is almost entirely eliminated.

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Micah Sweet said:

We haven't met yet, but let me tell you I strongly believe in the opposite view. I prefer a simulationist approach to D&D-style traditional gaming, and want aspects of the setting modeled as closely to the world (that being for me real world reality unless obviously otherwise) as much as is practically possible. Things like experience points, leveling, and hit points, among others, are necessary abstractions needed for practical play. You include them because you have to IMO. When I have the option of choosing world-sense over game-sense, world wins.

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Krachek said:

I had been in the simulationist path for a long time, and I know the thrill of creating a fantasy world that make sense. But for me at the end the “world sense” collapse every time we play in it enough.

So it is now game first. And in that way I give the advice to start at higher level even if the characters pretend to be inexperienced. Just pretend they are better trained and prepared or gifted if you need a logical explanation.

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Micah Sweet said:

This strongly encourages taking measures to stay upright during combat, as whack-a-mole is almost entirely eliminated.

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Man in the Funny Hat said:

AD&D doesn't have a whack-a-mole issue without first house-ruling it in, because btb if you go to 0hp or lower you're in a coma for 1-6 turns, then dealing with 1 week minimum of bedrest, regardless of what put you under and what healing you received after. It's the rule for 1E anyway (DMG p. 82 under "Zero Hit Points"). Can't remember specifically about 2E.

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Man in the Funny Hat said:

AD&D doesn't have a whack-a-mole issue without first house-ruling it in, because btb if you go to 0hp or lower you're in a coma for 1-6 turns, then dealing with 1 week minimum of bedrest, regardless of what put you under and what healing you received after. It's the rule for 1E anyway (DMG p. 82 under "Zero Hit Points"). Can't remember specifically about 2E.

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Hovering on Death’s Door (Optional Rule)

You may find that your campaign has become particularly deadly. Too many player characters are dying. If this happens, you may want to allow characters to survive for short periods of time even after their hit points reach or drop below 0,

When this rule is in use, a character can remain alive until his hit points reach -10. However, as soon as the character reaches 0 hit points, he falls to the ground unconscious.

Thereafter, he automatically loses one hit point each round. His survival from this point on depends on the quick thinking of his companions. If they reach the character before his hit points reach -10 and spend at least one round tending to his wounds (stanching the flow of blood, etc.), the character does not die immediately.

If the only action is to bind his wounds, the injured character no longer loses one hit point each round, but neither does he gain any. He remains unconscious and vulnerable to damage from further attacks.

If a cure spell of some type Is cast upon him, the character is immediately restored to 1 hit point—no more. Further cures do the character no good until he has had at least one day of rest. Until such time, he is weak and feeble, unable to fight and barely able to move. He must stop and rest often, can't cast spells (the shock of near death has wiped them from his mind), and is generally con fused and feverish. He is able to move and can hold somewhat disjointed conversations, and that's it.

If a heal spell is cast on the character, his hit points are restored as per the spell, and he has full vitality and wits. Any spells he may have known are still wiped from his memory, however. (Even this powerful spoil does not negate the shock of the experience.)

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