Hits and hazards

Probably since the first player character was crushed by a troll in one strike, RPGs have acknowledged the need for a buffer between the player characters and instant, arbitrary death. And this has lead to confusion and debate, not to mention plentiful variants, from Hits to Stamina to Wounds to Wound Levels and Consequences. And whether we choose to use ever-growing piles of Hit Points by Hit Dice per Level, or Hits by Location, or a stable pool of Hit Points closer to the average of Strength and Constitution, it’s hard to be sure exactly what these HP are.

Are they are rating of how much physical damage the body has taken? Or do they include abstractions such as physical harm, fatigue, luck, shock, or even the character’s will to survive? In most cases, as Tracy Hickman has pointed out, these Hit Point systems are really a pacing mechanism, showing the dramatic gap between the start of combat and the point where one side or the other is defeated.

So for lighter systems, tinkering or for solo play, I use what I call Resilience or Resource (Res). Each character has perhaps 2-3 points each, and a significant strike costs a point. When the character has no more Resilience, then the consequences of damage are severe, depending on context (they’re wounded, struck down, knocked out, etc.). This provides the interval between a single hit and a character expiring, with dangerous consequences down the line.

Hazard Points

What if we reversed the flow of hits and replaced them with Hazards? Here, instead of handing out damage, the GM assigns Hazard Points, which represent how much danger or trouble the character is in. This is also abstract, but it’s based on the situation and the risk the player is taking, not their personal reserve of luck or vitality.

A Hazard Point could be:

• A minor wound or blow, that throws the character off-balance
• Fatigue, as the character weathers a series of strikes
• Position, as the character is outnumbered or driven into corner
• Exposure, as the character risks enemy fire to maneuver

Or any other feature of the situation that raises the stakes.

Character would have a suitable maximum number of hazard points they could take, around 3 for a gritty engagement, before their luck runs out and they face real, proportional consequences: a wound, a stunning strike, a disabling injury.

How characters deal with Hazard Points also depends on the context. Fatigue can be taken off by resting in safety. Minor wounds would take time to heal. Perhaps a character under fire can take shelter. Or armor can absorb a hit. In these cases, the Hazard Point is erased.

To represent Hazards, the GM could use a pool of chips of some kind, which are handed to the player and handed back as the situation is resolved.

This resolution system is still abstract, but the focus is on risk and danger, not PC qualities, and the Hazard tokens that track upwards as danger looms are a nice way to manage tension in the moment.