User:Average/Hit-points
Hit Points (HP): based on race and (age and XP). HP refers to your personal power and your accumulation of experience to weather the volleys from the world. Armor, spells of defense, and your ability to slay (or avoid, intimidate, persuade) your attacker are your best defense. This encourages the development of good armor as players advance. You gain 1 HP for either an advance in year or level -- whichever comes first. (UPDATE: change this to 1d(# of multi-classes) per year/level. 4 classes? 4 HP per level.)
HP = int(log2(XP)*(CON/20)) + TIER_BONUS + 1. HPs are also awarded at tier boundaries (TIER_BONUS). There's a slight penalty for multi-classes because of the additional effort necessary in the soul (subtract total number of classes from the following). For Underling you get automatic +5HP bonus, and then bonusii are awarded after graduating from the tiers. The idea is that players should have a chance to perfect themselves at each tier rather than rely on the power of HP rewards. Once they've done that and graduated from their tier, they are rewarded the number of HPs as follows. Strider +10, Paragon +20, Legendary +30, Epic +35. This is the roughly the award for single-classed characters, adjusted by the DM depending on service to the gods (the reason for Tier bonuses are really rewards for conquering their enemies). As said before single-classes get a slight advantage on HP because it's less effort. These rewards can be adjusted downwards if they failed to serve their gods.
If you have 0 HP your unconscious and cannot hear/see/speak, etc. If you have mana left, you may get recussitated, with compression. If you have no mana at that point, someone has to put their mouth and breath air into your lungs. If no one does that within a round, you are not recussitatable.XXX
(XXX ignore this for now: Characters at 0 years old should have +1 HP. There is are two unspoken/unplayed tiers for young character development (able to feed self and language acquisition) which adds +2 HP by age 3, increasing the number of hit-points at age 3 to 6HP. From there they can accumulate 1 HP/(year or Level). Adjust these figures for races who age differently. Addendum: dwarves would get +2 for the "feed self" unspoken tier-level change. Elves get 5 HP gain at language acquisition pre-"tier" change. For fearies there is a tension because if they want more HP, then they age, which is a drawback. NOTE: Some of this material is advanced and you don't have to follow it if it's too much trouble. Just estimate and in time you'll make up the difference. It's here to give you more exact body mechanics that you can integrate or not.)
When a character is hungry they will lose HP or mana. These will mutually aid each other in an attempt to survive, but character will weaken until they collapse, whereupon it becomes harder to get food.
Another source of HPs is from divine dispensation. XXXTHis is outdated and probably fixed with tier bonusii. These are typically awarded at certain milestones for conquering various foes of your gods. Their victory becomes a gift of power.
If DM's are interested in exploring this, consider fractional levels below the normal starting level 1, as "development" levels where individuals do not yet have the ability to handle themselves in the world. Then, consider leveling at tenths of unit. Level 16/10 would be language acquisition, level 13/10 the ability to use your hands to feed yourself.
When HP gets below their Age (non-elf), a player starts showing sickness or weakness, noticeable by acutely-perceptive players. At 1, a player is prone. A DM could have an NPC decide to spare life here, for example, and create interesting game narrative. At 0, the player is unconscious and in-between life and death. What happens is highly dependent on the gods, mana, and others. Having to get resurrected costs the player a permanent point to Player Constitution (-CON) -- 1 point is lost for every 10 points they had, regardless of whether they had death saving-throws left to save them.
HP is related to Mana, about 1HP = 100 mana. Your HP also governs how long you can exert yourself before becoming spent -- too fatigued. It is calculated by taking your Age*100 to be your mana. This is what you have available before you expend yourself. Once you get here ("spent"), you must put your HP to 1 and gain 1 HP each time-quanta of rest until restored.
Jesters (a DM NPC) can pop in to sell you HP if you sell some of your XP (5000 XP for 1 HP? Whatever this devil can bargain for ;^>). Perhaps you're dying and ready to trade some of your soul to save your life? If you have a Cleric giving some death-saves, it's only 3000XP(???). (The Jester can accumulate this XP for his/her own life force and be found carousing randomly somewhere. He may invent other devious way to get XP to keep living in your game-world.)
HP regeneration is a factor of external mana applied (as from a healer) or oxygenated blood circulation and strong ancestry or strong gods.
Clerics cannot restore HP after you're below 0 without a cost to your XP. Herbalists may sell you a herbal restoration for a deathly-low HP -- at a cost.
