How many HP does a baddy have remaining?

[jjacjackson]

Obviously, it'd be great for any character to know how near death the opposition is. If the baddie is still fresh and invigorated then you may need to use some beef (higher level spell, power attack, better buff). On the flip side, if the character knows the baddie is near death, then those extra resources can be reserved for later (wizard may delay, no need for power attack, hold off on the buff, etc).

So my question is:
Is there RAW defining the PC's knowledge of how many hit points a baddie has remaining?

We have developed a chart that provides rough percentages for any observer:

100% = Full
90 - 99% = Bruised
75 - 90% = Hurt
50 - 75% = Injured
25 - 50% = Wounded
1 - 25% = Maimed

Just curious how others implement this knowledge?

[William Sinclair]

Death Watch covers this, though 4 hp and above is "fighting off death" or some such. There really isn't. I use various words to describe bad guys who are hurt, but I'd personally avoid a chart like you have. It allows too much metagaming, IMHO.

[Dave Justus]

In our games we use Roll20, and that application lets you show a 'life bar' above the tokens if you wish. The players can't see the numbers, but they can tell if it is still almost full or almost gone. I think it allows a pretty fair way to judge how wounded something is.

[Anguish]

I agree with William. There isn't a RAW method aside from maybe a Heal check, which you're not going to do in combat to your foes.

I basically "leak" maybe three stages of health to my players. "You've barely scratched him", "you're getting there but he's not on the brink", and "he can't take much more of this". I don't think any more granularity is a good idea.

[DM Livgin]

I'm going to try using some life bars in dry erase on our battle map. I'll see if the visual representation helps or hinders immersion.

[blahpers]

"He staggers a moment from your magic missile but appears unfazed despite the small bruises forming on his torso."

"That wound in his side is bleeding quite a bit. His grin turns into a snarl as he renews his attack."

"He looks desperate, like he's moving on adrenaline alone."

[Andrew Harasty]

Officially, there you need the Status spell to know how wounded a PC or NPC/Mob is and what conditions they are suffering. However, most players freely give this info to their party OOC.

Otherwise there is no IC display of a creature's health. You are in prefect shape until you at -HP.

However, most player/GMs will offer some IC visual cues. "He is beaten-up. Can't take too many more hits." Or, "He seems currently unconcerned about the little damage he has taken."

RAW does not prevent a GM from giving a description of the events as a results of the mechanics.

[Martin Kauffman 530]

In the home games I D.M., I let a player use a standard action to make a heal check ( higher DC for assessing opponents other than standard/core race and/or distance from the target assessed ). The target is then assessed as being slightly (1/6 or less injured ), somwhat ( about 1/3 injured ), moderately ( about half ), severly ( about 1/3 hp remaining ), or critically injured ( less than 1/6 hp remaining ).