In some other games I play there are easy in game descriptions for damage level of the enemies. With HP that is a struggle, I would like something similar for Pathfinder, I don’t want to tell the players the target is at X Hp. I want to have a universal set of terms for approximate damage.
So i was thinking maybe something like
X at 50 percent or less of HP
X at 10 percent of less of HP
Im trying to come up with good idea for what the terms should be.
I have already done this for level (even though its not always used i try)
If you want to see what I have done with that I can start another post
So like, thesaurus Input?
>75% = Pained
>50% = Wounded
>25% = Marred
>0% = Maimed
Though there are many other alternative synonyms that are just as practical.
I also asked on Face book and this was a suggestion that goes along with the levels of Cure Spells
Lightly Damaged Any Damage
Moderately Damaged Less Than 75% HP
Seriously Damaged Less Than 50% HP
Critically Damaged Less Than 25% HP
Honestly, I would suggest to just not tell them how damaged it looks at all since there are specific spells that do that like deathwatch. I like to visually describe attacks, events, or even describe the monster's movements.
"The spear flings from your wrist, zipping through the air before lodging itself soundly into the giant's torso. A roar of pain escapes from him as blood oozes steadily from around the shaft."
"The beats raises a large club, but sluggishly and not without the accompaniment by a wincing hiss."
After all who really knows what a 25% damaged ooze or undead dragon looks like. I don't really like my players feeling like any point of a combat is safe or less intense or the steaks are higher than others. When they kill it, then they are safe.... sometimes.
I too like to describe the hits, the more significant the damage, the more brutal the injury.I also like to let the players know when the HP drops to 50%, 25% or so with remarks like, 'the monster looks pretty badly hurt' or 'He's suffering badly, but still in the fight'. Although, most intelligent creatures I run would likely flee or surrender if they get to those thresholds. Only the most stubborn or desperate creatures would fight to the death. I do the same consideration with large groups, say you've killed of half of the goblin horde, the other half is gonna try and run at that point. Or you take out the kobold chief, the rest of the tribe is gonna throw their hands up.
I played an old game called "Castle of the Winds" which used text to describe everything.
It used the following terms (and my guess at their health):
- Uninjured (100%)
- Barely Scratched (80-100%)
- Slightly Injured (60-80%)
- Injured (40-60%)
- Heavily Injured (20-40%)
- Critically Injured (1-20%)
- Dead (0%)
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D&D 4.0 used 'Bloodied' when a creature dropped below 50% (It was an actual condition that impacted how certain abilities worked, such as powers that only worked while bloodied or did extra damage against bloodied opponents).
Offhand, I'd suggest 'Bloodied' at 50% and 'Severely Bloodied' at 25%.
Of course, I mostly play on Roll20, so I can normally see the health bars anyway...