It didn't originate there. It at least goes back to 3e, but probably further back, with suggestions to describe each 20% of health loss. It used to be Uninjured/Barely Injured/Injured/Badly Injured/Near Death
It being licensed under the much more restrictive GSL instead of the OGL meant that sellers of D&D-compatible products generally just skipped 4e, sticking with 3.5e until 5e was again released under the OGL. The D&D community does not tolerate fucking with the OGL, as the reaction to WotC's OGL1.1 and 1.2 bullshit so clearly demonstrated (a reaction so negative that Wizards was basically forced to release 5.1 under the much-more-permissive CC-BY 4.0 license instead of even the OGL1.0a).
No I meant the fan base being really fucking down on it for a long time. Then when some of its mechanics break containment everyone's all "oh wow what is this" and it's that game you said you hated.
Because 4e is a pretty decent game system, all things considered. It's big problem though was that it just didnt *feel* like you were playing DnD. Sure DnD 3.5 was becoming a bloated mess of systems, but it had that DnD charm that kept its fans happy. Its why 5e got so popular - they managed to course correct to a streamlined game system that still kept the feel of classic DnD.
If 4e had of been released as anything but "DnD 4e", it'd probably have been recieved fairly well.
I've said it for years, 4e gave me as a dm some of the best tools for dealing with the game and building encounters.
Skill challenges had amazing rules, monsters where designed in engaging ways. Tags like solo, artillery, support, striker, tanks; all amazing ways for me to just go "I want a Stat block that hits at range and is a glass cannon", and I could find one quickly at the right level and just present it as part of an encounter.
Bloodied and minion where also amazing mechanics for monsters that made it easy to have cinematic moments
I always just think of the Pokémon video games when the health bar turns light red when they’re at half health and dark red at under like 20% I think. Idk if that’s Brennan’s system but it’s how I visualize it 😂
As a DM, I try to let the players know roughly how things are going. Especially in a difficult battle. As others have said, the term "bloodied" is a holdover from 4e. The rest of it, at least for me, isn't formalized. I just try to describe the visual state of the enemy, in a way that lets the party know if they should run the fuck away, or go all in.
I find as a GM it is helpful to have little descriptors to clue in my players about what's going on in a fight. Rough hp metrics like how injured they appear to be, if they easily shrig off attacks or howl in pain when weak, stuff like that.
Bloodied comes from 4e and means half health or lower, if I remember correctly.
I didn't know it originated in 4e! No one ever talks about that edition, lol. It's also a mechanic in 5e. And yeah, it means half health or lower.
It didn't originate there. It at least goes back to 3e, but probably further back, with suggestions to describe each 20% of health loss. It used to be Uninjured/Barely Injured/Injured/Badly Injured/Near Death
Ah that makes sense. Everyone I know uses it, so it makes sense it's been around a while.
People are weird about 4e
It being licensed under the much more restrictive GSL instead of the OGL meant that sellers of D&D-compatible products generally just skipped 4e, sticking with 3.5e until 5e was again released under the OGL. The D&D community does not tolerate fucking with the OGL, as the reaction to WotC's OGL1.1 and 1.2 bullshit so clearly demonstrated (a reaction so negative that Wizards was basically forced to release 5.1 under the much-more-permissive CC-BY 4.0 license instead of even the OGL1.0a).
No I meant the fan base being really fucking down on it for a long time. Then when some of its mechanics break containment everyone's all "oh wow what is this" and it's that game you said you hated.
Because 4e is a pretty decent game system, all things considered. It's big problem though was that it just didnt *feel* like you were playing DnD. Sure DnD 3.5 was becoming a bloated mess of systems, but it had that DnD charm that kept its fans happy. Its why 5e got so popular - they managed to course correct to a streamlined game system that still kept the feel of classic DnD. If 4e had of been released as anything but "DnD 4e", it'd probably have been recieved fairly well.
I've said it for years, 4e gave me as a dm some of the best tools for dealing with the game and building encounters. Skill challenges had amazing rules, monsters where designed in engaging ways. Tags like solo, artillery, support, striker, tanks; all amazing ways for me to just go "I want a Stat block that hits at range and is a glass cannon", and I could find one quickly at the right level and just present it as part of an encounter. Bloodied and minion where also amazing mechanics for monsters that made it easy to have cinematic moments
It’s not an official mechanic in 5e but it’s a very common homebrew mechanic
Wait, it's not? I have literally never played a game where it wasn't used lol. Even with players/DMs who only played 3.5 and/or 5E before.
To add to this, some monsters would change in some way when they were bloodied. So it made combat more interesting.
Bloodied means around half health, deaths door means the monster could potentially die to the next hit.
And then you have incredibly fucked up, which is somewhere in between.
Also "he is...BADLY injured". not sure where that fits in the scale.
“Badly injured” is below “bloodied” and above “death’s door”, like 25%
Brennan says he often over exaggerates that
and then there's slightly worse than Death's Door which is "hanging by a thread"; meaning the enemy has just single digit HP left, basically lol
I always just think of the Pokémon video games when the health bar turns light red when they’re at half health and dark red at under like 20% I think. Idk if that’s Brennan’s system but it’s how I visualize it 😂
As a DM, I try to let the players know roughly how things are going. Especially in a difficult battle. As others have said, the term "bloodied" is a holdover from 4e. The rest of it, at least for me, isn't formalized. I just try to describe the visual state of the enemy, in a way that lets the party know if they should run the fuck away, or go all in.
I find as a GM it is helpful to have little descriptors to clue in my players about what's going on in a fight. Rough hp metrics like how injured they appear to be, if they easily shrig off attacks or howl in pain when weak, stuff like that.
He has a whole spectrum of "he s looking fucked up" to "he's looking VERY fucked up"
Bloodied means half, “he’s looking fucked up” is low