What Is Constitution Anyway?

[systemstate]

This is just a thought experiment really. I'm not asking for the "wiki" definition of constitution- I'm curious to see what others think the CON score means, and want to understand the thought process behind the attribute itself.

Today, I was wondering what my constitution score would be in real life (dorky I know). Then I thought, "What exactly is CON a measure of anyway?"

For example, let's say we have two level 1 fighters. One with a CON of 10 and the other a CON of 16. They are both hit with say... Burning hands.

If we were to envision the scenario correctly, would both fighters exhibit the same burns and blisters? Are both of them equally damaged? If so, this means that CON is simply one's ability to ignore pain and continue to fight.

Or, does the fighter with a higher CON score somehow resist the physical blistering effects of being burned? If this is the case, it raises the question of what Hit Points are a measure of.

I'm just trying to wrap my head around how two characters can be equally physically damaged and yet one of them is much better off than the other. Is this just an inherent design flaw that we choose to ignore for convenience?

Again, I'm perfectly fine with the game as is, and have no desire to change it. I just want to understand it better.

[Plattt]

A dump stat

[shadow_419]

Constitution is like a fitness score. The healthier you are, the more likely you are to recover quickly from wounds and fight through pain.

[stainer]

Constitution is a score that determines how tough you are, and your ability to play through the pain. Here are real life examples.

European soccer players have a CON score of 3 on average. They often faint if a butterfly lands on them.

Rugby players have a CON score of 17 on average. They can survive a hit and run from a semi truck and still go on a pub crawl.

I hope that clears everything up for you.

[ZodacBKB]

I'd say Constitution is the general measure of healthiness and toughness of a character.

It sounds like the question you're asking is: what are hit points? This is a very good question.

Is it that high hp characters can take a lot of physical damage; do they actually survive 100 sword blows? It's hard to imagine how one person can be impaled by a spear and die, while a level 20 character get impaled 3 times and laughs it off.

Is it that they are experienced and avoid the damage; they twist and none of the hits are telling, and only the last hp is the mortal blow? Then why does cure light wounds top off a low level character, but barely help a high-level character?

[Tiamos]

Con is a measure of how fat you are


In all seriousness, that's a good question. All the analogies I could think of would just as easily apply to strength as constitution, or only applied to part of the equation (IE some people are extra resistant to getting sick but prone to spraining their ankles).

In all likelihood, hitpoints were just designed as a catchall meter to determine how close your character is to losing (death), and Con was designed as a stat to give the player some control over that meter. It's likely that Constitution was just chosen as the word because the real definition is close to the concept. Boring answer I know, but it's seems the most probable.

[systemstate]

A dump stat

"Dump Stat"

[biggin]

Brett Favre

[SINIBYTE]

It sounds like the question you're asking is: what are hit points? This is a very good question.

A digital measurement of an analog concept.

Think of it as endurance to withstand injury and pain before finally succumbing to your wounds. There needs to be a break point that says "this is enough". Going below zero is just the straw that broke the camels back.

[therobb]

All of life's questions can be answered by Bruce Willis movies.

In this case, think of Bruce's character David Dunn in Unbreakable. In PnP standards, his con is probably in the high 20s.

His godlike con gives him a higher tolerance for pain and physical resistance of damage.

His bones are harder to break, skin harder to cut, etc., than a normal person.

If he were to actually be wounded, he'd have some amazing regenerative abilities on the level of Wolverine.

On the other hand, his nemesis Mr. Glass is a drow sorc with con as a dump stat. He feels minor pains more keenly (call it a weak nervous system), his immune system can't fight off the most common bacteria, his bones are brittle, etc.

See also: http://www.jinx.com/Content/Product/461p_0c_1b.jpg

[PresentTense]

As far as making sense of HP goes, it does get a little absurd at high levels. That's why some people prefer the vitality/wounds system.

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/ad...oundPoints.htm

Vitality damage is damage you dodge, not hundreds of HP in damage you just soak up.

[systemstate]

Haha, so many fantastic answers! Good thing I didn't have a drink in-hand while reading through them.

Seriously though, like most I suspect CON/HP is a somewhat imperfect system that works well enough to get the point across.

One can only guess as to what Gary and Dave envisioned when they came up with the stat in the first place. But whatever their thinking, I suppose it works as intended by giving us an easily measurable metric.

[Xyfiel]

http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Loss_of_Hit_Points

Consider a Barbarian who is trained with no armor how to avoid blows and a wizard who never enters combat.

[thwart]

You mentioned hit points in your original thread. Even when I played PnP many, many years ago, I always had a problem with the notion that a character or monster could take blow after blow and keep fighting until they reached 0 hit points. I mean really if you take a couple of good whacks from a sword in real life you are going to be down for the count. So I always envisioned hit points as a measure of your health and your luck and all of those types of things. For example ... if I have 50 hit points and a monster scores a hit and I take 6 hit points of damage maybe the monster did not inflict a wound at all ... perhaps he has tired me a little from defending his skillful blows. Eventually my luck and stamina will run out and I will take actual wounds that will cause me to die.

Anyway ... that's how I always imagined it.


Edited to add: I should really read the posts ahead of me before I post a response. Others said what I was trying to say only they did it more eloquently.

[Trillea]

One of the most fun (but most dangerous to be sure) game systems that I have ever seen/played was the Star Wars d20 system before the changes. In it, if you are not familiar, you had basically 2 sets of HP - I think they were called vitality points and actual hit points. Vitality points were calculated pretty much like HP are in D&D 3.5, and after they were gone, you started taking damage on your actual hit points. BUT - and this is a big but - critical hits were taken directly off of the body points. When they were gone, you were dead.

Edit - the actual hit points were equal to your CON score, and could only be raised by raising your CON.

[AyumiAmakusa]

Con is how tough you are and how much material you're made of. Hence, TOUGHness increases HP too. Elves get a -2 Con because they're flimsy and delicate and snap like a twig. WF get +2 Con because they're durable, muscle-y and generally made of wood, metal, etc.

It's like comparing a boxer to an ice skater.

[zorander6]

A constitution is a piece of paper that delineates what a body of people think should be the rules that everyone should live by. One of the most famous is one that was written a couple hundred years ago by some rich white guys who didn't like their overseers....oh wait......



Constitution is a measure of how sturdy you are. A WF being is going to be more sturdy than an elf because of physical structure. Someone can be big and not overly strong, or small and skinny and overly strong. The big person will most likely be sturdier all around even if they are weaker than the small skinny person.

[Club'in]

My Granddad always referred to taking a dump as his "daily constitutional". I hope that helps.

[Alabore]

European Soccer Players Have A Con Score Of 3 On Average. They Often Faint If A Butterfly Lands On Them.

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Love Hockey myself...

[TFPAQ]

Constitution is a score that determines how tough you are, and your ability to play through the pain. Here are real life examples.

European soccer players have a CON score of 3 on average. They often faint if a butterfly lands on them.

Rugby players have a CON score of 17 on average. They can survive a hit and run from a semi truck and still go on a pub crawl.

I hope that clears everything up for you.

... is the guy who drives everyone home from the pub crawl...