What Is Constitution Anyway?

[kaidendager]

CON is indeed a variety of things as people are saying, just as CHA represents many things (Telling jokes vs. negotiations, people will have different measures of each).

Hit points become tricky as we "fill them up" so frequently. Think of a boxer in the ring, he can take many good blows, but eventually it will take just one (that may or may not be stronger than the others) to knock him out (take him to 0 hp). In between rounds the boxer's corner "heals" him for a partial amount of the damage he has taken, but he won't come out of his corner feeling the exact same way that he did at the beginning of the match, indeed it takes many days of rest to naturally recuperate such wounds without potions (ie medicine) or spells (ie morphine).

[donfilibuster]

The sourcebooks comment on stats vary by edition but 2e PHB had it like this:

Any stat of 2 was animal like, you had to be 3 to function like a normal person.
12 was the average for a normal person, a commoner would have low stats of 10.
Even kids and elders would have 10, 8 is too low, like would u get labeled for dumb, weak or clumsy.
14 to 16 goes for above average, as in athletic or trained persons.
18 is stat for the heroes, set apart from the crowd.

From 18 to above you could draw comparisons with monsters and creatures.
Str was easy to chart since each type of giant had one more point of str ranging from ogre to titan.

Needless to say this apply to a down to earth simple medieval style setting.
Here the basic d20 rules are balanced and every +1 matters so feats like negotiator are actually useful.

For the high magic settings you are assumed and expected to have stats and power prowess above the norm.
The 18 would be just the beggining, and you are no longer ranking the physical stats in physical measures, like visible muscle, all would be raw superhuman power.

[Falco_Easts]

That always had me curious as well.

I played Rugby and was known by my team mates to be tougher then a $2 steak. I could take a beating from the opposition and keep on going. They used to joke that the only person that could injure me was me due to a few mishaps we won't go into. That being said my fitness was pretty much non existent even though I played sport year round. One lap and I was stuffed.

Good Con (HP) or bad Con (Fitness) ?

[knightgf]

Could we get a scale of 'constitution' levels to get a idea of how tough one is based on their constitution stat? For example:

Constitution 0: Dead Person
Constitution 1: Soon-to-be Dead Person
Constitution 2-3: Pee Wee Herman

And so on, and so on...

[LordMond]

At the other end of the scale, I think I'd have to put Rasputin.

We're talking low 20s at the very least.

[jcTharin]

hp is how far you can go before you give in. you get beaten on until your body gives in. as you go up in levels you have been in more fights and your body is more accustomed to it and is toughened.

just make a comparison between a normal civilian and a solder or something. give them both the same beating and who will go down first? the civilian. the solder got hit just as hard but he was able to just shrug it off because he is healthier and his training has made him tougher.

as for being able to fight fine until you get to 0, i would just write it off as adrenalin. that's the best answer i can think of

[Gregen]

Why not look up the literal definition?

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/constitution

Constitution - physical make-up and health.

Synonyms: architecture, build, character, composition, construction, content, contents, design, disposition, essence, form, formation, frame, habit, habitus, nature, physique, structure, temper, temperament, type, vitality

In the game it is general physical health. It's more than just hit points, which measure the amount of debasement your body can take before it stops working. It's also a measure of your fortitude, which CON also raises. Like your immune system. In game you save from poisons and things like that.

I'd imagine I have a low constitution in real life. I'm really thin. If something were to impale me, I would have less likeliness to survive than someone who had a lot of padding on their body, whether it be fat or muscle. Though I suppose someone who had hardy muscles and bones could stop, say, a sword from digging in deeper, away from vital organs and such. They have more there, physically. I also get sick easily during car rides or if I endure too much physical activity, i.e. jogging too long or working out too hard.

It is possible for someone to have a lot of hit points and have low fortitude saves or vice versa, in real life and in game. So, I don't know. Though I guess your fortitude also depends on the class you trained as.