The Evolution of Fantasy Role-Playing Games - Michael J. Tresca [33]
Four major developments originated with wargames and were subsequently adopted by role-playing games and Dungeons & Dragons in particular: hit points, armor class, morale, and saving throws. Hit points, as described by Gygax in the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Player’s Handbook, represent the amount of damage a character can sustain before dying. It is a confusing term, because the definition of a “hit” can vary. Hit points can represent physical punishment, luck, skill, and other factors (1978:34). The Dungeon Master’s Guide explains that the increase of hit points is explained by heroic levels of sheer luck, a highly developed sixth sense, and even divine protection (1979:82).
In a miniatures wargame, hit points work well, because the sheer number of troops makes such abstraction necessary. Units do not usually increase in power through levels, so it is not necessary to increase in hit points. Troops are either stronger or weaker according to type and battlefield conditions, and the power level of the troop type largely remains static.
Hit points have always been an abstract concept for Dungeons & Dragons. Critics claim it inaccurately represents battlefield conditions, especially when characters of higher levels can survive thousand-foot falls or explosions. Massive-damage rules were later instituted (the amount varying, depending on the edition of the game) that ensure the character has a chance of dying from such terrible events. Coup-de-grace rules were also implemented so that a helpless character can die despite his massive number of hit points.
If the phrase “hit points” seems like an odd choice for the development of a role-playing character, armor class is even more peculiar. Armor class determines how easily a character can be struck by a weapon. The number is not limited to armor, but includes the creature’s size, agility, and even its dimensional or extra-dimensional form (1978:36).
One possible source for armor class and hit points is Dave Arneson’s rules for a naval civil wargame, Don’t Give Up the Ship! (Rausch 2004). For a civil war naval battle game about ironclads, armor class makes a lot of sense. Ironclads’ armor was an important factor in resisting bombardment, and the “class” of the ship references ships of a similar design. Although armor class might have been inspired by the rules in Don’t Give Up the Ship!, there is not an explicit attribute with that name in the game’s rules (Finarvyn 2007). It seems more likely that Arneson’s house rules for armor class never made it into the final published version of the wargame.
The majority of role-playing games that followed Dungeons & Dragons abandoned the notion of defining defense as armor class. Like the word “hit” in hit points, the phrase implies that “armor” is the only form of defense. The term “class” is both archaic and used in other forms, like the profession of a character. The modern version of the d20 rules set, derived from the third edition of Dungeons & Dragons, abandoned armor class entirely and replaced it with defense.
The Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Master’s Guide defines morale as the will to fight (Gygax 1979:67). Morale first makes its appearance in Don’t Give Up the Ship! as a factor determining boarding actions and crew types (Finarvyn 2007). It was subsequently used as a rule to determine henchmen, hirelings, and all other nonplayer characters in the employ of the player character.
Saving throws are an additional mechanic for dealing with dangerous situations. Don’t Give Up the Ship! featured saving throws as a roll to determine if morale drops. In later versions of Dungeons & Dragons, saving throws became complicated situation-specific mechanisms to determine the effects for paralysis, poison, death magic, petrification, polymorph, rods, staves, wands, spells, and breath weapons on player