[MUD-Dev] Level abstractions

[Huibai]

[Levels as abstractions for advancing HP and mana,
 plus Endurance which depends on an array of skills]

Caliban I think:>
:> Hit points are static. You have X hit points plus your usual
:> constitution bonus, period. Your additional ability to survive 
:> comes purely from skills like dodge, parry, 

Matt C:
: Pretty much sums it up, although: Constitution/Endurance/
: Stamina statistics should be increaseable, although not
: necessarily by a lot.

my current system, just as an idea to think on:
  - not complex but slightly better than straight HP
  - helps answer question: "How long should combat last?"

HP: hit points or health points - exact measure of how much
      damage your body can take.  a level 1 has 40 hp, while
      a level 24 has 65 hp.  notice someone 23 levels higher
      isn't able to take 23 times as much damage - not even
      two times as much.
EP: endurance points or effort points - how much effort you
      have to increase your offense, or how much 'wind' you
      have on defense before you start to take real damage.
      if in a simple fight, you spend this effort on extra tactics,
      which depend on skills but can end a fight quickly.  to
      do so reduces your available pool of ability to keep from
      getting hit, though.  players of higher 'levels' presumably
      have more experience and can last longer in a fight due
      to being more veteran, so these increase faster than HP.
SP: special points or spell points - your available mana for
      spells or trained tactics, which depend on skills of course.
      this represents the mental reserve, and is only spent from
      once the EP are all gone.  amounts are smaller than EP
      but similar in ratio for advancement.

HP go up at about 1 per level, SP at about 2 per level.
EP increment starting at 5, quickly going to 4, and winding 
  its way down to 1 point increase for the highest levels.
Naturally the first 15 'levels' see the best increases, while
  levels after gain somewhat smaller capability improvements,
  if you look at potential defense as being [HP+EP] and
  potential offense as being [EP+SP].  To increase your
  output of one reduces your reserve of the other.
I hope this lines up properly (stupid MIE editor!)...

A cut from my guideline table, as a base for [humans]:
 LEVEL   HP     (defense)      EP     (offense)      SP
    1     40        (80)        40        (70)        30
    7     46       (112)        66       (116)        50
   14     54       (142)        88       (153)        65
   20     61       (165)       104       (186)        82
   24     65       (175)       110       (200)        90

All of the above is completely invisible to the player, who
  doesn't even know that he has levels or XP.  He merely
  has two graphic bars (% of HP and % of SP).  EP is a
  hidden mechanic I play with between the two.

Hope this sounded interesting and gave someone an idea.
-John G.