Re: Negative Hit Point effects
Historically, it was often the side that routed in battle that suffered the most injuries, as their giving up and running allowed their foes to cut them down without any consequences. If a unit fought valiantly, even when outnumbered and outclassed, they could sometimes force their better opponent to retreat or even rout. Even a fighting retreat was better than a rout, as individual soldiers could protect each other from opportunistic attacks.
In the case of individual combat, this plays out when characters suffers -HP. If they do not attack, their enemy only has to wait until they collapse. If they do attack, they have a chance of taking out their enemy before they go unconscious and, if they are lucky, they wake up on their foe's corpse. In fact, this is when Berserk becomes an advantage, as you do not suffer stun, wound penalties, or move penalties from your injuries. A Berserk combatant can potentially disable a dozen opponents before they collapse from their injuries.
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