Trying to make consistent sense of what damage and healing represent

[MikMod]

Originally Posted by Jeff Lord

What is a "wound," exactly? We have a 5 second combat round (as opposed to 1 second in GURPS); a lot can happen. When a sword (any) hits you for maximum damage, that might be one good shot - or it might be two or three, or more. The same goes for a dagger in HTH. You take "hits" from a successful attack; that doesn't necessarily translate to a single "wound." Admittedly, arrow damage is harder to justify this way but that's a whole other story.

I admit I've never understood TFT this way. There seem to be too many examples of an attack being effectively a single blow. Not just arrows and thrown weapons, which are clearly one blow, but things like charge attacks, and the fact that armour and shields count just once against the attack. Reading the example battle in ITL it seems clear one attack is one strike.

Of course in melee combat there are many feints and a flurry of moves, but I always considered this to be a prelude to attempting to land one solid and disabling blow on your opponent. When I watch HEMA type fights it seems clear that it's usually that you create an opening for a decent strike, if you can, then pull back ready for the next clash, rather than hacking several times. So in my head the 5 seconds is used to try to manoeuver a good strike.

I'm not sure this is in itself is that important regarding healing though.