(OK maybe not drop three tabs next time Sandra! Two is more than enough #LSD)

So being hit means getting some damages like DSFs (Death Save Failures) & lingering injuries. You kind of don't want these. You want to be healthy & living.

Luckily you have something called Hit Points that you can spend to negate a hit!

Each damage is associated with a cost to avoid it, block it, or otherwise negate it!

The skeleton hits you (you fail a defense roll 1d20 + 2 = 6 vs the skeleton's attacks' DC 14) for 5-damage.

Oh no, a 5-damage! You have to pay 5 hit points to avoid it!

If paying that takes you to your wound threshold or below, you will get hurt, and if it takes you to zero you might start dying!

The price is double if you have vulnerability to that damage type, or halved if you're resistant. It's free if you're immune! Talk about discount!

Monster attacks can inflict:

• outright death
• death save failures
• death save rolls
• injury rolls
• wounds
• bloody cuts
• other effects (such as a ghoul's paralyze, a crocodile's grapple, a wight's life drain)

Sometimes you can spend HP to avoid these, sometimes you also need to make a save, spend actions etc. There are "messy" effects (such as a crocodile's bite among other things) that can't be avoided with HP. That's just an ability those monsters now have!

For each wound you have, you lose 1 max HP every day.

Any magical healing heals all open wounds. The "Healer" feat can also heal wounds (unlike other injuries).

Otherwise, someone tending to the wound can heal it non-magically but it takes ten successes (the person tending the wound making DC 15 wisdom checks); the successes don't have to be in a row but you can only try once per day per victim.

Any failure means the wound turns into a festering wound. That doesn't reset the success count or anything, the only difference is that the "Healer" feat doesn't work anymore. That's right. One obscure little feat is all the difference between a festering wound and a normal wound.

Scimitars can inflict these kinds of cuts. For each bloody cut you have, you lose 1d6 slashing hp at the beginning of your turn. Magical healing stops the wound as does a DC 10 wisdom check taken by anyone. So they are much easier to fix than other wound types but also much more urgent.

More serious injuries are also accompanied by DSFs, passing out, or dying.

Here is why it matters where you swing.

You can attack the monster's weapon instead of attacking the monster. The monster defends with strexterity instead of AC. If the weapon remains near the monster at the start of their turn they can usually just pick it up for free as long as they have a speed higher than zero, so act quickly once you've disarmed them!

You can also use the scimitar ability or any other weapon maneuver if you're proficient&wielding the appropriate weapon.

Beyond those two, any critical hit connects! And has a one-time effect depending on the target area.