It was kind of wild going from D&D to games that don't have tons of HP.
Players make different choices when they have a maximum of 7 health, and a random mook with a baseball bat hits for minimum 2, maximum "well if the dice keep exploding..."
You remembering you only have 4 HP in real life.
You have 4? I only have 2!
I've been leveling up at the gym.
Sure but a 75% chance it isn't fatal and I can just sleep it off.
Plus I get death saves, right?
NPCs don't get death saves. If you're a player character you probably already have more than 4hp. Unless you're a wizard with 6 or 7 constitution… If you are a wizard can you teach me some magic tricks?
....yeah....
1d8. There's a 12.5% chance that literally any damage will kill you.
I feel like those people would die off faster, so really you should be rolling HP with advantage.
A 1/4th chance of of death is better than none. Then I just need to make sure to lower my constitution and find an attacker with good dexterity. That makes it 3 quarters. If we allow the use of the "Oops all 6s" joker from Balatro that becomes a 4 quarters (100%) chance unless I for some reason turn out to be a player character.
But as a commoner you only have 4hp
So you can survive up to three stabs, but not four.
Or more hilariously, 18 full seconds of being attacked.
