Here are some revised thoughts on this topic.
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Hit Points are replaced by “Wound Points” and “Morale Points”. Loss of Wound Points represent physical injury, while loss of Morale Points represent fatigue, pain, and fear.
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Man-sized creatures have 5 Wound Points, modified by their CON adjustment. For large creatures, total WP are multiplied by 2. For huge creatures, WP are multiplied by 4. For gigantic creatures, WP are multiplied by 8. For colossal creatures, WP are multiplied by 16.
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Classed characters gain their Hit Dice and Con Modifier as additional Morale Points on top of their Wound Points.
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Because a monster’s Hit Dice subsume both its WP and MP, monsters reverse-engineer their Morale Points. To calculate how many Morale Points a monster has, subtract its Wound Points from its Hit Points (or a flat 5x HD).
EXAMPLES:
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Marcus is a 7th Fighter with 18 CON (+3 modifier). Marcus has (5 + 3) 8 Wound Points. He has 7d8+21 Wound Points. Assume he rolls 6, 5, 4, 7, 1, 2, 8, for a total of 33+21 = 54 Morale Points.
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Theog is an Ogre. A large-sized 4HD+1 monster, he has 22hp under conventional rules. Theog has 5 x 2 (large size) 10 Wound Points. He has (22-10) 12 Morale Points.
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Dumbo is an Elephant. A gigantic-sized 9HD monster, Dumbo has 40hp. Dumbo has (5 x 8) 40 Wound Points. He has (40-40) 0 Morale Points.
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Smaug is a Dragon. A colossal-sized 20HD monster, Smaug has 105hp. Smaug has (5 x 16) 80 Wound Points. he has (105-80) 25 Morale Points.
HEALING:
- Cure Light Wounds heals 1 Wound Point and 1d6 Morale Points.
- Cure Moderate Wounds heals 2 Wound Points and 2d4 Morale Points.
- Cure Major Wounds heals 1 Wound Point per 2 caster levels and 2d6 Morale Points.
- Cure Serious Wounds heals 1 Wound Point per caster level and 2d6 Morale Points.
- Cure Critical Wounds heals 3 Wound Points per 2 caster levels and 3d6 Morale Points.
- Wound Points heal at a rate of 1 per day, multiplied by size modifier (x2, x4, etc.)
- Morale Points recover at a rate of level per hour.
ATTACK THROWS:
Monster attack throws are based on Morale Points, by diving Morale Points / 4.5 and adding +1 to calculate Fighting Hit Dice. If Fighting Hit Dice turn out to be negative, you fight as a normal man.
However, monsters gain armor penetration. Large monsters ignore up to 2 points of armor, huge monsters ignore up to 4 points of armor, gigantic monsters ignore up to 6 points of armor, and colossal monsters ignore up to 8 points of armor.
EXAMPLE:
- Theog, with 12 morale points, has (12/4.5 +1) 3.67 Fighting HD, so he attacks as a 3+ hit die creature (7+). As a large creature he ignores 2 points of armor.
- Dumbo, with 0 morale points, fights as a 1 HD monster (10+). As a gigantic creature, he ignores 6 points of armor. Dumbo doesn’t really care if you are a skirmisher or a plate-armored knight… except insofar as the skirmisher has a higher DEX, he’ll be harder for Dumbo to hit!
- Smaug, with 25 morale points, has (25/4.5 +1) 6.56 Fighting HD, so he attacks as a 6+ hit die creature (4+). As a colossal creature he ignores 8 points of armor.
Consider Smaug attacking a Fighter with DEX 13 (+1), Plate +1 (+7), Shield +1 (+2), Weapon & Shield proficiency (+1). His AC is 11.
Under conventional ACKS rolls, Smaug’s attack throw is -3, and he would hit on 8+.
Under these rules, Smaug’s attack throw is 4+. He ignores 8 points of armor, reducing the Fighter to AC 3, so he hits on 7+.