Well, if you check page 27 of the 4th Edition DMG it saysCotillion wrote:*sigh* seriously, I don't own the books to quote you the page.Ceros wrote:Which edition and what page in the DMG?
I am familiar with the rules however and I'll ask you to counterpoint them please.
Rules v4:
There are numerous class powers, mostly encounter powers (once per encounter), that can only be used when the target is bloodied. Well, if they can only be used when the target is bloodied, it is logical to assume that you 'know' when your enemy is bloodied. This goes for both attacking the enemy and party healing powers. You must know at least the bloodied status of both.
Rules v3.5 and below:
No bloodied rules that I can recall. However, when landing the 'killing blow' you have the choice to kill or incapacitate the target. If you have this choice, you must know something about the health of your victim.
This doesn't say anything about letting them know the exact HP for a monster - in fact, that goes against the very spirit of the game. Many encounters are decided by the player's perception of the monster's health - whether they should run or fight. Thet take these from flavor text give by the GM, not a "he has 100 out of 200 HP left." I sure hope your GM isn't telling you things like that..DMG wrote: "The most important combat state is bloodied, which is a gauge for the players on how the fight is going as well as a cue to certain powers. Tell them when any enemy is under an effect and when it ends. Further, if an adversary heals, the PCs should notice, and the players should be told -- especially if the monster is bloodied"
"For example, when a monster gets bloodied by lightning damage, you might say :Lightning corses over its body, forcing it to stagger backward, opening small wounds and burning its skin. It's bloodied."
(And you can't always assume that if something applies you will know about it. In 3.5, a Paladin's smite ability only applies to evil creatures - if you try it on a good creature then you waste an attempt and spend it for no benefit. There is no [Evil] descriptor the GM tells you about, along with its HP.)