Determing health of enemies

[Lonewolf147]

I thought this was a rule somewhere back when I played 3.5, and have been using it in my Pathfinder games. But, I can't find it in either system, so I don't know if it is actually a rule or something that was house ruled a long time ago.

When in combat, there is no (regular) way to know how many hit points an enemy has. So, to determine how many HP or the general state of health of an enemy would be first to 'knowledge' check to make sure you know what the enemy is and its general health. Then, you need to make a heal check to tell just how wounded/healthy that enemy is based on your knowledge of them.

Does that sound familiar to anyone? Can anyone point me in the direction of the rules for this then?

[Extra Anchovies]

Nothing that I know of other than this slayer talent that does exactly what you're looking for:

Blood Reader (Ex): While able to see a studied target, a slayer with this talent knows exactly how many hit points his opponent has remaining. This only works against living targets.
Not even an advanced talent. Definitely worth picking up, because it lets you determine an enemy's DR (i.e. by comparing the change in HP total with the damage you dealt).

[Yahzi]

Does combat really need 2 additional rolls per player turn?

A fighter is good at his job. He ought to be able to tell from a single hit how effective his attack was, so DR/immuniities should be obvious. I have no problem telling the players what the enemy AC/DR is after they've hit it once. They roll the damage dice so they know how much damage they are dishing out. Based on the way I do levels in my world, I wouldn't tell the party how many hps the monsters have left until they are down to natural (i.e. non-level based) hps.

This is one place we can give melee nice things.

[Lonewolf147]

I agree that fighters (and really, I allow any of my players this knowledge) to know how effective their attack is, which lets them notice damage reduction/immunities. And yes it's two extra rolls, but players rarely check. In my group, I might have one person ask every other combat.

[Killer Angel]

Does combat really need 2 additional rolls per player turn?


Indeed. Plus, usually it's clear when someone is heavily wounded, or tired.
It could be interesting to find someone, once in a while, that cheates (via bluff) its real condition.