Hit points are fucking stupid. So potions increasing hit points are stupid too.
Maybe hit points are good mechanics for cutting tree with an axe, but for piercing armor, or killing people hit points are stupid. In sword fight you are most probably either bleeding on the floor, or fully alive. And armor either protected you, or not.
I think system where there are no hit points, but a few distinct states of characters would be better. Like unconscious, bleeding, blind, immobilized, poisoned, burning, dying, dead. Each person can be in any combination of these states. So one can be bleeding and poisoned for example. Or unconscious and dying. No effect == character is fully healthy. Each attack has some chance of inducing each effect, character attributes, weapons and armors changes the chance of each effect. Also current effects that the person has changes what person can do (unconscious person can't do anything, blind person won't be able to attack at distance, etc), and what chance of success person has. Also - each turn the effect is on, there is some chance it will enable another effect. For example each turn person is burning, there is 20% chance it will become blind, and 40% chance it will become dying. And each turn person is dying there is 30% chance it will become dead. Something like that.
Fight in this system will be much less forgiving (one good hit and you are out of fight), so there is need for parrying mechanics (maybe in form of chosing stances before each turn - maybe paper-rock-scisors like).
This system also has the adventage, that if you won fight decisively (without injuries), you don't need to head back to town or rest to health that 5 hit points out of 80 each person is missing. Only when sombody got seriously hurt, healing is needed.
In strategy games hit points are even more stupid - see cave man destroying stone building by hiting it with his club 2000 times.
Maybe hit points are good mechanics for cutting tree with an axe, but for piercing armor, or killing people hit points are stupid. In sword fight you are most probably either bleeding on the floor, or fully alive. And armor either protected you, or not.
I think system where there are no hit points, but a few distinct states of characters would be better. Like unconscious, bleeding, blind, immobilized, poisoned, burning, dying, dead. Each person can be in any combination of these states. So one can be bleeding and poisoned for example. Or unconscious and dying. No effect == character is fully healthy. Each attack has some chance of inducing each effect, character attributes, weapons and armors changes the chance of each effect. Also current effects that the person has changes what person can do (unconscious person can't do anything, blind person won't be able to attack at distance, etc), and what chance of success person has. Also - each turn the effect is on, there is some chance it will enable another effect. For example each turn person is burning, there is 20% chance it will become blind, and 40% chance it will become dying. And each turn person is dying there is 30% chance it will become dead. Something like that.
Fight in this system will be much less forgiving (one good hit and you are out of fight), so there is need for parrying mechanics (maybe in form of chosing stances before each turn - maybe paper-rock-scisors like).
This system also has the adventage, that if you won fight decisively (without injuries), you don't need to head back to town or rest to health that 5 hit points out of 80 each person is missing. Only when sombody got seriously hurt, healing is needed.
In strategy games hit points are even more stupid - see cave man destroying stone building by hiting it with his club 2000 times.