Instance variable resets after modification - python-3.x

Question

I'm having difficulty with one small part of my code. I'm modifying a player's HP while they're in combat, but when exiting combat the HP resets to 100. This is odd because the enemy's HP is preserved. By using print(id(player.hp)) I can see that a new instance of player.hp is being created, I just don't know why. I've tried googling the issue but I can't find an example that fits my problem. I'll try to only include the pertinent parts of the code below (there's a lot of superfluous writing that isn't necessary here), but if I need to include everything I will.
class Alleyway(Scene):
room_items = []
room_characters = []
room_enemies = ["hobo"]
def __init__(self):
self.fresh_arrival = True
self.north = False
self.east = True
self.south = True
self.west = False
self.enemy = Hobo()
def fight(self, player, weapon): #Lots of what makes this fun is edited out
while True:
if self.enemy.hp > 0:
print("Do you attack or flee?")
words = input("> ").lower()
if words == "flee":
map_ = Map("alleyway")
game = Engine(map_)
game.play()
if words == "attack":
miss = randint(1,4)
if miss == 1:
print("Too bad, you miss!")
else:
print("You got him!")
self.enemy.hp -= weapon.damage
print("Hobo's HP: {}".format(max(self.enemy.hp, 0)))
if self.enemy.hp > 0:
print("The hobo takes a swing at you.")
hobomiss = randint(1,5)
if hobomiss == 1:
print("He missed!")
else:
print("Ouch, he got you!")
player.hp -= self.enemy.damage
print("Your HP: {}".format(max(player.hp, 0)))
else:
print("No idea what you mean. Attack the man or flee.")
else:
print("You defeat the hobo!")
print()
print("Dirty shoes and shank added to inventory.")
print()
shoes = DirtyShoes()
shank = Shank()
player.inventory.append(shoes)
player.inventory.append(shank)
self.room_enemies.remove("hobo")
map_ = Map("alleyway")
game = Engine(map_)
game.play()
When fight() is called, an instance of Player() is sent in as an argument, which has an instance variable of self.hp = 100.
This is still a work in progress so please gloss over the fact that it doesn't exit when the player dies and other silly things like that (:
Now, when the player flees in the middle of the fight, my goal is for the enemy's HP to be preserved, the player's HP to be preserved, and the items to be added to the player's inventory. So far, the enemy's HP is accurately preserved and everything else in my code regarding the enemy's HP and his alive/dead status work great when combat is exited. My issue is with player.hp -= enemy.damage, player.inventory.append(shoes), and player.inventory.append(shank). None of them work. The player.hp displays correctly during the fight and decreases as expected, however once the player exits combat the HP is reset to 100 and there is nothing added to the inventory. I've tried player.hp = player.hp - enemy.damage for the HP issue and it still creates a new variable. I'm just not sure what's going on since the enemy portions are working fine.
If more information is needed please let me know. And if there are any obvious ways my code can be improved I'm totally open to suggestions.

Answer 1

Got it! I was defining player = Player() inside of a method, so it only created the instance for that method (I think). So I defined it outside of the method and now the modified values stick!