Serensius
First Post
There seems to be a large interest for the more gritty games here on the boards, and I got to thinking: how are you going to go about combining the (apparent) ease of play and sound math of 4e with a more visceral feel?
I know in my games, I am at the very least going to rule that a character isn't hit in any way in combat until he/she is bloodied. Maybe also introduce injuries; after being hit severely (down to 1/4 hp, maybe? Or just 1/2), they can only heal up to their bloodied hp value until they receive treatment. I'd also reduce the amount of treasure the PCs get (incorporating the 'magic item bonus' into their sats as per DMG guidelines) to stop them from bathing in gold pieces.
Another thing I'd like to see is hunger; now, I don't have the books, so I don't know if this is in or not, but I'm going to assume it isn't. My rule would be that you can go one day before you have to start making Endurance checks or be fatigued or similar the rest of the day. After two days you get a penalty to movement, and after three days you start taking damage (don't have any specifics for this yet). The DC would be 12 + 1/2 the PC's level (to account for the skill bonus) + n (where n is the number of days since the PC last ate. The number is cumulative, meaning the bonus gets added to the previous bonuses; one day is +3, two days is +5 (1+2), three days is +8 (3+3), four days is +12 (6+4), and so on. As an example, at level 4, if Regdar has gone three days without food, he has to make a DC 17 Endurance check or suffer penalties.
So, how do you plan on making your games grittier?
I know in my games, I am at the very least going to rule that a character isn't hit in any way in combat until he/she is bloodied. Maybe also introduce injuries; after being hit severely (down to 1/4 hp, maybe? Or just 1/2), they can only heal up to their bloodied hp value until they receive treatment. I'd also reduce the amount of treasure the PCs get (incorporating the 'magic item bonus' into their sats as per DMG guidelines) to stop them from bathing in gold pieces.
Another thing I'd like to see is hunger; now, I don't have the books, so I don't know if this is in or not, but I'm going to assume it isn't. My rule would be that you can go one day before you have to start making Endurance checks or be fatigued or similar the rest of the day. After two days you get a penalty to movement, and after three days you start taking damage (don't have any specifics for this yet). The DC would be 12 + 1/2 the PC's level (to account for the skill bonus) + n (where n is the number of days since the PC last ate. The number is cumulative, meaning the bonus gets added to the previous bonuses; one day is +3, two days is +5 (1+2), three days is +8 (3+3), four days is +12 (6+4), and so on. As an example, at level 4, if Regdar has gone three days without food, he has to make a DC 17 Endurance check or suffer penalties.
So, how do you plan on making your games grittier?
I'm writing that product cause I need criticals. 
