D&D 5E Help strangle this PC to death

[Xombiemike]

Fair warning: Mature themes.

So last night a player decided to once again have some nakie relations with the psychopath Izek Strazni from Curse of Strahd. Currently they are both naked and he is strangling her with his demonic hand while it produces flames. (Link below for context if needed.)

https://youtu.be/uemm-6g4a1Q?t=2h52m4s

I was wondering how some other DMs might handle this situation. Do you have strangulation rules? Can you help me think about how this grapple will work out in 5e? Although this character has excellent dexterity, I don't think in real life she would stand much of a chance as this romp turned to rape.

 

[Nagol]

I wouldn't see a need to go off-book. Use the grapple rules combined with unarmed damage (and fire damage I guess). It's not like a garrote which will drop someone unconscious in seconds.

Do you think Lara Croft, FemShep from Mass Effect, or <fill in your own favourite female action protagonist> would stand a chance? The reason the potential victim stands a chance is less to do with physical attributes and more to do with player agency. She's one of the protagonists: they always get some form of chance. Bounded accuracy reinforces this stance. You always have a chance: the random factor swamps possible prowess.

 

[Seramus]

I feel awkward asking this, but... is he intending to stop? If yes, then there is no need to bother. Just throw some bashing and fire dice at the player and call it done. If he is actually trying to kill her, then grapple rules with unarmed damage + fire damage each failed round should be fine. If he doesn't care if she lives or dies, and is just strangling for his own amusement then probably go with the former unless you REALLY just want to see if your PC will die, in which case go with the latter to be fair about it.

 

[Xombiemike]

He has no intention of stopping. The entire town is terrified of this guy for good reason. In an earlier session they found a doll in Blinsky's toy shop that he was being forced to make for Izek in the likeness of this player. Blinsky confessed this because the players had been so nice to him. That player later asked Izek about the doll in public, which embarrassed him. For that, he burned down most of Blinsky's shop and toys, and killed his pet monkey named Piccolo. In spite of the player knowing all this, she decided to keep sleeping with him. She even threatened him before heading to bed, so he isn't taking any chances with her escape. Word of his actions concerning the doll, the toy shop fire, or any other troubles she may cause in retaliation are more than enough reason for him to kill her. He's always been the bad guy, and she started this relationship to sway him from hanging her butler at the gallows. If she were to see Izeks bedroom, she would find many different dolls, as she isn't the first time he's had Blinsky make a momento doll of so that he can remember a victim after death.

 

[jaelis]

One downside to using the plain unarmed strike rules is that the fight might take a long time. You could compress that by multiplying everyone's damage per attack by three or something, like you're resolving three rounds at once. That will also make the fight more random though.

Probably shouldn't do that if either character is a spell caster, but then you shouldn't need to.

 

[robus]

In the movies when this sort of thing is happening the hero's hand fumbles around looking for a weapon of some kind - finds a candlestick (or something) and whacks the strangler over the head with it. Are there no defense options for the player?

On the other hand if there's no uncertainty that she will die then why play it out. Just narrate that the character is dead... (I'm not really saying that - but it sounds like there's not many options for the player except ending up with a dead character?)

 

[TheNoremac42]

Strangulation rules in 5e take for freaking ever if the stranglee had enough time to hold their breath. I think a character can hold their breath for 1+CON_mod minutes for a minimum of 30 seconds. Just one minute is 10 opposing grapple checks they can use to break free, so just strangling someone to death really only works if they're unconscious or if it's just to restrain them until they can inflict some other kind of damage.

 

[Xombiemike]

Well, not to spoil the gravity of death, but it's D&D so death isn't quite as permanent as it normally is.

What I'm currently leaning towards is a contest of skills. This isn't Ike suffocating under water, as strangulation cuts off the blood flow to the brain immediately. I'm no MMA fighting fan, but I guess about 12 or so seconds can pass while being strangled before someone loses consciousness. Thats two very intense rounds in game. The first round will be her acrobatics check against his strength plus proficiency. If she wins she breaks the grapple, if not she has one more round to try.

If both rounds she fails, she will find the big sleep.

If she breaks the grapple, anything can happen that she tries, but he's going to try a grapple again.

If anyone has suggestions that make this more fair or exciting, by all means speak up.

 

[Nagol]

In the movies when this sort of thing is happening the hero's hand fumbles around looking for a weapon of some kind - finds a candlestick (or something) and whacks the strangler over the head with it. Are there no defense options for the player?

On the other hand if there's no uncertainty that she will die then why play it out. Just narrate that the character is dead... (I'm not really saying that - but it sounds like there's not many options for the player except ending up with a dead character?)

If the attackers hand(s) are busy strangling, poke him in the eyes/box his ears to force him to let go; break the hold with a strike to a pressure point (since we're discussing Dex character doing damage) or simply grab his nether bits and squeeze. There are a lot of ways to break a grapple without brute strength.

 

[jaelis]

If the attackers hand(s) are busy strangling, poke him in the eyes/box his ears to force him to let go; break the hold with a strike to a pressure point (since we're discussing Dex character doing damage) or simply grab his nether bits and squeeze. There are a lot of ways to break a grapple without brute strength.

In dnd, the main mechanism for that is the dex(acrobatics) check