Where did -10 come from?

[phadeout]

How about this instead, if you are running very deadly games where being raised from the dead is hard to come by, or impossible (Midnight Campaign setting) then use this:

You are disabled at 0-[negative of positive Constition modifier, ignore negative Con modifier)
so if you have an 18 Con (+4 mod), you are disabled at 0 to -4

You are dead when you reach -10 minus Character Level.


So, an 18 Con Level 12 Character would be:

Disabled at: 0 to -4
Dying at (can become stable, and concious as per normal rules): -5 to -21
Dead: -22


You can also modify the becoming concious and stable 10% chance, by instead using the characters Constition score as a percentage unless lower then 10, if lower then 10, you have a 10% chance of becoming stable or concious.


Might sound complex, but if you write it down on your character sheet, it's very easy:

Level 12, Con 18
Disabled at: 0 to -4
Dying at: -5 to -21
Dead: -22
Become Stable or Concious: 18%


Maybe doesn't work the best for high-magic games, but in a world like Midnight where casting spells get's you killed, and no raise from the dead.... well.. it would work great.

 

[Aris Dragonborn]

*snip*

I agree, that looks like it could work great in a grim and gritty setting. I just might use this in Dark Legacies.

But it also looks like it could work in a standard fantasy setting, especiall at high levels (after all, an 18th level fighter should be harder to kill than a 6th level fighter, yes?). Interesting variant.

 

[MPA]

I don't know if this is why the -10 rule was implemented, but it always seemed to me to be a rules patch to create some distinction between being incapacitated and dead.

My hipotesys is that it was because of the declining number of players, but that can certainly be wrong.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

I use -Con rather than -10, so there is a benefit to your actual Con score -- I think it's important to have that disabled/incapacitated state. But I see no need to scale it for higher levels -- you're getting more hit points at higher levels, so you already have an expanded buffer.

 

[frankthedm]

How about this:

- If you drop below your level in hp, but don't go negative, you're disabled.
- If you drop below minus (10+lvl), you're dead

Scales nicely with level, it's not *that* much of a change, and the two should more-or-less balance out in power.

I like this one because rather than just GIVE more negative HP to the players, they PAY for an equal negative HP buffer. This one would be good since Joe lets his players have full HP each hit die. If they would balk at getting disabled a little sooner, then they deserve to die.

This gets to the crux of many matters, where players want to be given something, but are unwilling to give up anything.

 

[pogre]

It works even better if you die at -(10+lvl). Then you get a little more leeway at higher levels.

Exactly what I use - didn't Tweet suggest this in a column at one point?

 

[TheAuldGrump]

i do think their is a distinction in the way it originally appeared and how it works now that people need to compensate for or think about...


in 1edADnD. 1 round = 1 minute. damage was done over a 1 minute combat round. the attacks represented the best attack for that 1 minute. it didn't mean you just stood still the whole minute. it meant you were moving in your 10 foot or 10 yard area and posturing and then taking your best attack. maybe even exchanging feints. it also meant if you succumbed to the damage (went negative) you bled out much more slowly.

the 6 second round makes for a quick death.

The 1 minute melee round was the stupidest rule in D&D history. I pictured the monster and the hero taking one swing at each other, then talking about the weather for a while, then taking another swing at each other...

The Auld Grump

 

[Nuclear Platypus]

Nah, they fought in slo motion.

Or it was just an attempt at replicating Final Fantasy (NES) combats. *starts humming the combat music* "Cool! I BRAK'd a GrOgre!"

 

[Sage]

I haven't read the entire thread, so sorry if this has allready been suggested.

Make the non-death state go for as long as you need: -10,-20,-50 whatever.

To compensate, if you dead-buffer goes to -20 you loose 2hp/round when in it. If it goes to -50 you loose 5ph/round and so on. With this system, you still have the 10 rounds (or less) to save the guy, but instant death is more or less impossible, depending on how large you dead-buffer is.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

 

[Agback]

Miracle Max. Mad Max is off trying to drive through the Australian desert.

And while we're being picky: it is Westley, not Wesley.