That kind of situation....I have a Base HP of 16 and I'm at 20 HP therefore I'm in big trouble.....is kind of what we're going for, but it's also an area of concern. The idea is to do away with the "I'm fine till at 0 HP" thinking, but we didn't want to incorporate "death spiral" type mechanics, where their ability or potency weakens with damage.
But adding the option to drop unconscious after any hit helps mitigate a bit of the swingy risk at play, but still gives the players some level of control. It's a good idea.
So, what both you and [MENTION=6775477]Shiroiken[/MENTION] are talking about is the Concession rule in FATE. It works well, and this is how it works:
You can concede at any time, even after the DM says you are going to be attacked but BEFORE the dice gets rolled. The player who concedes gets to narrate their concession.
Examples:
-You get hit by an Ogre and have 20 hit points left. On your turn you attack the ogre and say,
"I'm only barely able to stand, in a final ditch effort, I attack the ogre but the exertion causes me to fall unconscious."
- You get hit by an Ogre, the fight continues and, on the Ogres next turn, the DM says, "The Ogre attacks you!"
"Don't bother rolling! I concede the fight.
'The ogres club comes down and I barely have time to shield myself as the club grazes my head, knocking me unconscious as I go sprawling under a bush.'."
Obviously, you can concede before the fight starts...that just called surrendering. Or surrender any time...there's probably no need to formalize the rules around surrendering like they do in FATE, but you could.
hawkeyefan said:
It is admittedly a bit gamey, but we're not averse to acknowledging that we're playing a game.
frogreaver said:
Personally, I think in-character decisions and dice should be the biggest deciders of a characters ultimate fate in combat.
In any case, conceding is done on the Meta level, so if you're ok with that, it should work.
The opposite rule is already written in to 5e, where a TAKE OUT (Fate mechanic) allows the victor to dictate how they take out their opponent: In 5e when you drop someone to 0 with a melee attack, you can choose to make them unconscious instead of dead. You should keep this rule.