D&D 5E 0 HPs and Healing During a Fight

[Rod Staffwand]

Patient: Doctor! You've got to help me!
Doctor: What's wrong?
Patient: I think I'm down to 1 hit point!
Doctor:

In response to the thread at large, when you do regain consciousness you are prone (having become so when dropped to 0 hit points). Also, you might have to bear the brunt of numerous japes from your comrades about having 'swooned'.

 

[Jaracove]

Think I'm going to house rule that you are at a disadvantage for your first turn after being 'revived' during a fight, unless you choose to Dodge

 

[Tony Vargas]

After all, it is extremely common for people to be unconscious while they have positive hit points.

I suppose you mean, unconscious but not dying (since people don't have hps). For that matter, you can be rapidly bleeding to death or even so badly wounded that you're beyond any hope of saving, but still conscious, for the moment.

I suppose that's just another way hps are dissociative, to begin with. The obvious solution (I recall the Hero System percursor, 'Champions! doing this in 81, I think it was), is to have two separate pools or tracks for damage. One for 'stun' damage, one for 'physical,' with most attacks reducing both pools, but some only one or the other (and, likewise, most curative effects restoring both, but some only one or the other). Thus you could end up either conscious-but-dying or unconscious-but-stable.

Really, in 5e, most of those conditions could still happen. A spell could put you to sleep, an ally could stabilize you without bringing you to 1hp, etc... I wouldn't be surprised to see some monsters and barbarians who could fight on at 0 hps, even while failing death saves.

 

[KarinsDad]

Patient: Doctor! You've got to help me!
Doctor: What's wrong?
Patient: I think I'm down to 1 hit point!
Doctor:

In response to the thread at large, when you do regain consciousness you are prone (having become so when dropped to 0 hit points). Also, you might have to bear the brunt of numerous japes from your comrades about having 'swooned'.

Swooned?

The expression is:

"Fine time to take a nap."

nyuk, nyuk, nyuk

 

[Emerikol]

Hit points are just a description of a state of some character I agree. Whatever the hit points describe though exists in theory at least.

It's like eye color. Before the existance of the English language, people still had blue eyes even though the term "blue" did not exist. When the term blue came into being, it described an already existing thing. Same for hit points. Hit points are a made up descriptor for something. We can debate what that something might be but it does exist.

 

[am181d]

Hit points are just a description of a state of some character I agree. Whatever the hit points describe though exists in theory at least.

It's like eye color. Before the existance of the English language, people still had blue eyes even though the term "blue" did not exist. When the term blue came into being, it described an already existing thing. Same for hit points. Hit points are a made up descriptor for something. We can debate what that something might be but it does exist.

Your confusing a real world attribute ("having blue eyes") with an in game construct (hit points). Hit points do not universally describe how people suffer injuries in the real world. Therefore, descriptions of how injuries are sustained in the real world (and the impact thereof) is of limited use in adjudicating how hit points function.

There have been many attempts to alter the rules around hit points to make their use more realistic, but even the most detailed, nuanced implementation of the hit point rules is still very artificial.

 

[Emerikol]

Your confusing a real world attribute ("having blue eyes") with an in game construct (hit points). Hit points do not universally describe how people suffer injuries in the real world. Therefore, descriptions of how injuries are sustained in the real world (and the impact thereof) is of limited use in adjudicating how hit points function.

There have been many attempts to alter the rules around hit points to make their use more realistic, but even the most detailed, nuanced implementation of the hit point rules is still very artificial.

I didn't say the descriptor was accurate. I said it was a descriptor. If you have zero hit points, something has changed about you. You are not conscious. If you get to -X hit points you are dead. Those are states that I would believe are of interesting to most people.

 

[The Crimson Binome]

I suppose you mean, unconscious but not dying (since people don't have hps). For that matter, you can be rapidly bleeding to death or even so badly wounded that you're beyond any hope of saving, but still conscious, for the moment.

I'm not talking about real world here. (Although I would argue that real people have something which is roughly analogous to hit points, it's not relevant to this thread). I'm just talking about your average level 1 rogue, who goes to bed at night while she still has 3/9 hit points. The rules don't force her to be unconscious, but she can still be unconscious anyway, in spite of her positive hit points.

And if combat breaks out later, while the cleric is on watch, the DM might have the rogue make a Perception check to see if she wakes up from the noise, or require the cleric to spend an action to wake her up, as circumstances permit.

 

[Tony Vargas]

And if combat breaks out later, while the cleric is on watch, the DM might have the rogue make a Perception check to see if she wakes up from the noise...

Well, sure, since being unconscious doesn't make you deaf....