D&D 3E/3.5 4E Death & Dying in 3.5 - How does this interact with Fast Healing & Regen??

[3d6+15]

I am considering asking my players to try this out this weekend but since I have a Dragon Shaman in the party with the Fast Healing aura I'm not sure how this will work.

My question is to those who have tried this and to those who are willing to analyze the interaction without delving into debate over whether the system sucks or is too abstract or too random or metagamey or whatever.

So. Someone goes down in my party and the shaman has his Vigor up. On his turn that player is instantly conscious again at 1 hp (he is 2nd level right now)?

Does this seem right? How about regen?

So basically they always recover immediately unless someone whacks them when they are down or does a coup de grace??

Anyone actually run into this in play yet?

Thoughts?

 

[UngeheuerLich]

hmmh, very good question actually. Maybe make an exception:
fast healing doesn´t stabilize, but it gives a bonus on the saving throw equal to the hp healed per round.

 

[Rechan]

Hm.

This is a good question. How I would rule:

On the first round, they don't have to roll the d20 (unless they want to see if they can roll to get the '20' roll). On the second round: they pop back up.

P.S. Dragon Shamans kick ass, and Vigor is awesome.

 

[FadedC]

I'm trying out the new death and dying rules myself, and this is one of the reasons why I'm going to keep the "negative hp tax" for now. I also don't like the idea of mass cure spells constantly reviving all unconcious people in the party.

 

[WyzardWhately]

Interesting problem.

I would strongly suspect that fast healing/regen will not work the same way in 4E. I seem to recall that the stat card for a troll showed up, and it was pretty different. So, I'd guess it's just not something they designed for.

 

[jodyjohnson]

For regeneration there isn't a difference since it relies on Non-lethal damage primarily (except for certain damage types all damage is non-lethal). So basically if their real damage goes negative they are dead (for foes) or following the normal 4e-ish version.

For Fast Healing there have been some other good options (although I would let them pop at with a handful of hp and get dropped again pretty much every round until they asked for an alternative.)

 

[DJCupboard]

I've not played a dragon shaman yet, how does the Vigor ability interact with negative HP in 3.5?

 

[Cadfan]

I don't think there's an official or single correct answer for this.

I would rule as follows: that fast healing and regeneration are exceptions to the "no negative hit point tax." I think it makes sense for magical healing to pop you back on your feet, but not necessarily for regeneration or fast healing to do so. Also, ongoing damage can reduce an unconscious character slowly down below the point of death. It makes sense for ongoing healing to raise an unconscious character slowly up to the point of consciousness.

This also avoids the result of fast healing or regeneration making a character essentially immune to unconsciousness.

This is just my take on what would seem logical given the interaction between the two systems. Its certainly not the only way to do things.

 

[Derren]

The 4E death rules have many loopholes when applied in 3E as they were not designed for this edition. This is one of them.
I suggest that downed people are not healed by the vigor aura anymore, or don't loose any more HP through bleeding if that still exists (not sure) but still die when they roll low three times.
Otherwise having a Dragon Shaman would mean that the party is nearly unkillable.

 

[Black Knight Irios]

I would rule as follows: that fast healing and regeneration are exceptions to the "no negative hit point tax." I think it makes sense for magical healing to pop you back on your feet, but not necessarily for regeneration or fast healing to do so. Also, ongoing damage can reduce an unconscious character slowly down below the point of death. It makes sense for ongoing healing to raise an unconscious character slowly up to the point of consciousness.

I'd do the same.
Plus the character is stabilized after the firsttime the aura/fast healing/etc heals him.

I suggest that downed people are not healed by the vigor aura anymore, or don't loose any more HP through bleeding if that still exists (not sure) but still die when they roll low three times.
Otherwise having a Dragon Shaman would mean that the party is nearly unkillable.

You must have really weak encounters if you are scared of not being able to kill your PCs. You know this is 3.5, save or die is in.
I see no reason for such a rule.