D&D 5E A death save house rule proposal

[DrJawaPhD]

I tried using the Lingering Injuries rule in a few campaigns. On the one hand, I found it difficult to remember in play, while on the other hand, when I did remember, it was mostly a non-issue because magical healing gets rid of many of the injuries. And my groups have always relied on magical healing, not mundane healing. Even when I ran a campaign in a world that had no clerics or paladins in it!

Yeah there wouldn't be any point if magical healing fixes the lingering injuries. If you're going to bother using injuries then they shouldn't heal from magic spells (short of Regenerate or Wish)

 

[pukunui]

Yeah there wouldn't be any point if magical healing fixes the lingering injuries. If you're going to bother using injuries then they shouldn't heal from magic spells (short of Regenerate or Wish)

Agreed. If I were to try them again, I wouldn’t use the version in the 2014 DMG as written. I’d either tweak it or find some better 3pp rules.

 

[MarkB]

If you're healed while stunned does that remove the condition, or do you still lose your next turn?

 

[Horwath]

Yeah there wouldn't be any point if magical healing fixes the lingering injuries. If you're going to bother using injuries then they shouldn't heal from magic spells (short of Regenerate or Wish)

how about exhaustion levels that last until you get healed to 100%?

it still requires lot's of healing, perhaps short rest, maybe even long one if resources are low.

 

[TaranTheWanderer]

I like the Stunned/unconscious thing but how about this for magical healing and getting back up:

If you are conscious but at 0, you are fine if someone stabilizes without any healing, you are still prone. No need to make saves. If you choose to act, you must make a save again to avoid being stunned and starting the process all over again.

If you are brought from 0 to 1hp, you are fine and have no penalties.

If you have previously failed saves and are stunned or unconscious but are brought to 1 hp, you remain stunned (or go from unconscious to stunned) until you succeed on a con check(at the end of your turn). Failure doesn’t reinitiate the death save spiral but prevents you from acting until you make a save again. And dropping to stunned or unconscious guarantees one lost round, even after you are healed (since you make the save after your turn)

To make it less of a penalty, make the save at the beginning of the turn.

 

[ezo]

I don’t really like how death saves work. They’re abstract, and kind of arbitrary, and the whack-a-mole healing thing is silly. I’ve played around with a few hoserule alternatives, and they all have their benefits and drawbacks. I’ve recently come up with a new one I’m thinking about trying out, thought I’d run it by you folks for a vibe check. Here’s the idea:

When you first fall to 0 hit points, you automatically fall Prone. Whenever you take damage or start your turn while at 0 hit points, make a DC 10 saving throw (no modifier). On a failed save, you gain the Stunned condition until the end of your next turn. If you already have the Stunned condition, you instead gain the Unconscious condition. If you already have the Unconscious condition, you die.

This would completely replace death saving throws and the whole stable/unstable status.

I wanted to think this over for a few days before responding.

Overall I like it and it is similar to failed deaths saves equating to "stages" or "wound levels" I've seen before. This is how I would write it up:

Dropping to 0 Hit Points​

When a creature drops to 0 Hit Points, it has the Prone condition and either dies outright or begins making Death Saving throws, explained below.

Death Saving Throws​

When you start your turn with 0 Hit Points or take damage while at 0 Hit Points, you make a DC 10 Death Saving Throw to determine if you creep closer to death or hang on to life. Unlike other saving throws, this one isn’t tied to an ability score. You’re in the hands of fate now.

If you take damage from a Critical Hit while at 0 Hit Points, you make the Death Saving Throw with Disadvantage.

Success. You keep death at bay for the moment. You do not make additional Death Saving Throws unless you take further damage, even if you start your turn with 0 Hit Points.

Failure. You have the Stunned Condition until the end of your next turn.

Failure/Stunned. If you fail a Death Saving Throw while Stunned, you have the Unconscious condition until healed.

Failure/Unconscious. If you fail a Death Saving Throw while Unconscious, you die.


If we look at this, it means you only need to make a single DST to become "stable" at 0 HP. While simpler and more forgiving, it (hopefully) encourages PCs at this point to back out of the fight or at least focus on defense so they don't take more damage.

 

[Charlaquin]

I wanted to think this over for a few days before responding.

Overall I like it and it is similar to failed deaths saves equating to "stages" or "wound levels" I've seen before. This is how I would write it up:

Dropping to 0 Hit Points​

When a creature drops to 0 Hit Points, it has the Prone condition and either dies outright or begins making Death Saving throws, explained below.

Death Saving throws​

When you start your turn with 0 Hit Points or take damage while at 0 Hit Points, you make a DC 10 Death Saving Throw to determine if you creep closer to death or hang on to life. Unlike other saving throws, this one isn’t tied to an ability score. You’re in the hands of fate now.

If you take damage from a Critical Hit while at 0 Hit Points, you make the Death Saving Throw with Disadvantage.

Success. You keep death at bay for the moment. You do not make additional Death Saving Throws unless you take further damage, even if you start your turn with 0 Hit Points.

Failure. You have the Stunned Condition until the end of your next turn.

Failure/Stunned. If you fail a Death Saving Throw while Stunned, you have the Unconscious condition until healed.

Failure/Unconscious. If you fail a Death Saving Throw while Unconscious, you die.


If we look at this, it means you only need to make a single DST to become "stable" at 0 HP. While simpler and more forgiving, it (hopefully) encourages PCs at this point to back out of the fight or at least focus on defense so they don't take more damage.

Fantastic writeup! And the single save to stabilize is an elegant solution to the issue @Li Shenron pointed out of it being certain death if you’re out of magical healing. This does mean it’s potentially less deadly than RAW, but that’s probably ok.

I’m tempted to make the saves mirror concentration saves, where the DC is the higher of 10 or half the amount of damage that triggered the save. But that might just be over complicating things unnecessarily. Disadvantage on the save if you get critically hit probably accomplishes the same thing more efficiently.

I think I will put this version to the test - not in my next game because I’ll be switching to 2024 and I don’t want to introduce house rules at the same time as a system change. But probably in the next one after that. Thank you for the development/editing help!

 

[ezo]

Fantastic writeup! And the single save to stabilize is an elegant solution to the issue @Li Shenron pointed out of it being certain death if you’re out of magical healing. This does mean it’s potentially less deadly than RAW, but that’s probably ok.

I’m tempted to make the saves mirror concentration saves, where the DC is the higher of 10 or half the amount of damage that triggered the save. But that might just be over complicating things unnecessarily. Disadvantage on the save if you get critically hit probably accomplishes the same thing more efficiently.

I think I will put this version to the test - not in my next game because I’ll be switching to 2024 and I don’t want to introduce house rules at the same time as a system change. But probably in the next one after that. Thank you for the development/editing help!

Thanks. Glad I could help. I like the concept myself and might introduce it to my players tomorrow night to get their feedback.

As for the variable DC based on damage, my personal preference is just to up the DC to 15 and make it CON-based, which is what I currently do with death saves in my homebrew.

I do this because RAW a PC will stabilize 60% of the time, which I find too high. Also, this is about your body and physical ability to withstand punishment/damage, so CON makes more sense than just "whims of Fate. IMO.

Let us know how it goes when you finally try it out or offer it up anyway.

 

[Shiroiken]

I would probably suggest the following. It adds Incapacitation to the mix, but with the ability to bypass it with successful death saves.

While at 0 HP you have the Prone and Incapacitated conditions, which cannot be removed. If you start your turn with 0 HP, or take damage while at 0 HP, you must make a Death Saving Throw. If this save is caused by a Critical Hit, the save is made at disadvantage. The effect of the success or failure depends on your current conditions.

Incapacitated Success: you may ignore this condition for this turn, or if after two such successes you may become Stable (no longer making Death Saves until you take damage).
Incapacitated Failure: you have the Stunned condition while you are at 0 HP.

Stunned Success: you are no longer Stunned.
Stunned Failure: you have the Unconscious condition while you are at 0 HP.

Unconscious Success: you are no longer Unconscious.
Unconscious Failure: you die.

 

[Shardstone]

Interesting thread, and I like the ideas posited. I'm not sure if I agree with a successful save leaving you at 0 and "stable." I think if you succeed you should regain 1 HP, but be forced to stay prone until the beginning (or end) of your next turn. Otherwise I think the refinements on this page are pretty much "it" for this rule! Good work.