Kerrick
First Post
I don't normally jump on the bandwagon that seems to follow every 4E sneak peek, but I thought this up on the way home from work last night, and I think it's worth posting.
If a character is reduced to 0 hit points, he's unconscious but stable. If he's reduced to -1 or below, but not past his negative Con score, he's dying. For example, if Herne the cleric has 14 Con, he could take damage reducing him to -14 hit points before being declared dead.
Each round, a dying PC must make a DC 10 Con check; if he succeeds by less than 5, there is no change. If he succeeds by 5 or more, he becomes stable (0 hit points). An unaided, unconscious character has a 10% chance per hour of regaining consciousness (1 hit point). If the Con check fails, he gets worse; three failures, or a natural 1 on any roll, and the PC dies. This roll should be made in secret by the DM so as to keep tension in the game.
A PC who regains consciousness, either on his own or by being healed, is staggered (single action each round, -2 to all rolls) for one minute.
If a character takes damage while dying, it has no effect unless it is greater than his Con score, in which case he must make an immediate Con check or die. Even if the check succeeds, he takes another step toward death (this could easily result in death anyway for someone on his second step, as a third failed roll means instant death).
Healing spells cure half their normal total on a dying PC (round down). So, for instance, someone casts a cure moderate wounds on Bob the Fighter, healing 13 points; he is conscious with 6 hit points. A heal spell applied either before or after the character wakens will remove the staggered condition.
Discussion
I ditched negative hit points because the whole concept is dumb anyway, and players use it to metagame ("Hey, Bob the fighter's only at -2... we've got a few rounds to save him."). We have to keep a "death threshold", though - the point at which you declare the PC no longer breathing. Our group uses negative Con score (if you have a 16 Con, you can go to -16 hp), but you could easily make it Con + 10 if you want.
I chose a Con check because Con scores aren't class-dependent and are barely level-dependent (a higher-level PC has a greater chance to dump points into it) - all things being equal, a wizard and a fighter with 15 Con have the same chance of survival.
The DM should make the checks to keep tension in the game and prevent players from metagaming. If they don't know when Bob the fighter's going to die, they'll be far more interested in pulling his bacon out of the fire and getting him healed up. Also, it gives the DM more control over the PC's fate - if he ends up bleeding out because of crappy luck and bad die rolls, the DM can fudge the recovery rolls to give him a chance. If, OTOH, it was because of player stupidity, he can let the dice fall where they may.
The "damage has no effect" thing simulates actual "physics" - if someone is dying, he's usually in shock and unconscious, which means pain won't have much effect on him, and just doing minor damage to a body that's already taken massive amounts won't either. Doing a large amount of damage, however, can overwhelm the body's life support systems, causing the entire thing to shut down (i.e., the character dies).
Cure spells were reduced to make a compromise between the "negative hit point tax" and the "you start at 0 hit points" idea - there are no negative hit points now, and the other system is just absurd, IMO. The staggered condition was taken from NWN, but it should've been in D&D all along - going from death's door to consciousness without a major healing spell should have aftereffects, even if they are only temporary.
If a character is reduced to 0 hit points, he's unconscious but stable. If he's reduced to -1 or below, but not past his negative Con score, he's dying. For example, if Herne the cleric has 14 Con, he could take damage reducing him to -14 hit points before being declared dead.
Each round, a dying PC must make a DC 10 Con check; if he succeeds by less than 5, there is no change. If he succeeds by 5 or more, he becomes stable (0 hit points). An unaided, unconscious character has a 10% chance per hour of regaining consciousness (1 hit point). If the Con check fails, he gets worse; three failures, or a natural 1 on any roll, and the PC dies. This roll should be made in secret by the DM so as to keep tension in the game.
A PC who regains consciousness, either on his own or by being healed, is staggered (single action each round, -2 to all rolls) for one minute.
If a character takes damage while dying, it has no effect unless it is greater than his Con score, in which case he must make an immediate Con check or die. Even if the check succeeds, he takes another step toward death (this could easily result in death anyway for someone on his second step, as a third failed roll means instant death).
Healing spells cure half their normal total on a dying PC (round down). So, for instance, someone casts a cure moderate wounds on Bob the Fighter, healing 13 points; he is conscious with 6 hit points. A heal spell applied either before or after the character wakens will remove the staggered condition.
Discussion
I ditched negative hit points because the whole concept is dumb anyway, and players use it to metagame ("Hey, Bob the fighter's only at -2... we've got a few rounds to save him."). We have to keep a "death threshold", though - the point at which you declare the PC no longer breathing. Our group uses negative Con score (if you have a 16 Con, you can go to -16 hp), but you could easily make it Con + 10 if you want.
I chose a Con check because Con scores aren't class-dependent and are barely level-dependent (a higher-level PC has a greater chance to dump points into it) - all things being equal, a wizard and a fighter with 15 Con have the same chance of survival.
The DM should make the checks to keep tension in the game and prevent players from metagaming. If they don't know when Bob the fighter's going to die, they'll be far more interested in pulling his bacon out of the fire and getting him healed up. Also, it gives the DM more control over the PC's fate - if he ends up bleeding out because of crappy luck and bad die rolls, the DM can fudge the recovery rolls to give him a chance. If, OTOH, it was because of player stupidity, he can let the dice fall where they may.
The "damage has no effect" thing simulates actual "physics" - if someone is dying, he's usually in shock and unconscious, which means pain won't have much effect on him, and just doing minor damage to a body that's already taken massive amounts won't either. Doing a large amount of damage, however, can overwhelm the body's life support systems, causing the entire thing to shut down (i.e., the character dies).
Cure spells were reduced to make a compromise between the "negative hit point tax" and the "you start at 0 hit points" idea - there are no negative hit points now, and the other system is just absurd, IMO. The staggered condition was taken from NWN, but it should've been in D&D all along - going from death's door to consciousness without a major healing spell should have aftereffects, even if they are only temporary.
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