D&D 5E Bloodied Condition in 5e:

[CubicsRube]

I'm of the mood of reversing the death spiral if anything. Give monsters more desparate powerful attacks and give PCs cool class features that activate when bloodied.

Makes players want to ride the dangerous bottom half of their HP.

However you go, a visible change to behaviour both for monsters and PCs in my opinion is a good visual indicator or being bloodied without saying it (if you have an aversion to it). Maybe the orc can now reckless attack every round? Goblins break away and run, and that minotaur suddenly pounces? I don't know. Haven't thought much about it.

 

[Garthanos]

I'm of the mood of reversing the death spiral if anything. Give monsters more desparate powerful attacks and give PCs cool class features that activate when bloodied.

Indeed ... perhaps some monsters can be the opposite I think but the "ahem" cool ones and pcs get wicked wilder features.

 

[CapnZapp]

I apparently missed this thread first time around.

I use the concept of "bloodied" at half max hp. I've used it for 5E and now PF2 ever since we briefly played 4E back when. About the only thing we've imported from 4E really.

Players are encouraged to not state exactly how much damage they've taken or how many hit points they have left. And I report only if a monster is "bloodied" or not.

The value in the idea lies in avoiding rewarding gaming the game in artificial ways. For instance:

• "The monster only has 9 hp left, so I'll go with this low-level spell that has a 89% chance of downing it, instead of wasting this here bigger spell".
• I'll save my main attack for the new monster, since I know my weaker attack will do the 6 hp needed for the old monster.
• I'll begin by healing Bob since he has only 11 hp left while Sue has 13...

That's a level of accuracy that feels completely unrealistic and videogamey to have. A bonus is that the lack of detailed knowledge helps with analysis paralysis. In most cases, choosing either bloodied monster works equally well. And sometimes you choose "wrong" but that's life - at least your choice was made quickly and the game will go on.

I do not add any general rules to the "condition" of Bloodied, however. Sure, the odd BBEG has had abilities he could only use while Bloodied, and I think I've created at least one magic item that relies on Bloodied, but I have no plans to attach general penalties (or bonuses) to it.

 

[naturaltwenty]

You could just modify the Injuries - Combat Option from the 5e DMG.

Normally you roll for injuries when the any one (1) of the following conditions is met:

• When it takes a critical hit
• When it drops to 0 hit points but isn’t killed outright
• When it fails a death saving throw by 5 or more

You could add:

• When it drops below 50% of it's hit points, i.e. when bloodied

Note - I wouldn't do this but if you want gritty AND an extra drain on HP resources for players to avoid injuries then this would definitely amp it up.

 

[dave2008]

You could just modify the Injuries - Combat Option from the 5e DMG.

Normally you roll for injuries when the any one (1) of the following conditions is met:

• When it takes a critical hit
• When it drops to 0 hit points but isn’t killed outright
• When it fails a death saving throw by 5 or more

You could add:

• When it drops below 50% of it's hit points, i.e. when bloodied

Note - I wouldn't do this but if you want gritty AND an extra drain on HP resources for players to avoid injuries then this would definitely amp it up.

Just to clarify, this concept was not for use in my own game. We do it a bit differently in our game.