Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Nest
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Rocket your D&D 5E and Level Up: Advanced 5E games into space! Alpha Star Magazine Is Launching... Right Now!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Bloody and gruesome retool of D&D 5th Edition for a halloween horror game
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="RangerWickett" data-source="post: 6714292" data-attributes="member: 63"><p>I'm planning to run a Halloween game for my friends this coming month, with a bit of a Gothic horror 'peasants with pitchforks vs. bloodthirsty monsters' vibe. I've considered things like Dread or FATE, but I want some actual combat and solid mechanics for the players, while I worry about the narrative elements from the GM side. So I'm retooling D&D 5e to be supremely simplistic.</p><p></p><p><strong>Characters</strong></p><p>The PCs are pregenerated, and are all basically classless people with 6 hit points and a background. They'll basically just have ability scores, hit points, and a couple proficient skills, with no class abilities. The old retired soldier will get a +2 bonus to melee weapon attack rolls, and the woodsman will get a +2 bonus to ranged weapon attack rolls. </p><p></p><p><strong>Combat</strong></p><p>Initiative, attack rolls, damage, cover, and all that basic stuff works the same. Weapons will mostly all be 1d4 (dagger, club, animal bite), 1d6 (cleaver, pitchfork, monstrous claw), or 1d8 (sword, axe, spear).</p><p></p><p>Hit points and injuries function in a different, more gruesome manner.</p><p></p><p>With a one minute rest you recover all your hit points. However, every time you drop to 0 HP, you gain a level of exhaustion, which won't recover during the course of this adventure. </p><p></p><p>Level Effect</p><p>1 Disadvantage on ability checks</p><p>2 Speed halved</p><p>3 Disadvantage on attack rolls and saving throws</p><p>4 Hit point maximum halved</p><p>5 Speed reduced to 0</p><p>6 Death </p><p></p><p>Whenever you have 0 hit points and you take another hit, in addition to suffering another level of exhaustion, make a Constitution save (DC 10) or else you suffer a wound. The type of wound depends on how much damage the attack would inflict.</p><p></p><ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><strong>Injured Foot.</strong> Speed reduced by 5 feet. A second such hit disables the foot and halves your speed. (Disable probably means 'sever.')</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><strong>Injured Hand.</strong> Disadvantage when using that hand. A second such hit disables the hand.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><strong>Injured Eyes.</strong> Disadvantage on Perception. A second hit blinds the character.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><strong>Injured Torso.</strong> Character suffers effects of being one level of exhaustion worse, except that this can't kill the person. (If you have 5 levels of fatigue and a torso wound, you're barely clinging to life, unable to do anything but talk.)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><strong>Bleeding.</strong> Character makes another Constitution save (DC 10) each round to avoid suffering another level of exhaustion. A success stops the bleeding.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><strong>Severed Leg.</strong> As two hits on a foot, plus bleeding.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><strong>Severed Arm.</strong> As two hits on a hand, plus bleeding.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><strong>Mangled Face.</strong> As one hit on a face, plus unable to speak, plus bleeding.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><strong>Horrid Bleeding.</strong> Bleeding, but the save DC is 20.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><strong>Instant Death.</strong> </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><strong>Excessively Gruesome Death.</strong> Everyone within 5 feet is blinded from a spray of blood until they spend an action to clean themselves.</li> </ol><p></p><p>Most enemies will yield or flee when reduced to 0 hit points, so you don't <em>have</em> to mangle them and finish them off.</p><p></p><p>How does this sound? Anything I'm missing?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="RangerWickett, post: 6714292, member: 63"] I'm planning to run a Halloween game for my friends this coming month, with a bit of a Gothic horror 'peasants with pitchforks vs. bloodthirsty monsters' vibe. I've considered things like Dread or FATE, but I want some actual combat and solid mechanics for the players, while I worry about the narrative elements from the GM side. So I'm retooling D&D 5e to be supremely simplistic. [b]Characters[/b] The PCs are pregenerated, and are all basically classless people with 6 hit points and a background. They'll basically just have ability scores, hit points, and a couple proficient skills, with no class abilities. The old retired soldier will get a +2 bonus to melee weapon attack rolls, and the woodsman will get a +2 bonus to ranged weapon attack rolls. [b]Combat[/b] Initiative, attack rolls, damage, cover, and all that basic stuff works the same. Weapons will mostly all be 1d4 (dagger, club, animal bite), 1d6 (cleaver, pitchfork, monstrous claw), or 1d8 (sword, axe, spear). Hit points and injuries function in a different, more gruesome manner. With a one minute rest you recover all your hit points. However, every time you drop to 0 HP, you gain a level of exhaustion, which won't recover during the course of this adventure. Level Effect 1 Disadvantage on ability checks 2 Speed halved 3 Disadvantage on attack rolls and saving throws 4 Hit point maximum halved 5 Speed reduced to 0 6 Death Whenever you have 0 hit points and you take another hit, in addition to suffering another level of exhaustion, make a Constitution save (DC 10) or else you suffer a wound. The type of wound depends on how much damage the attack would inflict. [list=1][*][B]Injured Foot.[/B] Speed reduced by 5 feet. A second such hit disables the foot and halves your speed. (Disable probably means 'sever.') [*][B]Injured Hand.[/B] Disadvantage when using that hand. A second such hit disables the hand. [*][B]Injured Eyes.[/B] Disadvantage on Perception. A second hit blinds the character. [*][B]Injured Torso.[/B] Character suffers effects of being one level of exhaustion worse, except that this can't kill the person. (If you have 5 levels of fatigue and a torso wound, you're barely clinging to life, unable to do anything but talk.) [*][B]Bleeding.[/B] Character makes another Constitution save (DC 10) each round to avoid suffering another level of exhaustion. A success stops the bleeding. [*][b]Severed Leg.[/b] As two hits on a foot, plus bleeding. [*][b]Severed Arm.[/b] As two hits on a hand, plus bleeding. [*][b]Mangled Face.[/b] As one hit on a face, plus unable to speak, plus bleeding. [*][b]Horrid Bleeding.[/b] Bleeding, but the save DC is 20. [*][b]Instant Death.[/b] [*][b]Excessively Gruesome Death.[/b] Everyone within 5 feet is blinded from a spray of blood until they spend an action to clean themselves. [/list] Most enemies will yield or flee when reduced to 0 hit points, so you don't [i]have[/i] to mangle them and finish them off. How does this sound? Anything I'm missing? [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Bloody and gruesome retool of D&D 5th Edition for a halloween horror game
Top