Condition Track

[Morrus]

I LOVE the idea of a condition slider. In our game, we already use a "red/amber/green" scale, which is used when people want to know how wounded a bad guy looks, and when players tell each other how injured they are. If the categories have actual effects, even better - access to abilities dependent upon category sounds cool.

So here's me hoping it's more than simply "bloodied" being another condition which sets in at 50%.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

I thinkn it can be a good thing if mot too complicated. At most I think you can handle six conditions:

1. Full HP: Healthy
2. Full HP to ~50%: wounded. No effect
3. ~50% to ~25% (or perhaps to 2xCon score): Bloodied. Some penalties, some options kick in.
4. ~25% to 0 HP: Severely Wounded. Penalties as if fatigued; perhaps other options kick in (could delete this condition for simplicity)
5. 0 HP to -10 (or - Con Score, which I prefer): Disabled, as now but with "Severely Wounded" penalties added.
6. -10/-Con and below: Dead. Other special abilities kick in.

If you base some thresholds on Con score as I've indicated, you get some additional play from the stat. And you can probably build feat/talent trees or class abilities that vary. Barbarian rage could get tougher, or the Endurance feat could have more meaning as you can delay a gien condition's negative effects, for example.

I can think of a lot of cool things you could do by simply adding a HP-based condition track to the existing d20 construct, without adding too much complexity.

 

[Scribble]

I LOVE the idea of a condition slider. In our game, we already use a "red/amber/green" scale, which is used when people want to know how wounded a bad guy looks, and when players tell each other how injured they are. If the categories have actual effects, even better - access to abilities dependent upon category sounds cool.

So here's me hoping it's more than simply "bloodied" being another condition which sets in at 50%.

It kind of worries me... It started with the Dragon scenario. I mentioned that if they start to do too much of this, then it will be a pain... I already tend to forget things should happen with the rules as they are with just feats and such.

Start adding too many "IF Then" clauses in there and I'mna be lost... Especially late at night, after a beer or two...

 

[grimslade]

It kind of worries me... It started with the Dragon scenario. I mentioned that if they start to do too much of this, then it will be a pain... I already tend to forget things should happen with the rules as they are with just feats and such.

Start adding too many "IF Then" clauses in there and I'mna be lost... Especially late at night, after a beer or two...

I get worried with the use of the word 'condition'. Aren't dazed, stunned and sickened all conditions as well. Will different maneuvers come into play when those conditons happen?

I guess those condition cards that were on the front page before GenCOn will still be highly useful

 

[Greg K]

For my campaign

50% HP loss = Fatigue penalties
75% HP loss = Exhaustion penalties
100% HP loss = make checks as per Death and Dying (Unearthed Arcana)

 

[Warbringer]

We've been doing something similar in our Eberron Game to KD above:

30% - Light
60% - Severe - 1
90% Critical -2 (d3 bleed; stablilize 3/10)
100%+1/2 Con - Dying - -5 (d3 bleed; stabilize 1/10; partial actions only)
-Con dead

The hero can act all the way to Dead; Gain - extra hps equal to Con to fight with; Lose - no penalty to actions for damage.

And for those worried about the math, it's on the character sheet and fast. We use a little colored token under the miniature to help remind the player of the condition

 

[Mouseferatu]

I get worried with the use of the word 'condition'. Aren't dazed, stunned and sickened all conditions as well.

In 3E, yes. In 4E, who knows?

But here's the thing. If the condition track works roughly the way it does in SAGA, you won't have to keep track of whether you've been dazed, or sickened, or whatever. Each condition will have a corresponding number on the track. For instance:

"Sickened: You suffer one step on the condition track."

All you have to keep track of is where you are on the track; you don't need to keep track of how you got there.

So instead of having (potentially) half a dozen conditions to jot down, each with its own modifiers, all you have to know is "I'm halfway down the track, that's a total of -4" (or whatever).

 

[Li Shenron]

In 3E, yes. In 4E, who knows?

But here's the thing. If the condition track works roughly the way it does in SAGA, you won't have to keep track of whether you've been dazed, or sickened, or whatever. Each condition will have a corresponding number on the track. For instance:

"Sickened: You suffer one step on the condition track."

All you have to keep track of is where you are on the track; you don't need to keep track of how you got there.

So instead of having (potentially) half a dozen conditions to jot down, each with its own modifiers, all you have to know is "I'm halfway down the track, that's a total of -4" (or whatever).

That sounds easy but also very boring to me... :\ At least a few specific conditions should remain in the game IMO.

BTW I hope that the 50% threshold is not really going to be the same for every creature. That would be so dull... Also it would definitely reveal to the PCs how many HP the monster had and has left.

 

[Baby Samurai]

I don't think the Threshold rule would work, as other have pointed out, at one point in the game (past a certain level) every round you would be taking damage equal to your threshold.

I'm also glad they are changing the Massive Damage rule, as it had the same problem as the above – at a certain point in the game 50 + point of damage is being flung around every round and the game devolves into "Don’t roll a 1 on your Fort save!"

I like the sound of this Bloodied rule to replace Massive Damage and/or Threshold.

 

[Nikosandros]

That sounds easy but also very boring to me... :\ At least a few specific conditions should remain in the game IMO.

I agree. I've played SW Saga and while the condition track is simple to use, I don't especially like it...