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<blockquote data-quote="Lanefan" data-source="post: 8548740" data-attributes="member: 29398">And that's fair enough.Thing is, without greatly rejigging how D&amp;D runs its hit point system you're somewhat swimming against the tide on this one.What you'd need is:--- a much &quot;wider&quot; area between fully functional and dead, for PCs and living monsters* alike, such that it becomes way more possible to knock something out without killing it--- rules to handle unconsciousness: how it happens, when it happens, the odds of it happening, that sort of thing--- rules to handle revival from unconsciousness: what types of cures work, how effective they are, etc.--- resting rules for after someone's been knocked outThe low-hanging design space for adding in that &quot;wider area&quot; is negative hit points.&nbsp; You could, say have it that a creature taken to or below 0 h.p. risks going unconscious (and automatically goes unconscious if taken below a lower threshold - say, -20) but doesn't die unless a) the hit that sent it below 0 was a critical or b) it reaches [negative its full h.p. total] or c) it was coup-de-graced regardless of its hit point status.Characters at or below 0 h.p. but still conscious are at disadvantage to everything and advantage cannot be gained.Cures received if at or below 0 h.p. are at half effect.&nbsp; If after a cure the recipient is above -20 it automatically wakes up; if still at or below -20 it remains unconscious.&nbsp; An untended unconscious creature at or below -20 will die after [some random amount of time - d6 hours?]; an untended unconscious creature above -20 can roll [need some mechanics here] to wake up, stay asleep, or eventually die.* - non-living monsters e.g. undead and constructs would stay at all-or-nothing - they're either functional or they're not, no middle ground. Were it me I'd also put oozes and jellies into this category as well.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Lanefan, post: 8548740, member: 29398"] And that's fair enough. Thing is, without greatly rejigging how D&D runs its hit point system you're somewhat swimming against the tide on this one. What you'd need is: --- a much "wider" area between fully functional and dead, for PCs and living monsters* alike, such that it becomes way more possible to knock something out without killing it --- rules to handle unconsciousness: how it happens, when it happens, the odds of it happening, that sort of thing --- rules to handle revival from unconsciousness: what types of cures work, how effective they are, etc. --- resting rules for after someone's been knocked out The low-hanging design space for adding in that "wider area" is negative hit points. You could, say have it that a creature taken to or below 0 h.p. risks going unconscious (and automatically goes unconscious if taken below a lower threshold - say, -20) but doesn't die unless a) the hit that sent it below 0 was a critical or b) it reaches [negative its full h.p. total] or c) it was coup-de-graced regardless of its hit point status. Characters at or below 0 h.p. but still conscious are at disadvantage to everything and advantage cannot be gained. Cures received if at or below 0 h.p. are at half effect. If after a cure the recipient is above -20 it automatically wakes up; if still at or below -20 it remains unconscious. An untended unconscious creature at or below -20 will die after [some random amount of time - d6 hours?]; an untended unconscious creature above -20 can roll [need some mechanics here] to wake up, stay asleep, or eventually die. * - non-living monsters e.g. undead and constructs would stay at all-or-nothing - they're either functional or they're not, no middle ground. Were it me I'd also put oozes and jellies into this category as well. [/QUOTE]

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