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Message: <blockquote data-quote="comrade raoul" data-source="post: 479908" data-attributes="member: 554">I've got two main problems with the damage rules as they're articulated in d20 modern. First, I'm annoyed that any amount of massive damage is a relative non-issue (apart from HP damage) for characters with really good Fortitude saves. On a related note, characters with really good Fortitude saves can also practically never be knocked out (regardless as to how much non-lethal damage they take). The second problem has to do with large amounts of non-lethal damage; for a Constitution 12 character, he's in just as good a state after suffering a hundred punches for 11 points of non-lethal damage each as he is before suffering any, but a punch for 13 points of non-lethal damage is quite likely to knock him out in one strike. Characters can't wear each other down with non-lethal damage, and I think this is a problem.I want to circumvent these problems with two rules: extreme damage and pummeling. Thoughts? Are these balanced?Extreme Damage: For every 5 points of damage in excess of 20 or the character's maximum damage threshold (whichever is greater), the Fortitude save DC increases by +1. This also applies to extreme non-lethal damage for determining whether or not the character is knocked out.Pummeled: Characters who take more non-lethal damage than their current hit points in a single encounter are pummeled. They are limited to one attack or move action per round. Whenever a pummeled character suffers non-lethal damage, resolve the damage according to the total damage that the character suffered while being pummeled, not that attack. In other words, non-lethal damage is cumulative for a pummeled character. Even the toughest characters can be knocked out, even if only after taking prodigious amounts of non-lethal damage.For example, suppose Bruno is in a brawl against four other characters and is losing badly. He took enough non-lethal damage to become pummeled in the prior round, but hasn't suffered any damage since then. In this round, he's punched three times, for 6, 4, and 7 points of damage. Since he has a Constitution of 16, he is unaffected by the first two punches, but, because he's pummeled, the third punch is treated as if it caused 17 points of damage (6+4+7) and thus exceeds his massive damage threshold. However, he makes his Fortitude save and remains conscious.In next round, however, he's hit by four more punches, for 5, 3, 8, and 4 points of damage. Because the last punch is treated as though it caused 37 points of non-lethal damage (6+4+7+5+3+8+4), Bruno's Fortitude save DC is increased to 18 due to the extreme damage rules. He fails that save, and is down for the count.A character can always catch his breath as a full-round action. Doing so eliminates 1d6 + his level + his Con modifier points of non-lethal damage for purposes of determining whether a character is pummeled, or what his damage total is once he's pummeled.</blockquote>

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