D&D 5E Death and dying houserule

[Flamestrike]

Agreed which is why I leapt on [MENTION=6828720]Springheel[/MENTION]'s compromise.

Maybe instead have a 'wounded' condition.

'If you are reduced to 0 HP you gain the wounded condition once your HP total again rises above 0. The condition lasts until your HP total is restored to a value equal to your HP Maximum'.

Wounded
> You have disadvantage on ability checks and attack rolls.
> Other creatures have advantage on saving throws against your spells and special abilities.
> Your speed is halved

So a player that gets dropped is in strife untill fully healed.

As an alternative, you can use the wounded condition whenever a creature is at 1/2 max HP or lower.

 

[Satyrn]

Maybe instead have a 'wounded' condition.

'If you are reduced to 0 HP you gain the wounded condition once your HP total again rises above 0. The condition lasts until your HP total is restored to a value equal to your HP Maximum'.

Wounded
> You have disadvantage on ability checks and attack rolls.
> Other creatures have advantage on saving throws against your spells and special abilities.
> Your speed is halved

So a player that gets dropped is in strife untill fully healed.

As an alternative, you can use the wounded condition whenever a creature is at 1/2 max HP or lower.

I like it, although the bloodied condition probably shouldn't be that mean. Maybe just the disadvantage on ability checks.

 

[Flamestrike]

I like it, although the bloodied condition probably shouldn't be that mean. Maybe just the disadvantage on ability checks.

Doesnt really affect combat that much though. You dont see many ability checks in combat as is.

 

[AaronOfBarbaria]

You dont see many ability checks in combat as is.

I've seen ability checks in each of the last dozen combat encounters I've run. Not really relevant, I guess, but I felt like sharing.

 

[Lanefan]

Also, if you did use this rule, then it becomes tempting to just let the target die instead of stabilizing them with three or four levels of exhaustion. Death can be fixed with a level 3 spell and 300gp, while exhaustion requires a level 5 spell and 100gp per level to fix.

This looks like a bug in the system to me. Quick fix: either jump up the level or the gp cost of Revivify by a whole bunch, so the exhaustion removal becomes a flat-out better option.

Thinking more generally: one way to eliminate or greatly reduce "whack-a-mole" would be to somehow curtail or nearly eliminate in-combat healing. Instead of having it as just another fact of combat, make in-combat healing dangerous, risky, and therefore exciting to try; and if nobody wants to risk it then if you're down, you're down until the battle's over. Problem is, 5e seems to expect in-combat healing as a fact of life...grumble grumble dumb design...OK, on to plan B.

Plan B might be to make it that if you hit 0 and survive you need at least a short rest before continuing; until then you are provisionally at 1 h.p., cannot go higher (you are "incurable"), and on taking any strenuous action you risk passing out from the strain; if you die and are revived the same incurability applies until you've had a long rest (or two, or three?). Yes this might shorten a few adventuring days now and then, but if you're getting beat up this badly you probably want to call it a day anyway.

Lanefan

 

[Springheel]

That's very cool. I would have called the condition "Wounded" rather than "Staggered". But that is a very nice system and avoids the entanglement with exhaustion but easy to grok.

Technically those are two different states. You are "Wounded" as long as you have any levels of wounds, regardless of what your current HP are. You are "Staggered" as long as you are at 0 HP. But feel free to edit to taste.

 

[77IM]

I thought I would post my hose rules for death and dying.
Problem: Combat in DnD can feel like ‘wak-a-mole’. A character is dying and then instantly better and can continue as if nothing happened.
Solution: Apply some penalty to a character who is reduced to 0 hit points.
Brief Overview: Anytime a character fails a death saving throw, they gain one level of exhaustion. This replaces the ‘three strikes and your out’ death saving throw rule.
[h=1]Death and Dying[/h]When an attack would reduce a character to less than 0 hit points, that character is dying.
whenever you start your turn with 0 hit points, you must make a Special saving throw, called a death saving throw, to determine whether you creep closer to death or hang onto life. Unlike other saving throws, this one isn’t tied to any ability score. You are in the hands of fate now, aided only by Spells and features that improve your chances of succeeding on a saving throw.
Roll a d20: If the roll is 10 or higher, you succeed. Otherwise, you fail. If you fail, you gain one level of exhaustion. If you reach six levels of exhaustion, you die. If you succeed three times, you stabilize.
Rolling 1 or 20: When you make a death saving throw and roll a 1 on the d20, you gain two levels of exhaustion. If you roll a 20 on the d20, you regain 1 hit point.
Damage at 0 Hit Points: If you take any damage while you have 0 hit points, you suffer a death saving throw failure. If the damage is from a critical hit, you suffer two failures instead. If the damage equals or exceeds your hit point maximum, you suffer instant death.
Exhaustion
1 Disadvantage on physical ability checks.
2 Speed Halved
3 Disadvantage on attack rolls and saving throws
4 Hit point maximum reduced to half.
5 speed reduced to 0.
6 dead.

I love this. Using the existing exhaustion rules makes this easy to understand, and I like the removal of the 3 death save failures. It also means people who are exhausted for other reasons had best avoid combat.

It does make healing take longer but that's kind of a benefit for a lot of people who don't like the fact that a long rest gets you totally healthy. And the penalties for Exhaustion are really not that bad for the first two levels. So as long as the same PC doesn't drop repeatedly, adventuring should continue.

 

[Antonlowe]

Thanks for you thoughts everyone. I have finished my revisions and the following are going to be my final house rules on death and dying.

When an attack would reduce a character to less than 0 hit points, that character is dying. The character is still conscious and can act normally, but quickly approaching death.

whenever you start your turn with 0 hit points, you must make a Special saving throw, called a death saving throw, to determine whether you creep closer to death or hang onto life. Unlike other saving throws, this one isn’t tied to any ability score. You are in the hands of fate now, aided only by Spells and features that improve your chances of succeeding on a saving throw.

Roll a d20: If the roll is 10 or higher, you succeed. Otherwise, you fail. If you fail, you gain one level of exhaustion. If you reach six levels of exhaustion, you die.

Rolling 1 or 20: When you make a death saving throw and roll a 1 on the d20, you gain two levels of exhaustion. If you roll a 20 on the d20, you regain 1 hit point.

Damage at 0 Hit Points: If you take any damage while you have 0 hit points, you suffer a death saving throw failure. If the damage is from a critical hit, you suffer two failures instead. If the damage equals or exceeds 1/2 your hit point maximum, you suffer instant death.

Resurrection: Any spell that resurrects you from death, only removes the 6th level of exhaustion (death). A character who is recently resurrected still suffers 5 levels of exhaustion and should probably take the week off

Note that you cannot stabalize with three successful checks. Only by healing (you can try to heal yourself or by critting your death saving throw.

 

[Yunru]

I've said for the longest time that failed Death Saving Throws should only be removed upon the conclusion of a short or long rest.

 

[Reynard]

Thanks for you thoughts everyone. I have finished my revisions and the following are going to be my final house rules on death and dying.

When an attack would reduce a character to less than 0 hit points, that character is dying. The character is still conscious and can act normally, but quickly approaching death.

whenever you start your turn with 0 hit points, you must make a Special saving throw, called a death saving throw, to determine whether you creep closer to death or hang onto life. Unlike other saving throws, this one isn’t tied to any ability score. You are in the hands of fate now, aided only by Spells and features that improve your chances of succeeding on a saving throw.

Roll a d20: If the roll is 10 or higher, you succeed. Otherwise, you fail. If you fail, you gain one level of exhaustion. If you reach six levels of exhaustion, you die.

Rolling 1 or 20: When you make a death saving throw and roll a 1 on the d20, you gain two levels of exhaustion. If you roll a 20 on the d20, you regain 1 hit point.

Damage at 0 Hit Points: If you take any damage while you have 0 hit points, you suffer a death saving throw failure. If the damage is from a critical hit, you suffer two failures instead. If the damage equals or exceeds 1/2 your hit point maximum, you suffer instant death.

Resurrection: Any spell that resurrects you from death, only removes the 6th level of exhaustion (death). A character who is recently resurrected still suffers 5 levels of exhaustion and should probably take the week off

Note that you cannot stabalize with three successful checks. Only by healing (you can try to heal yourself or by critting your death saving throw.

What if you have a level of exhaustion from another source already? If exhaustion is the driver of actual PC death, doesn't that make the ostensibly toughest PC class (barbarian) extra fragile?