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Message: <blockquote data-quote="DEFCON 1" data-source="post: 8370133" data-attributes="member: 7006">Are we showing off our personal Rests and Death Save house rules?  Okay, why not!  I've made my own amendments to the Rest rules, Dying and Death save rules, and the Exhaustion chart so they all work together.  This system has been used in a modified form previously in my Curse of Strahd campaigns (which were actually a bit more deadly than this to emphasize that setting), and will be run in this form in my upcoming Theros campaign.Rests<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">A Short Rest is 10 minutes, during which you may spend hit dice to regain hit points and regain features that refresh on a Short Rest. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">A Long Rest is 8 hours of light activity or sleep, after which you regain all of your spent hit dice, regain all features that refresh on a Long Rest, and you lose your level of Exhaustion if currently at Level 1 (creatures at any higher exhaustion levels do not lose any.)  You do not automatically regain all hit points following a Long Rest. The effects of a Short Rest are included at both the beginning and end of a Long Rest. (I.E. you may spend any remaining hit dice you have at the beginning of the Long Rest to regain hit points, and then may spend any new hit dice you just regained following the Long Rest to regain more hit points.) </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">An Extended Rest is 24 hours of uninterrupted bed rest in a safe location and counts as a Short and Long Rest. You regain all hit points, all hit dice, all class features, and may possibly reduce levels of Exhaustion you currently have. At the end of the Extended Rest another character may attempt a WIS (Medicine) check. A successful DC 10 check reduces your Exhaustion level by 1, a DC 20 check by 2 levels, and a DC 30 check by 3 levels.</li> </ul>Healing and Dying<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">At 0 hit points, a creature is Incapacitated (not Unconscious) and begins making Death saving throws at the start of their turn with a DC 10 to succeed. (An Incapacitated creature can’t take actions or reactions but may still move.)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Every level of Exhaustion a creature has raises the DC by 1.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Each failed Death saving throw causes one level of Exhaustion.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Death occurs at Exhaustion Level 6 (and not 3 failed Death saving throws.)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">All abilities and spells that regain or heal hit points do not affect Exhaustion levels.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">A creature may regain hit points while Incapacitated, but that does not remove the Incapacitated condition nor stop the rolling of Death saving throws.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">To remove the Incapacitated condition and stop the rolling of Death saving throws requires the target to be Stabilized.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">A character that makes three successful Death saving throws or rolls a Natural 20 on a Death saving throw automatically Stabilizes.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Another character adjacent to an Incapacitated character can attempt to Stabilize them by using an Action to make a WIS (Medicine) check with a DC equal to the target’s current Death save DC.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Stabilizing a creature does not remove any levels of Exhaustion.</li> </ul>Exhaustion Chart<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Level 1: Speed halved.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Level 2: Max HP halved.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Level 3: Disadvantage on attack rolls and saving throws.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Level 4: Disadvantage on ability checks.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Level 5: Unconscious.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Level 6: Death.</li> </ul>There are additional bits of rules I did not include here because they are the same as the actual rules in the game (mainly regarding taking hits while at 0 HP and thus automatically failing death saves) and thus didn't want to bog the rules written down here with stuff I already know how to run.  I think these rules will help out many sections of the whole process.  Switching from Unconscious to Incapacitated for characters at 0 HP will allow them a chance to retreat when they are at 0 (or keep fighting if they really want to risk it), plus we avoid the narrative incongruity of getting "knocked unconscious", then woken up, then knocked out again, then woken up again and so forth in the same fight.  It also makes stabilizing characters an important process (and giving the Medicine skill something to do) because simply regaining HP via healing spells does not automatically stop the process of dying.  In theory you could heal someone's HP to full, but if you never stabilize them they could still drop dead from Exhaustion.  This method really emphasizes HP as more the energy/stamina type, rather than wounds.  The "physical injuries" come from the gaining of Exhaustion levels (and thus require bed rest to heal from, rather than just combat magic.)The change that I'm most curious about to see how it works is the bit of regaining all hit dice following a long rest, instead of regain all hit points.  It's going to kind of result in the same sort of thing because these rules allow you to immediately spend hit dice you have just regained following the rest to bump your hit points back up as high as you want... but there's always a fair chance you won't start the day at Max HP (either because you didn't roll well enough on your HD expenditures, or you just want to save some HD for later in the day.)Some of these bits have not yet been tested and I'm sure I might have to amend some things later on as we play... but more of these rules have been used at my tables in some form or fashion or were adapted from other EN World posters' house rules that they said had worked for them, so I think I'm probably in pretty good shape with these.</blockquote>

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