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Dropping to 0 HP - Alternate Rule
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<blockquote data-quote="Li Shenron" data-source="post: 7443767" data-attributes="member: 1465"><p>In our games the average has been more like <em>one </em>PC <strong>per encounter</strong> dropping unconscious. Meaning that for each encounter when nobody drops to 0, there is approximately another encounter when two of them drops to 0, or one of them drops to 0 twice. That's a rough average of course. When someone drops to 0, the obvious consequence is someone else casting a Cure Wounds or delivering a healing potion to them, so that they are up and fighting before the next round. In fact... I don't remember if we had any death saving throw at all with the current group!</p><p></p><p>So what would have your house rule changed for our group? Without any further changes, it would have make it <em>more</em> difficult for that average one PC dropping to 0 to continue the adventure*, but it would have <em>spared</em> a potion or spell slot per encounter (not a huge saving except at very low level). </p><p></p><p>*As noted, the <em>first level</em> of exhaustion has minimal impact in combat, unless you're using tactics like hiding or doing athletic/acrobatic stunts. Even the <em>second </em></p><p> <em>level</em> (half speed) isn't that terrible in fact. But the <em>third level</em> is likely to have a huge impact on your capabilities.</p><p></p><p>So IMHO there wouldn't be much problems with your house rule, until the <em>same</em> PC has dropped to 0 three times. In my games that is actually going to happen, mainly because the levels gained (minus one) are carried over to next day, so if we have let's say 3-5 encounters per day, our PCs may have <em>on average </em>1 exhaustion level at the end of the day, but that means <em>some</em> PC is likely to have 2 or 3 and start off next day with a debt on her shoulders. </p><p></p><p>That would suggest to me, that to be more safe I'd introduce at least the house rule that a <em>short rest</em> helps against exhaustion levels. Maybe not automatically, it could be that you could spend a <strong>hit dice</strong> to regain a single level of exhaustion <em>instead</em> of healing HP damage.</p><p></p><p>But in your case, if <em>one </em>PC drops to 0 every 2-3 <em>sessions</em> (not encounters!), I don't think you even need to worry that much <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Li Shenron, post: 7443767, member: 1465"] In our games the average has been more like [I]one [/I]PC [B]per encounter[/B] dropping unconscious. Meaning that for each encounter when nobody drops to 0, there is approximately another encounter when two of them drops to 0, or one of them drops to 0 twice. That's a rough average of course. When someone drops to 0, the obvious consequence is someone else casting a Cure Wounds or delivering a healing potion to them, so that they are up and fighting before the next round. In fact... I don't remember if we had any death saving throw at all with the current group! So what would have your house rule changed for our group? Without any further changes, it would have make it [I]more[/I] difficult for that average one PC dropping to 0 to continue the adventure*, but it would have [I]spared[/I] a potion or spell slot per encounter (not a huge saving except at very low level). *As noted, the [I]first level[/I] of exhaustion has minimal impact in combat, unless you're using tactics like hiding or doing athletic/acrobatic stunts. Even the [I]second level[/I] (half speed) isn't that terrible in fact. But the [I]third level[/I] is likely to have a huge impact on your capabilities. So IMHO there wouldn't be much problems with your house rule, until the [I]same[/I] PC has dropped to 0 three times. In my games that is actually going to happen, mainly because the levels gained (minus one) are carried over to next day, so if we have let's say 3-5 encounters per day, our PCs may have [I]on average [/I]1 exhaustion level at the end of the day, but that means [I]some[/I] PC is likely to have 2 or 3 and start off next day with a debt on her shoulders. That would suggest to me, that to be more safe I'd introduce at least the house rule that a [I]short rest[/I] helps against exhaustion levels. Maybe not automatically, it could be that you could spend a [B]hit dice[/B] to regain a single level of exhaustion [I]instead[/I] of healing HP damage. But in your case, if [I]one [/I]PC drops to 0 every 2-3 [I]sessions[/I] (not encounters!), I don't think you even need to worry that much :) [/QUOTE]
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