D&D General Good Lingering Injury table?

[Micah Sweet]

I found a pretty good one on Reddit.

I use some houserules that basically change how hp at 0 work. I didn't like death saves.

So instead, when you hit 0, you are conscious, but go prone, and suffer a lingering injury. You can choose from a limited number of options like disengaging, drinking or potion, or going full defense. If you want to continue to attack, you can, but you suffer levels of exhaustion.

So far it's working pretty well. Just the table in the DMG is a little lackluster and lacks some clarity. So, I was just looking to shore that up a little bit.

Doesn't that make it impossible to lose consciousness due to injury?

 

[SteveC]

Just a thought: make sure you run whatever rules you're using by your players, and make sure you have clearly defined ways to clear the injuries, something that 5E does not have by default.

For what it's worth, unless the game would be changed to have much fewer combats, this would be something that would make me pass on a campaign. Something to think about: make sure your players are onboard and consider how this will affect your campaign.

 

[Bedrockgames]

There are always those old role master crit tables

 

[Micah Sweet]

There are always those old role master crit tables

I remember those from MERP. That's what got me excited about higher sim in RPGs.

 

[Bae'zel]

I just add a level of exhaustion each time someone drops to zero HP (and presumably doesn't die). Fluff descriptions about what injury they have (broken arm, sprained ankle etc.). Any of the tables posted here are suitable.

 

[EldritchHistory]

I never had a group interested enough for me to actually write it out, but I always thought it should be tied to death saving throw failures.

The more failures rolled the more severe the injury, and type of damage would determine the form it would take.

Gives a more mechanic reason why an injury would be worse as opposed to a random roll and incentives allies to heal quickly instead of letting them stay down.

 

[Horwath]

I just add a level of exhaustion each time someone drops to zero HP (and presumably doesn't die). Fluff descriptions about what injury they have (broken arm, sprained ankle etc.). Any of the tables posted here are suitable.

this, with a twist.
I like the various tables for injury here, but stacking exhaustion is just much cleaner and easier.

max exhaustion levels: 10, dead it you would get 11th

-1 to all d20 rolls, -1 AC, -1 all DCs, per exhaustion level
-5ft speed/ 2 exhaustion levels, round down.

every time you drop to 0 HP you get exhaustion level.
this levels can be removed by getting healed to 50/75/100% max HP(depending on how gritty you want it) or after Short or Long rest, again depending on how gritty you want to have it.

every 24hrs without sleep: 1 exhaustion level(this is removed by 1 level per every Long rest)
every 12hrs without water: 1 exhaustion level
every 2 days without food: 1 exhaustion level

use it for most poisons and diseases and even with variant old age penalties.

variant:
middle age: 1 permanent exhaustion level
old age: 2 permanent exhaustion levels, replaces middle age penalty
venerable: 3 permanent exhaustion levels, replaces old age penalty

 

[keynup]

Use as you see fit:

Wounds
A wound is an impairment that goes beyond mere HP. Each level of a wound can reduce D20 roll by 2 or reduce speed by 5, depending on the nature of the wound. Different Wounds can stack if applicable. Exhaustion levels still apply.
A Wound can be reduced by a level if, during a Rest, you use up 2 Hit Dice at once. (note: if starting a long rest with 1 Hit Dice, you will temporarily have 2 Hit Dice just before it ends.)
Alternatively, if you are at max Hit Points, over-healing by 10+ points will reduce a wound by a level.

Injury
An Injury is a Wound that is beyond normal recovery. To reduce an Injury by a level, use up 2 Hit Dice during a Rest and make Constitution Save with a DC of 20. You can use extra Hit Die to reduce the DC by 1 per each extra Hit Dice used. Alternatively, if you are at max Hit Points, over-healing by 10+ points will allow the Save as well, for every 10 HP over-healed after the 1st 10, reduce the DC by 1. More severe injuries may increase the DC.