Good rules for wounds? Like "arm broken?"

[Janx]

If I were going to do a relatively simplistic wound system, I'd probably stick with the "DM describes it" method. Which basically means, when you take a significant chunk of damage that "ought to leave a mark" do so. I'd make all or most of that healable (over time or through spells). The goal being, leave PCs with broken arms now and then.

The challenge to that in normal D&D (1st, 2nd and 3E really) has been that the definition of a hit point has always been fuzzy. I got no real problem with that, except for the fact that 1 guy has 10HP, another has 4, and a 1d4 stab with a dagger will mean a lot more to the latter than the former.

So to normalize that HP range, I'd use some variant of the UA rule where you've got 2 pools of HP. The normal ones (1dX per level + CON) and the real ones, which are basically equal to your CON or some such.

At this point, during normal combat, you'll chew through the traditional HP and it'll get described as nicks and gashes and "fatigue" Once you run out, you get into the Wound HP pool, where serious damage happens. And since most characters have the same amount (relatively), you can pretty much describe taking 10 damage in that pool as being a pretty serious wound with side effects. At it'll mean the same to all characters. Except for the mage, because he died. But that's what they do.

Janx

 

[devilish]

Exactly. When we wrote the critical hits rules we had to find a balance between something that was useable and not too complicated versus one that put a little grit and danger into combat. We had three distinct versions that ranged from overly simplistic to overly complicated. The end result was the compromise.

Thanks for the input! It's a shame we couldn't have had both the
useable and the complicated.

I understand the reluctance to add complexity to an already
complex combat system --- TA does address that by having
a convenient rule set that you can keep in your head and
don't have to book shuffle in the midst of a usually high
drama point -- "You rolled a 20! Threat to critical--- SCORE!! What
happened, what happened?!?!?"

But I think that because it's so uncommon, that it would be nice to have
a complex critical hit system -- we haven't had a crit in 4 or 5 combat-instense sessions (maybe our dice are just bad!) - but when that
crit does happen, I wouldn't mind a complicated, flavorful, description.
Since it's so rare, it shouldn't clog up the combat system - it's not
like changing AoO or flanking rules. It could be a 1-2 pager in your
DM notebook (like the old Wild Surge rules of 2ed) And yes, I don't
mind a crutch when my creativity is down ... @2am, instead of the old
"oh...a crit....you hit him....really hard!...and might scar him!"
it's cool to roll up and have it done for you "Your blade slices into
his jawbone; blood and teeth fragments fleck..."

Part of my disappointment with that section of TA was probably
because I read @ Enworld how everyone raved about it -- just
like in this message, and my expectations were set high.

just my thoughts...
-D

 

[Ghostwind]

One of the good things about the existing critical system in TA is that it isn't that hard to simply add more descriptors to the damage and tweak the game effects to make them differ more. For instance, in my group, whenever a player is subjected to a critical wound, I'll look up the effect and then spend a minute or two describing not only how the injury happened but also put a bit of CSI-gruesome twist to it. In the Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil campaign I'm running, last week one of the players had his arm broke by the trog. cleric after rolling a critical miss. Here's roughly how the exchange went.

"Still weak from retching your guts out, you make a half-hearted swing only to have the reptilian creature block it with such force that your weapon flys from your hand leaving you defenseless. A sneer crosses his features when he raises his mace and slams it into your upper arm. The force of impact is so great and so painful that you risk losing consciousness. A loud 'snap' echoes in your ears as the bone not only breaks but splinters into several small pieces, grinding their way into your muscle tissue around it. Your cries of pain seem to give the reptile satisfaction and pleasure. You try to retreat back only to find that the arm is completely unusable as it hangs there at an odd angle causing you to slip and fall to the ground again. The creature steps towards you with his mace raised to strike you once again...