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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Water Bob" data-source="post: 5628349" data-attributes="member: 92305">Both. I'm using the RAW rules for mechanics, but the players won't know the outcome until they've spent some time examining the hurt character. Example. Tarl goes down to -4 HP during combat. This happened on Round 3. That next round, nobody has made it to him to help. They're fighting. I'll roll, secretly, the 10% chance that Tarl has stablized naturally, by himself. Let's say that first throw is a success. As GM, I know that Tarl is stable. Nobody else knows this. They can't. It would be meta-gaming if they did. All they know is that Tarl went down and is lying in a heap on the battlefield. Frenn kills his opponent that round, then moves to engage the enemy that Tarl was fighting. On Round 5. Frenn kills the second opponent. Round 6 (which is 3 rounds after Tarl fell), Frenn reaches Tarl. If Tarl wasn't already stabilized, I'd roll Frenn's First Aid check now. Again, this would be a secret roll, behind the screen. And, since I don't want Frenn's player to meta-game and figure out that Tarl is stable, I'll go ahead and throw that First Aid check anyway, even though it's moot. At this point, Frenn's player will start asking questions and doing things to help his friend. If we're still in rounds (as we are in this example), I'll keep Frenn's actions to what he can do in a normal combat round. If this were out of combat, it would become a more free-play, roleplaying type situation. Frenn will need to examine the wound then tell me how he's going to help his friend. Most likely, he'll need supplies. If a Healing Kit isn't close at-hand, then Frenn will have to improvise using what ever materials he does have within immediate reach. This scenario is played out much like the Old School Trap example I posted above. It's up to the player to get creative and bandage his friend, use a tourniquet, or whatever he thinks of. But, let's say that, just after one round, Frenn sees that his other comrades still need his help. Frenn has barely looked at the wound, so he has no idea if Tarl is stable or not. Round 6, Frenn leaves to help his comrades. The combat goes on for 3 more rounds. Round 10, The combat is over. Frenn returns to Tarl. Now, we're out of combat and can move the examination and healing faster. Frenn first checks for a pulse. There is one. Then, Frenn gets one of his comrades to help him turn Tarl over. They check his body, make some make-shift bandages. And, then one of them has an idea to create a chest-protector of wood so that Tarl keeps his chest straight. This can be a Craft check, and the PCs will need to find the resources to make this item. By this point, the player has figured out that Tarl is stable, and we proceed with the game. I never tell the player outright, "Tarl is stable." The player figures this out on his own, based on what he's discovered about Tarl. That he has a pulse after nobody looking after him will probably be a shining beacon that Tarl is stable. I'll follow the healing rules with Tarl. And, as he comes around, I may limit his Speed for a bit, keeping him in the Disabled state until he makes a check. And the game continues.</blockquote>

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