Hitting the negative HP gap.

[TuDogz]

As characters increase in level the damage per attack taken increases. While most characters will try to leave battles or heal when their hit points get low this is frequently not possible. As a DM, it is much easier to accidentily kill a character by doing enough damage to blow completely past all 10 points of the negative buffer.

I am considering a rule that increases players negative hit points as they level up. Perhaps as simple as +1 neg point per level. Maybe something more class dependant. Not sure yet.

Anyone played with this and what kind of solutions have you used?

 

[Plane Sailing]

My DM in the "stories from the steppes" campaign uses a house rule where the threshold is based on 10 + character level + CON bonus.

Thus my 8th Sorcerer with CON 14 will die at -20 instead of -10.

This is giving a little extra breathing room, which is nice.

 

[Hardhead]

As characters increase in level the damage per attack taken increases. While most characters will try to leave battles or heal when their hit points get low this is frequently not possible. As a DM, it is much easier to accidentily kill a character by doing enough damage to blow completely past all 10 points of the negative buffer.

I am considering a rule that increases players negative hit points as they level up. Perhaps as simple as +1 neg point per level. Maybe something more class dependant. Not sure yet.

Anyone played with this and what kind of solutions have you used?

In Monte Cook's Arcana Unearthed, you get a "negative buffer" equal to your CON score. Since almost all characters have a CON greater than 10, this is generally a net increase. It also increases a *little* bit with time, as you generally get CON boosting items. An increase of +1 per level/HD wouldn't be bad either. I don't think it'd be broken or anything.

 

[AuraSeer]

For a while we used a house rule that allowed a saving throw to avoid instant death. If you succeeded on a Fort save with a DC equal to your negative hp + 10, you stopped at "dying" instead of "dead".

That is, if you got reduced to -15 hp in one shot, you would get to try make a DC 25 Fort save. Succeed and you stopped at -9 hit points, instead of dying instantly. That allowed at least one full round for the healer to get to you. (If you were already in negative hp and got hit again, you didn't get another save.)

We eventually discarded this rule because it removed a lot of the danger from combat, in our party at least. The characters who take the most damage are the melee types, who have such high Fort saves they never did fail. Things got pretty boring for a while, so we cooked up an in-game explanation and went back to the normal rule.

 

[MerakSpielman]

The negative HP thing always seemed a bit wacked to me. Sure, when you're a 1st level wizard with 4 hp, being able to go to -10 before death is a good thing, and very useful. The ten hit point grace period before death will probably save your life several times.

Then you have your 10th level fighter with 100HP. Negative hit points are such an abysmially small portion of his total that they're rarely going to come into play.

And don't get me started on this whole Zero-Hit Point business. Why make a special condition for zero hit points? As the level of the characters increases, the likelihoood of ever actually ending up with exactly zero HP drops to almost nothing.

 

[the Jester]

My solution, as with so many issues that are only issues at higher levels, is a custom feat.


CLING TO LIFE (General)

You can cling to life better than others when you’re dying.

Benefit: You die when your hit points reach a negative total equal to your level plus your constitution.

Normal: You die when your hit points reach -10.

 

[Nifft]

I've house-ruled that PCs and critters die at -(10 + HD)... however, what should REALLY happen is that PCs learn to run away before they've lost all their HP.

-- N

 

[jgsugden]

I use the following (simple) house rule:

The staggered range increases by 1 for every HD above 10. The 'dying' range then moves down by 1 for every HD above 10. The dying range remains a 10 point range immediately beneath the staggered considiton. Exertion while staggered drops you into the dying range.

So, a 15 HD fighter is staggered when his hit points land between 0 and -5. If he exerts himself, he drops to -6 and begins dying. His dying range is -6 to -15 instead of -1 to -10.

Simple, easy and effective. Allowing PCs a larger staggered area is a good way to keep them alive, as well.

 

[Vahktang]

At the moment the house rule is CON bonus added to the -10 (so to speak)
I have toyed with:
Character is dead, negative HP + CON bonus and then some. If a cure can be administered that takes her into positive before her next turn, then the character can live.
Kind of the 'Clear! <zap>' we see in doctor shows.
Makes it so the players buy wands beyond Cure Light wounds, makes the rogues buy Use Magical Device, adds some drama.

I'm thinking of doing the 'make Fort save at = to negative' rule.
Make the player make the rolls to stay alive.
And you always have the Boromir thing of the fighter staying alive long after he should.

More later,

Vahktang

 

[Hypersmurf]

"I have no memory of this place..."

Off to House Rules.

-Hyp.
(Moderator)