I think leveraging this, or something like it, is the way to go.
Kind of a "their body can physically take more damage because their mind wants them to live via external inspiration (that they may have even picked up unconsciously)"? I actually might be able to swing that. Thanks Manbearcat
I made one suggestion - the presence of the inspiring ally is putting the attacking enemy of his/her game
I could use something like this, too, as long as the enemy was present when the inspiration was given to the PC (which should be most of the time). Thanks for the suggestion pemerton
If the inspiring ally has left the room and the enemy does not know that the inspiring ally is even implicated in the situation, then personally I would just go with luck. Unless that particular scenario - temp hp stopping an unconscious PC going to -ve bloodied from an attack from an enemy who neither knows of nor can see the inspiring ally - is going to come up more than once per tier, I think that would be OK.
I think that the Fighter might be saving his daily (granting that 14 THP to his allies) for when things look really bad, so I can see him using it when a PC is down. If he does wait until one or more PCs are down, then I have a feeling this will come up again. But, I might be wrong on that assumption. Even if it does, I think I can live with what Manbearcat has suggested. I might throw luck in from time to time, but I'd rather highlight the Fighter's inspirational effect most of the time, so I lean towards the PC hanging in there, even unconsciously, due to that effect.
Firstly, thanks for another interesting post about your game. I'm not alone - I am sure! - in sharing in your and your group's enthusiasm for 4E!
No problem! The Warpriest told me last night that we need to play every Saturday (because he wants to play more often). Our schedules won't allow that, of course, but we're certainly having a lot of fun with the campaign, and with 4e
I agree with Balesir's reasoning in his response about temporary hit points. I must admit, I just re-read the glossary entry for them and was surprised to note that you could gain temporary hit points while at 0 hit points or below. I would have assumed it was like regeneration which only functions when the creature with regeneration has 1 or more hit points.
Yeah, that's part of what made it hard for me. But, I think Manbearcat's explanation is more than enough for me. I just need
something that I can use when a player asks me what just happened.
For my part, after awhile I stopped narrating 0 hp as unconscious. You are exhausted, bleeding out, without hope, etc. and unable to act in combat, but still very much aware of what's going on around you. It's not necessarily an aesthetic that other people might appreciate, but the fully conscious yet unable to act to save his friends hero is a trope of comics and shonen anime I hold near and dear to my heart.
I could do something like this. It'd be a house rule (and I've tried to keep things RAW for the most part), and one with potentially campaign-altering implications (as PCs can see and hear things that they wouldn't otherwise be able to), but in certain situations it might be good. I might be able to do a "you drift to consciousness just before the blow lands, shifting to lessen it" type thing, too. There's "he wakes up just in time to react" in heroic fiction as well, and I could potentially use that. Thanks Campbell
Instead of "Unconscious and Dying" as a condition I've gone to call this "Out of It". In description, I equate it a lot more to a boxer getting knocked out. Sometimes they are partially conscious.
I might lean on this rarely, but it's another good trick to have up my sleeve. Thanks D'karr
Thanks everyone for the advice on how to handle it. I asked about it here instead of the other thread for a reason
