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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Water Bob" data-source="post: 5521393" data-attributes="member: 92305">We've got all these character conditions in the game. If you have at least 1 hit point, you're fully functional. If you're at 0 hit points, you're barely functional (disabled). If you're at -1 HP or below, you're not functional at all, unconscious, dying. What happened to functional but hindered? What about having your Speed reduced, or a -2 attack and defense because your hand just got crushed in that last block? Maybe your right eye is swollen closed. It seems to me that it would easy to add a link in the hit point chain where these types of injuries could be imposed on a character. No more going from fully healed and functional at 1+ hit points to unconscious and dying after one more blow. I'm thinking that when a character is reduced to 4 hit points or less, the GM should look at imposing a hindering penalty. Why did I pick "4" HP? I looked at a 1st level Commoner. He's got absolutely no combat training and uses a d4 for his hit die. Thus, if a character is reduced to 1-4 HP, the GM should impose a non-critical (not bleeding to death) hindrance that makes sense when considered with the blow that delivered it. Therefore, the hit point chain will look like this: 5 or more HP? Fully functional. 1-4 HP? Functional but hindered or wounded. 0 HP? Barely functional. Disabled. -1 or less HP? Unconscious and dying. The GM could take this a step farther and create some type of more serious wound for critical hits that reduce the character to 4- hit points and Massive Damage failures. Also, look at the "conditions" section of the rules. Blinded, Dazed, Dazzled, Deafened, Fatigued, Exhausted, Frightened, Nauseated, Panicked, Shaken, Sickened, Staggered, and Stunned are all hindrances that could result from the blow that reduced the character to 4 HP or less. And, I think that a check might be in order to allow the character an out--something that allows him to avoid the hindrance/obstacle/challenge. What we're saying, in effect, is that a character's "life's blood" is the 5 points of the 0-5 HP range. The rest is a measure of how well he can defense himself. A blow that takes the charactger to 4 HP or less is one that hit into the quick--that is, one that injured the character with a moderate type wound. It's not serious enough to stop the fight but it is bad enough to make the character use a penalty modifier. Here's an example of what I'm talking about: Caelis attacks Thrallan. Both are using a battleaxe. Caelis hits, defeating Thrallan's parry, and does 9 points of damage. Thrallan is reduced from 11 hit points to 2 HP. Well, this falls into the area we're discussing above. Given that Caelis was attacking and Thrallan attempting to parry, let's say that Caelis' axe shaft slammed into Thrallan's grip on his own axe, bruising or breaking his fingers and knuckles. Thrallan could drop his weapon--that blow probably smarts! We'll give Thrallan a quick DEX check to attempt to avoid this fate of dropping his weapon. He rolls DEX vs. 9. The "9" we got from the damage. Oops, Thrallan failed the check, so he does, indeed, drop his weapon. Next, let's get a read on how bad his fingers are hurt. CON vs. DC 9. Pass it, and he'll heal normally. Fail it, and the GM should maybe break his fingers or give him a strong bruise that takes longer than normal to heal. All the while, he'll have a -2 DM whenever he does something with that hand. Thoughts?</blockquote>

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