You know, there's a subsystem in 5e that actually works quite well as a wounds system: Exhaustion.
For anyone who hasn't seen it, it's on page 11 of the DM Guidelines - it's part of the exploration system. You get levels of exhaustion if you travel too much, or don't eat or drink, or spend time in dangerous environments without protective gear. There are six levels of exhaustion, going from "Disadvantage on all attacks and ability checks, can't concentrate on spells" at level one to "The character dies" at level six. In the standard rules, you can recover from one level of exhaustion by resting for at least 8 hours and having normal food and drink for the day.
How's about this for a simple wound system:
Whenever you fall to 0 hit points, you take a wound. Each wound you have increases your level of exhaustion by 1.
However, with a heroic effort you may be able to fight on, temporarily ignoring wounds. Make a Constitution check (without disadvantage) each round you wish to ignore your wounds, with a DC equal to five times your current exhaustion level. If you succeed, exhaustion levels caused by wounds alone may be ignored for that round only.
Wounds may be treated by a DC 5 * your Exhaustion level Intelligence[Medicine] check, or with the Restoration spell. Each check or spell removes one wound. Either way, the exhaustion level gained from the wound can only be removed with a full 8 hours rest, as standard. Without either assistance, you may make a DC 10 + your Exhaustion level Constitution check after each full 24 hour period of rest and adequate nourishment to recover from one wound.
A DC 5 check for a single wound means that most characters will be fine, most of the time. But using exhaustion, it stacks nicely with the exploration system - you really wouldn't want to be wounded *and* running through the desert, chased by a horde of kobolds and without water. Bad situations and environments will magnify the effects, as they really should.
For anyone who hasn't seen it, it's on page 11 of the DM Guidelines - it's part of the exploration system. You get levels of exhaustion if you travel too much, or don't eat or drink, or spend time in dangerous environments without protective gear. There are six levels of exhaustion, going from "Disadvantage on all attacks and ability checks, can't concentrate on spells" at level one to "The character dies" at level six. In the standard rules, you can recover from one level of exhaustion by resting for at least 8 hours and having normal food and drink for the day.
How's about this for a simple wound system:
Whenever you fall to 0 hit points, you take a wound. Each wound you have increases your level of exhaustion by 1.
However, with a heroic effort you may be able to fight on, temporarily ignoring wounds. Make a Constitution check (without disadvantage) each round you wish to ignore your wounds, with a DC equal to five times your current exhaustion level. If you succeed, exhaustion levels caused by wounds alone may be ignored for that round only.
Wounds may be treated by a DC 5 * your Exhaustion level Intelligence[Medicine] check, or with the Restoration spell. Each check or spell removes one wound. Either way, the exhaustion level gained from the wound can only be removed with a full 8 hours rest, as standard. Without either assistance, you may make a DC 10 + your Exhaustion level Constitution check after each full 24 hour period of rest and adequate nourishment to recover from one wound.
A DC 5 check for a single wound means that most characters will be fine, most of the time. But using exhaustion, it stacks nicely with the exploration system - you really wouldn't want to be wounded *and* running through the desert, chased by a horde of kobolds and without water. Bad situations and environments will magnify the effects, as they really should.
