My Variant Slow Dying Rules

[BobbyMac]

This rules variant allows a tough character, whether he is physically tougher (high Constitution) and/or mentally tougher (high Charisma) to survive just a bit longer in the dangerous world he lives in. It does this by extending the disabled condition to below zero hit points down to the characters Charisma bonus to allow for the fact that sometimes a strong willed hero is able, through sheer will power, to stay up and in the fight. Below this point, the stronger his constitution the longer it takes him to die compared to characters with lower constitution scores.


What a character's hit points fall within the range of 0 to his negative Charisma bonus he is disabled. He can only take a move action or a standard action per turn, and he takes 1 point of damage after completing an action.

When a character's negative hit points fall below his negative Charisma bonus, he is dying. He immediately falls unconscious and can take no actions. At the end of each round (starting with the round in which the character dropped below his negative Charisma bonus), roll d% to see whether he stabilizes. He has a 10% chance to become stable. If he doesn't, he loses 1 hit point.

If the character's negative hit points ever drop lower than his negative Constitution score, he no longer has a chance to stabilize each round and automatically loses 1 hit point per round.

For example, when a character with Constitution 14 reaches -15 hit points, he can no longer try to stabilize and automatically starts losing 1 hit point per round.

If the character's negative hit points ever exceed his Constitution score plus his Constitution bonus X2, he is dead.

You can keep a dying character from losing any more hit points and make him stable with a successful Heal check (DC 15). If any sort of healing cures the dying character of even 1 point of damage, he stops losing hit points and becomes stable.

Healing that raises the dying character's hit points into the range of between 0 and minus his Charisma bonus makes him conscious and disabled. Healing that raises his hit points to 1 or more makes him fully functional again, just as if he had never been reduced to 0 or less. A spellcaster retains the spellcasting capability she had before dropping below 0 hit points.


Examples:


A barbarian with Constitution 16 (+3) and Charisma 13 (+1)

@ 0 to -1 hp is disabled (0 to -Chr bonus)
@ -2 to -16 hp is dying (to Con score)
@ -17 to -22 hp is dying wo/chance of stabilizing (to Con score + (2x Con bonus))
@ -23 hp is dead


A bard with Constitution 12 (+1) and Charisma 16 (+3)

@ 0 to -3 hp is disabled (0 to -Chr bonus)
@ -4 to -12 hp is dying (to Con score)
@ -13 to -15 hp is dying wo/chance of stabilizing (to Con score + (2x Con bonus))
@ -16 hp is dead


A wizard with Constitution of 14 (+2) and Charisma 8 (-1) (Note: bonus = 0!)

@ 0 hp is disabled (0 to -Chr bonus)
@ -1 to -14 hp is dying (to Con score)
@ -15 to -18 hp is dying wo/chance of stabilizing (to Con score + (2x Con bonus))
@ -19 hp is dead


In extreme cases it is possible to have a higher Charisma bonus than a Constitution score! In this case simply go with what is best for the character.


A sorcerer with Constitution 3 (-4) (Note: bonus = 0!) and Charisma 18 (+4)

@ 0 to -4 hp is disabled (0 to -Chr bonus)
@ -5 hp is dead



Note: In order to reduce having to do recalculations, only change these hp ranges on level gain or loss when warranted by the appropriate ability changes, and then only when the ability changes allow an increase/decrease in skill points.


I find that although slightly complicated to calculate you only have to calculate these ranges at level up and then only when your ability scores change which takes all the pain out of worrying about bonus from spells, raging, magic items, etc. You just note the numbers on your character sheet and play, play, play....

 

[delericho]

This rules variant allows a tough character, whether he is physically tougher (high Constitution) and/or mentally tougher (high Charisma) to survive just a bit longer in the dangerous world he lives in.

The problem I have with variants like this in general is that it 'double rewards' Constitution - you're already tougher by virtue of having more hit points, and now you're tougher again because you can drop to a lower value as well?

I quite like that you've applied 'mental toughness' to the situation, although it should properly be assigned to Wisdom, not Charisma. Charisma represents your ability to influence others (or, in the case of Sorcerers, reality itself). Wisdom represents willpower, which is the best analogue to mental toughness.

As for your system itself, I'm afraid I find it overly complex. A better solution might be to allow a character to remain Disabled by making a Will save (DC 20? + 'negative score') each round. And to allow a character to avoid dying with a Fort save (DC 20? + 'negative score'), with a stabilisation on a natural 20.

This also has the happy effect of not needing any special recalculations based on donning/doffing a Periapt of Wisdom or Amulet of Health - the saves will be recalculated anyway.

 

[BobbyMac]

The problem I have with variants like this in general is that it 'double rewards' Constitution - you're already tougher by virtue of having more hit points, and now you're tougher again because you can drop to a lower value as well?

I quite like that you've applied 'mental toughness' to the situation, although it should properly be assigned to Wisdom, not Charisma. Charisma represents your ability to influence others (or, in the case of Sorcerers, reality itself). Wisdom represents willpower, which is the best analogue to mental toughness.

As for your system itself, I'm afraid I find it overly complex. A better solution might be to allow a character to remain Disabled by making a Will save (DC 20? + 'negative score') each round. And to allow a character to avoid dying with a Fort save (DC 20? + 'negative score'), with a stabilisation on a natural 20.

This also has the happy effect of not needing any special recalculations based on donning/doffing a Periapt of Wisdom or Amulet of Health - the saves will be recalculated anyway.

I think the key to understanding why I made these changes are that they are variant "SLOWER DYING" rules. I choose to use these changes for that very fact and I also choose the in-game explanation as written in my original post to add a slight sense of realism (yes I know it's all just a fantasy game without any actual reality but hey it's my rules...) where said slight sense of realism is described as "tougher characters die slower".

As for using Wisdom over Charisma or vice versa to explain mental "toughness" I think you have a very valid point but I also think that you could argue either way. In the PHB it states, "Wisdom describes willpower..." which certainly describes mental toughness, but for Charisma it says that it, "...measures a character's force of personality...", also indicating toughness of an errr... mental type.

Take your pick. I like to use Charisma. (If you really want complicated you could use the average of their Wis and Cha bonuses......heh...)

As for this system being over complicated I must reply, "Yes, but only on the front end!". You only have to do the calculations when creating your character and you only change them when you get a permanent ability change and you only get permanent ability changes when you level up (or down) (and not every time, just when you get to change ability scores) or get ability drained. (I handle enhancement bonuses case by case although I have ruled in favor of them every time that I can remember...i.e. tomes of whatever that grant enhancement bonuses)

I just have my users notate on their character sheet the ranges used in the big empty temp hp block seen on most character sheets (we use one like that anyways...)

They only have to add (using my first example) the following to their character sheet:

Disabled: 0 to -1
Dying: -2 to -16
Really Dying: -17 to -22 (I haven't been able to find a better description yet...)

Other than the fact that I hate recalculating things due to changing ability modifiers because of magic items, spells, etc., my in game explanation is that these hp ranges come from your very heart and soul and are extremely resistant to change even from magic.



And thanks. Constructive criticism is always welcome.

 

[Quartz]

I've always been a fan of the saying 'too dumb / ugly / stupid to die'. Take your base and add your biggest natural mental bonus or your biggest natural mental negative, whichever is greater. So Thog with Int 3 (-4) dies at -14, and Vaarsuvius with Int 20 dies at -15. This also means that players don't feel too badly about a dump stat.