Non-Lethal Damage

[Olaf the Stout]

What happens when someone receives non-lethal damage that takes them beyond -10 hit points?

Do they just continue to pile up, becoming "more" unconscious? Is -10 a cap for non-lethal damage? (i.e. you can't go beyond -10 due to non-lethal damage)

From what I have read the rules seem to be silent on this topic.

Also in order to regain consciousness you need to be brought up to positive hit points? Correct? Healing someone when they are in negative hit points due to non-lethal damage won't get them to regain consciousness unless the healing brings them back to positive hit points?

Olaf the Stout

 

[Sound of Azure]

Hey, Olaf.

I didn't think that non-lethal damage worked like that. I was under the impression that non-lethal damage just accumulates as a positive integer. If it equals or is higher than your ordinary HP, you are unconscious.

 

[Henrix]

Exactly. You don't subtract nonlethal damage from your hit points. If you take 5 pts of nonlethal, and then 7 more, you have 12 points nonlethal damage.
If you have more nonlethal damage than you currently have hit points you're unconscious.

There's no limit to how much nonlethal damage you can have, but you'll end up being unconscious for a very long time.

 

[Sound of Azure]

Cool.

I'm glad I wasn't hallucinating when I "remembered" that.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

Yes, you're both correct about non-lethal damage going up not down. So effectively, as the rules stand, you could make a person stay unconscious by giving them a few punches or kicks every day for as long as you wanted.

Also what about regaining consciousness? This only happens when your hit points is above your non-lethal damage total, correct? There is no other way to get a character to regain consciousness?

Olaf the Stout

 

[Sound of Azure]

Yeah, that seems about the measure of it. Keep in mind, too that cure spells deplete your subdual damage as well as increase your HP.
It seems like only time and magic can get you through non-lethal damage.

I seem to remeber a spell Favour of Ilmater in Magic of Faerun. It might have bee reprinted in Complete Divine, or the Spell Compendium by now. It allowed the recipient to ignore non-lethal damage (level 4 or 5, I think).

 

[Rath the Brown]

I don't know where it is in the SRD, but I found the answer in the Glossary of the PHB.

unconscious: Knocked out and helpless. Unconsciousness can result from... A character who is unconscious as a result of having nonlethal damage in excess of current hit points has a 10% chance every minute to wake up and be staggered.

 

[Sound of Azure]

Cheers, Rath. That's very useful to know! I'll have to scour my books more carefully from now on!

 

[Olaf the Stout]

Thanks Rath. I really do wonder about the organisation of the PHB and DMG sometimes.

If a person does wake up does that mean that mean that his non-lethal damage total is automatically decreased to his current hit point total? That's how I would play it. That would also mean that any further hits would knock someone out again though.

Olaf the Stout

 

[ValhallaGH]

That would also mean that any further hits would knock someone out again though.

Sounds about right.
I'm not sure about the "subdual = hp" part though. I think it's more like negative hp, in that you still have too much damage but are concious and staggered/disabled anyway. The state goes away when you aren't all beat up.
Remember that subdual damage heals at the rate of character level / hour rather than per day.