frankthedm
First Post
Oh, I don't think even ability damage covers this. I'd say helpless and at HP capped at -9 until that CCW is administered.nittanytbone said:
Open Chest Wound -- What Would You Do? and Now; What I Did!
- Thread starter Aluvial
- Start date
Aluvial
Explorer
Alright, here is what I did...
I dropped the PC's CON score down to a 1, most of it being Temp Damage, but 1/4 or the points (5) of it being Permanent.
In reference to the wound, I added a new concept I called Injury points. The number of injury points is equal to the total CON lost, both Temp and Permanent.
So this character who started with a CON of 21 (Stonechild) ended up with 20 injury points, 15 temp CON damage, and 5 permanent CON drain.
You can repair CON damage normally. Note that the 5 Permanent points require a Restoration spell (4th Lvl.)
To repair an Injury point, you have to use at least a 1d8 Cure spell. Each d8 (or more) of healing removes 1 Injury point. A Heal spell would remove all Injury points. So, with 20 Injury points, the character needs at least 20d8 of Cure spells. Injury points can be healed naturally, but only at the rate of 1 per week (Heal checks can increase the time to 2/week).
In addition, Injury points can not be healed past the current level of CON damage and drain. In other words, you can only heal Injury points if the CON points heal first (or at the same time).
Then I set up a chart based on the amount of Injury points you have.
From Full Injury (1 Con) to 3/4 Injury, the character is immobile and takes -20 on all d20 rolls. (+ whatever debilitating effects you want to have). My PC was able to make an "aaack" sound, and could nod her head.
From 3/4 to 1/2 Injury, the character might be able to sit up, and moves (only if needed) at 1/4. Character takes -15 on all d20 rolls. (Other effects based on the type of injury) My PC will be able to speak slowly here and for short periods of time.
From 1/2 to 1/4 Injury, the character can move up to 1/2 movement and character takes a -10 on d20 rolls. (Again, other effects if you want them.)
From 1/4 to 0 Injury, the character can move up to 3/4 movement and -5 on all d20 rolls.
So back to my example, if my character with 15 CON damage, 5 CON drain, and 20 Injury points, with only un-nursed (no Heal checks) care, just be rest, would need at least 8 days to regain the 15 CON damage. This would heal 1 Injury point. The character would need another 14 weeks of rest to regain up to the full amount of CON healed at this point. The other 5 CON and 5 Injury points could not be healed with normal bed rest! This would require magic to fix! Without the magic, the character would be stuck at 1/4 injury damage, would only be able to move 3/4 speed, and take -5 on all d20 rolls!
Hope you like the system.
Aluvial
I dropped the PC's CON score down to a 1, most of it being Temp Damage, but 1/4 or the points (5) of it being Permanent.
In reference to the wound, I added a new concept I called Injury points. The number of injury points is equal to the total CON lost, both Temp and Permanent.
So this character who started with a CON of 21 (Stonechild) ended up with 20 injury points, 15 temp CON damage, and 5 permanent CON drain.
You can repair CON damage normally. Note that the 5 Permanent points require a Restoration spell (4th Lvl.)
To repair an Injury point, you have to use at least a 1d8 Cure spell. Each d8 (or more) of healing removes 1 Injury point. A Heal spell would remove all Injury points. So, with 20 Injury points, the character needs at least 20d8 of Cure spells. Injury points can be healed naturally, but only at the rate of 1 per week (Heal checks can increase the time to 2/week).
In addition, Injury points can not be healed past the current level of CON damage and drain. In other words, you can only heal Injury points if the CON points heal first (or at the same time).
Then I set up a chart based on the amount of Injury points you have.
From Full Injury (1 Con) to 3/4 Injury, the character is immobile and takes -20 on all d20 rolls. (+ whatever debilitating effects you want to have). My PC was able to make an "aaack" sound, and could nod her head.
From 3/4 to 1/2 Injury, the character might be able to sit up, and moves (only if needed) at 1/4. Character takes -15 on all d20 rolls. (Other effects based on the type of injury) My PC will be able to speak slowly here and for short periods of time.
From 1/2 to 1/4 Injury, the character can move up to 1/2 movement and character takes a -10 on d20 rolls. (Again, other effects if you want them.)
From 1/4 to 0 Injury, the character can move up to 3/4 movement and -5 on all d20 rolls.
So back to my example, if my character with 15 CON damage, 5 CON drain, and 20 Injury points, with only un-nursed (no Heal checks) care, just be rest, would need at least 8 days to regain the 15 CON damage. This would heal 1 Injury point. The character would need another 14 weeks of rest to regain up to the full amount of CON healed at this point. The other 5 CON and 5 Injury points could not be healed with normal bed rest! This would require magic to fix! Without the magic, the character would be stuck at 1/4 injury damage, would only be able to move 3/4 speed, and take -5 on all d20 rolls!
Hope you like the system.
Aluvial
Zurai
First Post
So in other words, you stuck your second level PC with 5 negative levels and even slower movement than the character already had (assuming they were in at least medium armor) for 5 levels (which is how long it'll take before the party healer can cast a 4th level spell). Brilliant. I'm sure the player will enjoy being absolutely useless for the next three months.
Aluvial
Explorer
Sounds like I need to call you a Whaaaambulance.Zurai said:
No, the Injured PC can rely on her friends to get her the magical aid needed, OR, she can count her lucky stars that she is alive and roll up another 1st level PC until her current is healed.
It might be gritty, but this type of wound should be. Hence the system.
Aluvial
Zurai
First Post
It's not gritty. It's worse than death. Literally. With death, you come back 1 level lower and can immediately re-join the action. By being level drained for two and a half times your current level, you are effectively out of action until it's cured - and when the cure is 5 levels away, that's a long time. In effect, all you've done is negate the character's benefit that YOU GRANTED THEM in not dieing by forcing them to roll a new PC anyway.
nittanytbone
First Post
Or it costs them 360 GP for the restoration + 100 GP for the material component.
I'd make hunting down a 9th level caster a top priority if I had 5 points of CON damage.
Its a shame that your system doesn't incorporate Heal checks. Heal is already a highly useless skill, making it somewhat useful would be a nice addition.
I'd make hunting down a 9th level caster a top priority if I had 5 points of CON damage.
Its a shame that your system doesn't incorporate Heal checks. Heal is already a highly useless skill, making it somewhat useful would be a nice addition.
Zurai
First Post
Let me put it simpler:
The system as described is a harsher penalty than dieing and being resurrected. Comparison:
Resurrection: -1 HD, -0 or -1 BAB, -1 to a max of ~10 skills, -1 level of spellcasting.
Injury system after all temporary damage has been healed: -X hp per HD, -5 BAB, -5 ALL skills, reduced movement speed.
In both cases the penalties can be overcome (Resurrection means the character will earn more XP than the rest of the party for the same challenges, while Injury can be restored with enough party resources thrown at it).
Considering that Cure Light Wounds can, by RAW, restore any damage short of missing limbs (which requires a Regenerate spell), this is dramatically overkill. You should never subject a character to a fate worse than death - especially when you're subjecting it to them because YOU gave them a special ability to get out of a single death because of a roleplaying award! What kind of reward is it to have a useless character instead of a slightly less useful one?
EDIT: To be clear, it's the Injury system that's over the top. Just the Con damage and drain would be fine, IMO. Maybe an additional -1 penalty to physical skill checks (Str, Dex, and Con checks) to reflect the lingering wound, until the Con drain is fully healed. Nothing more than that.
The system as described is a harsher penalty than dieing and being resurrected. Comparison:
Resurrection: -1 HD, -0 or -1 BAB, -1 to a max of ~10 skills, -1 level of spellcasting.
Injury system after all temporary damage has been healed: -X hp per HD, -5 BAB, -5 ALL skills, reduced movement speed.
In both cases the penalties can be overcome (Resurrection means the character will earn more XP than the rest of the party for the same challenges, while Injury can be restored with enough party resources thrown at it).
Considering that Cure Light Wounds can, by RAW, restore any damage short of missing limbs (which requires a Regenerate spell), this is dramatically overkill. You should never subject a character to a fate worse than death - especially when you're subjecting it to them because YOU gave them a special ability to get out of a single death because of a roleplaying award! What kind of reward is it to have a useless character instead of a slightly less useful one?
EDIT: To be clear, it's the Injury system that's over the top. Just the Con damage and drain would be fine, IMO. Maybe an additional -1 penalty to physical skill checks (Str, Dex, and Con checks) to reflect the lingering wound, until the Con drain is fully healed. Nothing more than that.
Last edited:
Aluvial
Explorer
I'm allowing a Heal check to increase the natural healing rate of an Injury point. 2 points/week instead of 1.nittanytbone said:
As for the rest. I understand your feelings. This was a special case scenario. Typically, I play the rules system out, just like everyone else. And I typically stick to the rules as written... but not always... My system should be in House Rules, I know, but I just wanted to post how I handled it since I posted the question in the Rules forum... someone can move it if they want to.
I needed a special system to meet out damage that is not covered by the rules. I improvised. I think the system works pretty well.
Now since I've designed it... I might use it all of the time. Perhaps for Critical Hits. This would be like an alternative to the double-threat. You know where you roll two 20's (or whatever) in a row... If you confirmed the second threat with yet a third successful attack, I would look to my special You-Just-Got-Whacked tm chart and see where (I've got a cool d12 for this; 1 is head, 2 is torso, etc.) and how bad the Injury might be. Then, the players would have to deal with it.
But to my players and I, they appreciate this level of realism. Sure you can just "let-'em-die" and *POP*, let's just Raise them. But I prefer a game were someone loses an eye, finger, or limb... That's just cooler.
Oh, and by the way, I've house ruled my ressurection system also!
Aluvial
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