Regeneration

[kreynolds]

Each full minute (10 rounds) that you are unconscious, you have a 10% chance to wake up and be staggered until your hit points exceed your subdual damage again.

Ah-ha! So _that's_ how that window increases!

 

[0-hr]

So just to be clear, you "Wake up and are staggered, even though you have 10000 subdual damage still against you" rather than "You wake up and are starggered, reducing your subdual damage to an ammount equal to your hit points.".

In other words, does "wake up and be staggered", include an implied healing of subdual damage? If not, then indeed it makes sense to beat unconsious trolls down to negative gazillion hit points. Otherwise it is pointless (and I'm all for making sillyness pointless).

I also think that it's important to note that a creature in this "staggered" state is free to attack (though only via a partial action) without fear of falling unconsious again.

 

[kreynolds]

In other words, does "wake up and be staggered", include an implied healing of subdual damage?

I don't think so. It looks like you're simply staggered until your hit point total is greater than your subdual total.

 

[AuraSeer]

In other words, does "wake up and be staggered", include an implied healing of subdual damage?

Nope. The monster still has as much subdual damage as before he woke up.

If not, then indeed it makes sense to beat unconsious trolls down to negative gazillion hit points. Otherwise it is pointless (and I'm all for making sillyness pointless).

Yeah, if you're just going to knock the troll down and leave, it's pointless to do much overkill damage. However, it does make sense if you just need a couple of minutes to build a bonfire or something.

Say you bash the troll into positive gazillion subdual damage, but it wakes up before your bonfire is ready. It's prone, and staggered. It may either stand up, or take one attack if someone is nearby. Then, you and your buddies throw rocks at it. Assuming one of you hits, you do at least one point of damage. The troll falls down unconscious again, and needs to wait for that 10% chance per minute.

If you had instead done just 65 hp of subdual (to the troll with 63 hp), it would wake up in a single round, because its regeneration ability would have cured 5 of those points. At that point it's no longer staggered, and if you had problems putting it down the first time, you might be in trouble.

 

[0-hr]

Say you bash the troll into positive gazillion subdual damage, but it wakes up before your bonfire is ready. It's prone, and staggered. It may either stand up, or take one attack if someone is nearby. Then, you and your buddies throw rocks at it. Assuming one of you hits, you do at least one point of damage. The troll falls down unconscious again, and needs to wait for that 10% chance per minute.

I can't help but notice that, by the rules as written, you would not actually put the troll down again. If he has 10,000 subdual damage against him but wakes up (due to the 10% roll), then he still has 10,000 subdual against him. If you hit him again, then he has 10,0001 subdual damage against him. Going from 10,000 to 10,001 subdual does not knock you unconsious; going from equal to your current hit points to one over your current hit points is what knocks you out.

So maybe now you can see why I'd like the "awake to staggered" clause to include a subdual heal to make the current subdual damage equal to the beastie's remaining hit points. That way it is possible to knock him out again (and it makes the mega-overkill pointless).

 

[aurellius]

Thanks all,

I saw this somewhere but obviously now now in a core wotc book. ::smacks self in head:: Will try to look more carefully before leaping on to the board.

Marcus

ps Caliban? where do you want your crisp new bill

 

[HellHound]

The subdual in excess of hit points becoming real damage was a recommendation (I believe by the Sage in an older Dragon magazine, but I can't say for sure) on how to handle exposure damage from the elements. Currently as the rules are written, no amount of exposure will kill a character, as it deals subdual damage.

 

[kreynolds]

Currently as the rules are written, no amount of exposure will kill a character, as it deals subdual damage.

Once you are reduced to unconsiousness from extreme heat or cold, you being taking normal damage (1d4 per hour in very hot conditions, 1d4 points every 10 minute period in extremely hot conditions, for example). Page 86, DMG, Heat Dangers.