Should bad guys stabalize?

[Olgar Shiverstone]

I only stabilize folks who aren't cannon fodder.

Ditto.

 

[diaglo]

Ditto.

ha.

he even kills bad guys with subdual damage.

 

[diaglo]

0 hps means dead in my book/ edition

 

[dren]

Everyone has a chance for stabilization, if I have the time. Otherwise, dead.

 

[DragonLancer]

I know other DMs often just let them die. I know of one particular DM who rules that if they don't have a name they die on -1. This is especially applicable in RPGA games, as important NPCs are named, unimportant ones usually aren't.

So, what do you do in your games?

Thats how I do it. If the baddie isn't a named villain then he's dead when he hits -1.

 

[MonsterMash]

Normally the cannon fodder are dead on -1 hp unless I might want one to survive for plot reasons, when I'd probably take S'mons approach and do all the rolls for them at one time.

 

[Shallown]

I kill the bad guys on -1 and below. Ussually if the players want to capture someone they will do some subdual damage and such. If it came up that they wanted to save someone or such I would just ball park if the person stabilized and such. It hasn't been an issue and just saying their dead makes the game simpler since I have less to track. It is assumed the players "dispatch" everyone at the end of the fight. Its SOP for this group.

Its never been an issue for us.

later

 

[The_Gneech]

Generally speaking, if a baddie in my game falls down, he stays down. My players are generally so gleeful when a BBEG finally goes down, it seems kinda anticlimactic to make them have to double-dog kill him to make sure he doesn't stabilize.

Generally, my players will dispose of the bodies one way or another (fire, usually) anyhow, so anybody who was only mostly dead at the end of combat, will be all dead afterwards.

-The Gneech

 

[Zappo]

For mooks, it doesn't really make a difference. If they don't die, they'll take a long time to wake up and then a long time to heal up and then a long time before deciding to bother the PCs again. I don't even roll for stabilization, I assume that, dead or not, they are no longer a problem.

Named NPCs are another matter entirely. My players will usually check whether they are dead, and if they still breathe, they'll take them prisoner or CdG them depending on the circumstances (the party includes evil AND good characters, so this usually involves some arguments). Sometimes, if they have time, they capture them, unload a truckload of mind-controlling magic and psionics on them, and wait for them to wake up as friends.

 

[Duncan Haldane]

For mooks, it doesn't really make a difference. If they don't die, they'll take a long time to wake up and then a long time to heal up and then a long time before deciding to bother the PCs again. I don't even roll for stabilization, I assume that, dead or not, they are no longer a problem.

Just to re-iterate my original post, I usually only roll the stabalization checks for BBEG. But for others, I try to remember how badly they were under 0. If, for instance, they go down at -2 and the combat ends 5 rounds later, they are still alive. The PCs can decide what to do (stabalize, C-DG, heal, leave). I find that having a moral element to this can make the game more interesting.

Recently I had a battle in a published module where one BBEG did stabalize. Then the PCs found an altar where they could sacrifice a living creature for a magic item. Two PCs knew about the altar, and colluded to get the Paladin away for a while, and sacrificed the guy who stabalized. It's made for some interesting by-play in the game (they did talk about sacrificing the Paladin, but that was in jest - I hope).

Duncan