SoD, how can we accommodate everyone?

[Hussar]

It's certainly a workable model, it's been done to varying degrees in other games. It would sort of take things in the direction of Fate, wherein most versions if you deplete someones stress (HP) you essentially can do what you want to them as long as it makes sense regarding how you attacked them. Now obviously it's a little more open in that kind of system, the essence is there, you deplete someones HP with a Death attack they die, you deplete someone's HP with a Petrification attack they are petrified, you deplete someone's HP with a Sleep spell, they're asleep. The question in D&D is where do you draw the line, there are things that are obviously not lethal but can be, depending on the circumstances, SoD in all but name. Sleep and various Paralyzation powers come to mind.

Yeah, that's a point. How do you deal with, say, a Ghoul's paralyzing touch in this new system? Removing the touch would suck. That's a ghoul's schtick. And, I really don't like the idea of mixing in non-lethal damage. It's never a very workable system.

Perhaps we could treat non-lethal attacks somewhat differently though. Maybe they attack Con (would seem to be the stat that best fits). If the damage of the attack exceeds your Con score, you take the rider effect. So, a ghoul's paralyzing touch does XdY damage, and if that damage exceeds the target's con, he's paralyzed.

Not sure how to deal with Sleep though. I suppose the same way. Sleep deals damage, if it "kills" it instead causes the target to fall asleep, and if it exceeds Con, it causes the target to fall asleep.

Not sure I like that though.

 

[GM Dave]

Last night I was running PF and I used a reworked Carrion Crawler.

I reworked the paralysis effect to be a reduction of 5' off their speed for every tentacle that hit and the player failed the fortitude save. If a person reached 0' of movement then they would be paralyzed for 10 min.

A single person verses the Carrion Crawler was still dangerous and could result in a paralysis but the effect was more dilute. The effect was more gradual and gave more opportunity for the players to work through the danger.

It also helped when the Carrion Crawler was flailing tentacles against several players as it was not one touch knocks the player out of combat.

 

[Essenti]

...

I reworked the patronization effect to be a reduction of 5' off their speed for every tentacle that hit and the player failed the fortitude save. If a person reached 0' of movement then they would be paralyzed for 10 min.

...

Hehe, patronization effect? Autocorrect shenanigans or a pathfinder specific terminology, perhaps? It sounds kinda cool.

The mechanics you mention are definitely more interesting than SoS or SoD, but if they happen the same exact way every time, strict mechanics can start to feel gamey. I say that based on my own preference to interpret what happens on a failed save through narrative. But I can understand not wanting or liking that kind of play and desiring strict rules for failed saves.

I could see the mechanics you mention working just fine in one of my games, though.