Surviving massive damage without cut-and-dried game mechanics

[Edena_of_Neith]

Let us say you are in a D&D game in which Critical Hits are allowed.
All those nice, wonderful (NOT!) things like:

Your Arm is Hacked Off
Your Leg is Hacked Off
Your Heart is Pierced
Your Intestines are Pierced

Now, all of these are mortal wounds.

If you insist on going by the Epic Rules, I suppose the DM could say: make a Fortitude Check to live (DC 80 to 120 or higher).

But how, do you explain it in roleplaying terms?

What makes a character, able to withstand damage in such a way?

It might be helpful if someone would give examples of Real Life people who survived - even briefly, for a few hours - damage that they should not, could not have been able to survive ... not even for a few minutes.

Look at Boromir. He survived several minutes past the piercing of his lung, intestines, and heart by arrows.
So, it is a relevant question.

What makes a D&D character, akin to the stuff Boromir was made out of?

 

[Henry]

It all depends on your perception of hit points.

If you see hit points as more like Star Wars' vitality points, then it's very hard to explain. If you see hit points as more concrete bodily damage, then it's easy to say that the character can walk around with a punctured lung. "It's okay - i'm just breathing at half speed to make up for it."

Otherwise, there really isn't a rules-lite mechanic that I have ever seen in any game to explain these types of injuries. The closest thing I have seen is the damage rules for the Alternity game system. You had a pool of about 10 "stun" points, 10 wound points, and 5 mortal wound points. Based on the amount of damage you took, you had provisions for effects such as unconsciousness, severe bruises and lacerations, and vital punctures to organs. If a character took a mortal wound, they were not necessarily taken out entirely, but it was made clear in the rules that they WOULD die without medical attention.

 

[Bob Aberton]

Well...

The loss of an arm or leg is NOT neccessarily fatal.

I read in the news a while back about a lumberjack in Canada who was trapped when a log fell on his leg.

He self-amputated his own leg , then hopped over to his truck and managed to drive himself to a hospital. After he was cleaned and bandaged, he managed to drive back to where he cut off his leg, where the doctors recovered the limb and reattached it.

In some history book, I read about a mountain man in the 1830s who was abandoned by his expedition because he broke his leg in three places and couldn't be fixed. He self-amputated his own leg with a knife, then cauterized the stump in his campfire He survived to the ripe old age of 68.

As for the loss of a lung, well, a person can survive with just one lung. As long as you don't get a fatal blood clot from the wound, you can survive. You just won't be able to hold your breath as long.

As for a wound to the abdomen, the famous pirate Blackbeard survived 5 gunshot wounds to the abdomen and stomach. He only died by bleeding to death. Of course, the problem with pierced intestines is that the bacteria will get into the abdomenal (sp?) cavity and cause a horrendous, often-fatal infection.

Pierced heart? Generally instant death. If such a wound doesn't kill you instantly, then you'll prbably bleed to death. Of course, if the heart was only GRAZED, and not PIERCED, you could possibly live through it, IF you were given some sort of medicine to bring the internal bleeding under control...

Miscellaneous RL examples of people surviving horrendous wounds include:

Anyone who lost an arm or leg.

All the people mentioned above.

The pirate Blackbeard survived TWENTY FIVE GUNSHOT WOUNDS and a cut throat. He lingered for about half an hour's worth of fighting before collapsing from blood loss.

The Viking berserkers, who were known to survive multiple seemingliy mortal wounds after working themselves into a state of ecstatic frenzy.

 

[Edena_of_Neith]

bump

 

[Vaxalon]

bump

Translation:

"I asked an almost impossible question, but I still expect a useful answer."



To be honest, Edena, you seem to be asking, "How can someone survive a fatal injury?"

That's like the old joke, "A plane crashed on the border of Canada and the United States. Where did they bury the survivors?"

 

[Edena_of_Neith]

Well, not survive, really.

LAST a little longer than they should have lasted, more like.

 

[Creamsteak]

Well, not survive, really.

LAST a little longer than they should have lasted, more like.

Still is quite hard to resolve... Greater Resurrection makes up for the fact that you can't survive traumatic things a little... and having immunity to massive damage exists for some creature types.

 

[Valmur_Dwur]

I'd call it the Black Knight syndrome As long as the pcs keep taunting their foes no amount of damage inflicted will send them over death's door. However, on any round in which said pc doesn't have a funny quip or jest at hand then they succumb

 

[Anabstercorian]

Magic, of course.

Basically, if I was going to do this sort of system, it would be straightforward. You'd roll on the crit table with some modifier based on how potent your weapon is, and then, depending on what you inflict, the victim makes a Fort save. Success gives you one result, failure gives you another. The fort saves would naturally be quite high, but not in the 80-100 range you mentioned.

As for _how_, IC, the character survives, you don't even necessarily have to explain that, as long as those nearby appreciate the magnitude of the miracle. Maybe it's sheer force of will. Maybe their body can pump their blood using reflexive muscle twitches in another part of the body after sealing the wound with an instantaneous clot. Maybe the potency of their life-force will vaporize the arrow in a flash of positive energy, sealing the wound in its wake. All sorts of options.

I'd leave it up to the player - They make the save, THEY can decide how they survive. Give it a personal touch.