BookTenTiger
He / Him
Here's an idea (inspired by the excellent video game Wildermyth):
What if we took out Death Saving Throws, and instead players chose a consequence when they dropped to 0 Hit Points?
Obviously, this would be a house rule that would better fit narrative-focused games rather than beer-and-pretzel dungeon crawls. But a list of consequences could be adapted to fit a table's style of play.
For example, at my table I might do something like:
Consequences for 0 Hit Points
When your character reaches 0 Hit Points, choose one of the following consequences:
What if we took out Death Saving Throws, and instead players chose a consequence when they dropped to 0 Hit Points?
Obviously, this would be a house rule that would better fit narrative-focused games rather than beer-and-pretzel dungeon crawls. But a list of consequences could be adapted to fit a table's style of play.
For example, at my table I might do something like:
Consequences for 0 Hit Points
When your character reaches 0 Hit Points, choose one of the following consequences:
- Retreat! - roll on the Lingering Injury table (in the DMG). Your character retreats and is out of combat for the rest of the encounter.
- Fight On! - roll on the Lingering Injury table (in the DMG). Every time your character takes damage, there is a 50% chance they will take on another Lingering Injury.
- Life-Changing Injury - Your character retreats for the encounter, and only returns when narratively appropriate, perhaps after a period of days or months. You must change one major feature of your character, such as a feat or subclass.
- Death is Overrated - Your character dies, but their soul stays close to their body, knowing they will soon be returned to life through magic. Visions of the afterlife permanently change your character. You must change one major feature of your character, such as a feat or subclass.
- Inspiring Death - Your character dies, but not before taking a final, inspirational action. Your character may not be resurrected after dying. You may choose one of the following:
- Final Blow - You automatically succeed on an attack against an enemy in range. The attack is treated as a critical hit and does maximum damage. Alternately, you may cast one spell that an enemy automatically fails to save against, causing maximum damage.
- Fight On Without Me - Your allies may gain hit points and features as if they have taken a short rest.
- Last Words - Your final words inspire your allies. For the rest of combat, all of their attack rolls have advantage, and attacks against them have disadvantage.