D&D 5E The "everyone at full fighting ability at 1 hp" conundrum

[Lanefan]

...wait, so you've seen 'em all happen to the same character over some longer time-frame?

I'll use my PCs as examples mostly because it's easier for me to remember what's happened to them over the years.

My eponymous PC has over his career lost two limbs (an arm and a leg, at different times; and he holds a dubious record as being the only PC to lose two), lost levels on various occasions, died a bunch of times, been petrified, and (I think) aged.

Another of my PCs has lost more levels than he's gained, been petrified, died numerous times, and been aged (by ghosts) at least twice. He's also been unintentionally cloned; there were two of him for a while before they were later merged.

And there's many more like these...

I can't recall ever seeing anyone's PC suffer both limb loss and feeblemind during a career, largely because each of these so rarely occur.

 

[Garthanos]

and it wouldn't matter if it was opt-out or opt-in, really.

Opt in like the usually a trap multi-classing?

 

[Tony Vargas]

Opt in like the usually a trap multi-classing?

But /actually/ modular, yeah.

 

[Oofta]

Kind of off the topic, but as much as I'd like a big book-o-alternate rules, I don't see anything official happening for so many reasons. One is that there's probably something decent in the DmsGuild, but I think there's a bigger issue.

Right now if I go somewhere to play D&D I can expect that there might be some minor tweaks to the game. A house rule here, a different way of interpreting a rule there. But it's still going to be basically the same set of rules everywhere with different set dressing.

Add in too many official rules (even alternative rules) and that could fragment the player base. Something like debiliatting wound tracking changes the flavor of the game.

So the best you're going to get is a house rule here and there ... suggestions for which have been sparse even on this thread.

 

[5atbu]

It's D&D, don't fret about it.

If I want a grittier simulation, I play another game.

 

[3catcircus]

You really don't like bad things happening to your characters, do you?

I've never seen a character suffer all four of level drain, amputation, feeblemind and death in the same combat. (and don't forget there's also petrification and aging to help spoil your day)

Many times I've seen two of those happen to the same PC in the same combat, most commonly through someone dying via being level-drained all the way to and below 0th (to then rise as an undead a moment later!). The only time I've seen a character level drained, aged, and feebleminded all at once was through a series of horrible pulls from an expanded Deck of Many Things.

Amputation in 1e is extremely rare - I've maybe seen it happen 10 times to PCs in 35 years of DMing and playing. Feeblemind is also extremely rare, and more often caused by curses, traps, or Decks than by opposing spell*.

On the flip side, 1e also had mostly-unrestricted wish powers and so forth to help counter some of this.

* - the only time I can recall a PC being feebleminded via the spell happened fairly recently; and the spell wasn't cast by the opposition! It came as a result of some in-party pranks that escalated into PvP...and guess whose PC was the spell's target... (the feeblemind was healed later)

When the party magic-user got level drained by the evil wizard, his saving throws dropped, so his save vs spells dropped, resulting in getting hit with a feeblemind a round later. Now, as he staggered about (I seen to recall the spell description indicating the target has the brain of a moronic child), he got caught in the blast of a fireball from a necklace of missiles bringing him down to 2 hit points. The subsequent axe attack rendered him down to -7 hit points. The option in the 1e DMG when going below -6hp was ruled by our DM to mean the M-U tried to stop the axe swing with his bare hands (like a feebleminded idiot), and got either an arm or a hand hacked off in the process before it caved in his chest...

People seem to forget that 1e AD&D, if not extensively house-ruled, was deadly. Whatever dice rolls you made stood. Rolled a 17, 16, 6, 8, 9, 12 for your stats? You got to play a glass-jawed fighter who was a a loveable meat-head...

Of course, permanent death was usually the norm since rolling up a character too all of about 10 minutes...

 

[Garthanos]

It's D&D, don't fret about it.

If I want a grittier simulation, I play another game.

Well there is that... accept the big bold brashness that is D&D except D&D really is a highly adaptable experience and if simple rules can give em cake well... you know what they say.

 

[Lanefan]

When the party magic-user got level drained by the evil wizard, his saving throws dropped, so his save vs spells dropped, resulting in getting hit with a feeblemind a round later. Now, as he staggered about (I seen to recall the spell description indicating the target has the brain of a moronic child), he got caught in the blast of a fireball from a necklace of missiles bringing him down to 2 hit points. The subsequent axe attack rendered him down to -7 hit points. The option in the 1e DMG when going below -6hp was ruled by our DM to mean the M-U tried to stop the axe swing with his bare hands (like a feebleminded idiot), and got either an arm or a hand hacked off in the process before it caved in his chest...

That's one unlucky MU.

People seem to forget that 1e AD&D, if not extensively house-ruled, was deadly. Whatever dice rolls you made stood. Rolled a 17, 16, 6, 8, 9, 12 for your stats? You got to play a glass-jawed fighter who was a a loveable meat-head...

With those stats I'd have gone with MU (remember in 1e it goes S-I-W-D-Co-Ch) if I had to leave them in order; Int 16 gives a perfectly playable MU, Wis 6 makes it fun as hell, low Con doesn't matter so much for a MU and Str 17 meant it'd have some possible melee use at very low levels as well.

Of course, permanent death was usually the norm since rolling up a character too all of about 10 minutes...

This is certainly a factor, yes.

 

[Tony Vargas]

Right now if I go somewhere to play D&D I can expect that there might be some minor tweaks to the game. A house rule here, a different way of interpreting a rule there. But it's still going to be basically the same set of rules everywhere with different set dressing.

Well, in the context of AL, you can probably expect that.

Given the presentation, design ethos, focus, and slow pace of release of 5e over the last 5 years, I'd expect home games to be much more varied - maybe not quite so much as in the Golden Age, but varied. These are, as they were then, rules intended to be a starting point.

 

[Oofta]

Well, in the context of AL, you can probably expect that.

Given the presentation, design ethos, focus, and slow pace of release of 5e over the last 5 years, I'd expect home games to be much more varied - maybe not quite so much as in the Golden Age, but varied. These are, as they were then, rules intended to be a starting point.

Based on feedback to various threads, I think house rules are fairly minimal. Certainly less than what we did with the older editions.

At least that's been my (limited) experience.