Vampire Moss

[demiurge1138]

Awareness should be a Will save, perhaps? To notice the life-force leaving the body? I do like Shade's mechanics for the vampiric link quite a bit. I also agree that it should get the temporary hit points.

How long is a victim unconcious? I'm not too fond of the "half total hp" thing - it doesn't seem very in line with 3e design.

Demiurge out.

 

[Shade]

Awareness should be a Will save, perhaps? To notice the life-force leaving the body?

Good idea, and maybe a Spot check to notice the funky vegetation changing colors.

How long is a victim unconcious? I'm not too fond of the "half total hp" thing - it doesn't seem very in line with 3e design.

Me neither. Maybe equal to victim's total HD/character level + Con modifier?

 

[Shade]

Not sure how obvious is the colour change?

"As the moss feeds, it turns a brighter and brighter shade of green. A fully sated moss is a vivid emerald green."

Assuming you noticed the vegetation originally, it would grow increasingly more noticeable.

 

[Conaill]

I'm not too fond of the "half total hp" thing - it doesn't seem very in line with 3e design.

And what if the victim was already wounded beforehand? Can one hitpoint drained by a vampire moss send him unconscious?

And if we base it on total hp drained by vampire moss (not just "reduced to 1/2 max HP"), do we need to keep an accounting of how many hp each PC has been drained by the moss? What if magical healing is used in between? What if the PC also has other wounds and magical healing is used - do the other wounds get healed before the vamipre moss drainage?

 

[Shade]

Good points, and further support for "equal to victim's total HD/character level + Con modifier", as this will remain (mostly) static (bear's endurance, etc. could change it).

 

[demiurge1138]

Good points, and further support for "equal to victim's total HD/character level + Con modifier", as this will remain (mostly) static (bear's endurance, etc. could change it).

This is a wee bit awkward, but I like it. It makes sense, and retains some of the original feeling.

Demiurge out.

 

[Shade]

I'm hoping one of you will find a way to make it less awkward.

 

[Conaill]

Why not just have the victim make a Fort save to avoid falling unconscious after the feeding link has been established for X rounds? Where we pick "X" to be about 1/2 the total hp for the average adventurer appropriate for the CR of the moss...

Seems a lot easier to manage. Magical healing wouldn't matter, but moving out of the area would sever the link and reset the clock. Weaker characters would get a little edge up, since they'll last longer than in the original version. But they'll have a weaker Fort save anyway, and will still die sooner due to hp loss. Multiple mosses also won't lead to earlier unconsciousness, but will still cause multiple Fort saves and faster hp loss.

 

[Kafkonia]

I'm hoping one of you will find a way to make it less awkward.

Given that characters now fall unconscious when they enter negative HP, whereas before they died at 0, is it even necessary to include this? It seems to me that this is more or less modeled by the existing dying/unconsciousness rules... But maybe that gives up too much of the flavour?

 

[dhaga]

It sounds awkward at first reading, but after a few reads, it looks ok. I can't think of any way to make it sound less awkward, as it's currently a simple division...

But wait...are we talking about the # of hit points drained before going unconsious, or the amount of time the victim stays unconsious? In writing my reply, I find myself confused.

I was thinking Spot check to notice. What about a Survival(or Knowledge (Nature)) check after the drain has begun, to notice the not-so-naturally colored moss?