D&D 3E/3.5 Vitality/Wound points variant (4e to 3e)

[Naszir]

I was thinking of Wound Threshold as an alternative but I do understand how it is more deadly than what you are proposing.

As for negative levels, I have never liked those either. Again, too much change goes on. You'd have to modify Saves, BAB, and any other bonuses or class abilities, hps, and feats that may have been gained through that level. Talk about a major slow down or potential for missing something in the middle of a combat.

However, if you feel that you and those you play with can handle it then this is something that may work.

 

[Li Shenron]

No, I'm undecided, and I appreciate your input!

When I said negative levels I meant the condition a character has when struck by energy drain but BEFORE those negative levels become permanent level loss.

And I definitely add that "severe wounds" will not become permanent level loss like real negative levels do... instead, they either heal during the night or stay longer as they are.

A creature takes the following penalties for each negative level it has gained:

* -1 on all skill checks and ability checks.
* -1 on attack rolls and saving throws.
* -5 hit points.
* -1 effective level (whenever the creature’s level is used in a die roll or calculation, reduce it by one for each negative level).
* If the victim casts spells, she loses access to one spell as if she had cast her highest-level, currently available spell.

So if you have for example 3 negative levels, rather than re-calculating your stats you just write "-3 to skill checks, ability checks, attacks, saves, and effective level" in front of you, plus you remove 15 HP and erase 3 memorized spells. It is not as complicated as ability damage, that's why I made the change.

Within our current house rules however, the 15HP are ignored, since we get these "severe wounds" only when below 0, and at that point we don't count HP anymore.

 

[Naszir]

No, I'm undecided, and I appreciate your input!

When I said negative levels I meant the condition a character has when struck by energy drain but BEFORE those negative levels become permanent level loss.

And I definitely add that "severe wounds" will not become permanent level loss like real negative levels do... instead, they either heal during the night or stay longer as they are.



So if you have for example 3 negative levels, rather than re-calculating your stats you just write "-3 to skill checks, ability checks, attacks, saves, and effective level" in front of you, plus you remove 15 HP and erase 3 memorized spells. It is not as complicated as ability damage, that's why I made the change.

Within our current house rules however, the 15HP are ignored, since we get these "severe wounds" only when below 0, and at that point we don't count HP anymore.

Looks like that would work. Relatively simple and the design seems to match with the fact you want to be able to keep the characters going for longer stretches but still have some repercussions for tough battles.

Just a question though:

With the spells, if they are lost do they come back with the clerical spell Restoration? Or are they lost until the character can rest and rememorize?

 

[Li Shenron]

With the spells, if they are lost do they come back with the clerical spell Restoration? Or are they lost until the character can rest and rememorize?

We've played that you get them back, but actually I think the rules aren't clear about that.

I'm not sure whether it's fair to apply this penalty with "severe wounds" too. It doesn't sound like losing a spell slot would match with the image of being wounded...