D&D 5E Wounds, blood trail, and invisibility.

[Corpsetaker]

This came up in in of our little side games we are wrapping up.

There was a spellcaster who hit one of the PC's with a charm spell. Well the rogue comes up behind and lands a critical attack that sorely wounds the spellcaster. On her turn I have her go invisible.

Now just a little while ago I described the critical hit has landing a devastating wound and I described it as she was bleeding from a vicious wound. Now the ranger character asked if he could just follow the blood trail and see where the blood was hitting the floor which in turn would reveal where she is.

Invisibility
2nd-level illusion
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Touch
Components: V, S, M (an eyelash encased
in gum arabic)
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 hour
A creature you touch becomes invisible until the spell
ends. Anything the target is wearing or carrying is
invisible as long as it is on the target’s person. The spell
ends for a target that attacks or casts a spell.
At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using
a spell slot of 3rd level or higher, you can target one
additional creature for each slot level above 2nd.

I had to stop the game there because I wasn't really sure how to rule. Mind you I like to keep to the rules as much as possible. My player's pointed out the above that I highlighted. I could understand the spellcaster being tracked out of combat but not during combat and in a way that would negate invisibility. I wonder if this constitutes as leaving tracks?

Opinions?

 

[Oofta]

Once the blood falls to the ground it is visible since it is no longer being "held ".

I would also note that it's perfectly OK to make on the fly rulings and then change your mind later. Just let people know you're not sure and that you may change future rulings.

I would rule that the blood in this case is visible when it hits the ground and gives advantage on tracking check.

 

[DEFCON 1]

I'd probably rule that since I made the descriptive call that she was bleeding profusely from the wound, and that the players picked up on that and wisely used the blood trail as their method for trailing her (probably asking them to make a WIS (Perception) or WIS (Survival) check just to make sure they could follow the blood trail)... I'd say they could determine her "square" and thus know where she was for an attack. They'd still be attacking with Disadvantage because she was invisible... but I wouldn't make them guess her square.

This scenario of course exemplifying why I personally never narrate hit point damage as actual wounds, but instead nicks, cuts, bruises and loss of energy and focus. I save the blood and grieveous wounds for when someone actually kills somebody.

 

[thalmin]

Since the blood is a part of the person, it would not be incorrect to delay the visibility of the blood by whatever period of time seems right. Whatever you set, it should work the same way later if the characters gain invisiblity on their own.

 

[Pauln6]

This is what your perception rolls are for. Just flavour the outcomes appropriately.

 

[Jediking]

All good replies here.

Player used a good idea, and hopefully the party remembers later if the Rogue is trying to run away from an angry mob while invisible, he better not have taken an arrow to the knee.

 

[Oofta]

All good replies here.

Player used a good idea, and hopefully the party remembers later if the Rogue is trying to run away from an angry mob while invisible, he better not have taken an arrow to the knee.

Don't PCs automatically become town guards if they take an arrow to the knee? Maybe I've been doing that wrong!

 

[iserith]

This came up in in of our little side games we are wrapping up.

There was a spellcaster who hit one of the PC's with a charm spell. Well the rogue comes up behind and lands a critical attack that sorely wounds the spellcaster. On her turn I have her go invisible.

Now just a little while ago I described the critical hit has landing a devastating wound and I described it as she was bleeding from a vicious wound. Now the ranger character asked if he could just follow the blood trail and see where the blood was hitting the floor which in turn would reveal where she is.

Invisibility
2nd-level illusion
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Touch
Components: V, S, M (an eyelash encased
in gum arabic)
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 hour
A creature you touch becomes invisible until the spell
ends. Anything the target is wearing or carrying is
invisible as long as it is on the target’s person. The spell
ends for a target that attacks or casts a spell.
At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using
a spell slot of 3rd level or higher, you can target one
additional creature for each slot level above 2nd.

I had to stop the game there because I wasn't really sure how to rule. Mind you I like to keep to the rules as much as possible. My player's pointed out the above that I highlighted. I could understand the spellcaster being tracked out of combat but not during combat and in a way that would negate invisibility. I wonder if this constitutes as leaving tracks?

Opinions?

Given that you described a devastating wound that was bleeding, then it follows in the fiction that there may be a trail of blood the ranger could follow. An ability check would resolve any outcome that the DM decided was uncertain, based on what the player describes his or her character as doing.

This is a good reminder to be careful about your description of hit point loss. See Basic Rules, page 75: "Dungeon Masters describe hit point loss in different ways. When your current hit point total is half or more of your hit point maximum, you typically show no signs of injury. When you drop below half your hit point maximum, you show signs of wear, such as cuts and bruises. An attack that reduces you to 0 hit points strikes you directly, leaving a bleeding injury or other trauma, or it simply knocks you unconscious."

So if you had followed that advice, the critical hit would only amount to cuts or bruises since the enemy was still above 0 hit points. Which is not to say you described it wrong or badly. But if you want to avoid such situations again, it comes down to your description of hit point loss.

 

[Corpsetaker]

Given that you described a devastating wound that was bleeding, then it follows in the fiction that there may be a trail of blood the ranger could follow. An ability check would resolve any outcome that the DM decided was uncertain, based on what the player describes his or her character as doing.

This is a good reminder to be careful about your description of hit point loss. See Basic Rules, page 75: "Dungeon Masters describe hit point loss in different ways. When your current hit point total is half or more of your hit point maximum, you typically show no signs of injury. When you drop below half your hit point maximum, you show signs of wear, such as cuts and bruises. An attack that reduces you to 0 hit points strikes you directly, leaving a bleeding injury or other trauma, or it simply knocks you unconscious."

So if you had followed that advice, the critical hit would only amount to cuts or bruises since the enemy was still above 0 hit points. Which is not to say you described it wrong or badly. But if you want to avoid such situations again, it comes down to your description of hit point loss.

Descriptive narrative is one thing my group and I crave when it comes to gaming. We don't like to play in a game that just seems binary so dropping someone to 2 or 3 hit points after a critical hit to us is more than just a cut or a bruise. Also, in lots of fiction you get people who have been stabbed and continue to function while they are bleeding.

The thing is if I rule in favour of this then I have to keep with the consistency which means I have to hold the same rule to the player's PC's as well and possibly come up with a rule that says if you drop below half HP then the person is allowed a Perception roll to locate you while under the effects of invisibility.

 

[iserith]

Descriptive narrative is one thing my group and I crave when it comes to gaming. We don't like to play in a game that just seems binary so dropping someone to 2 or 3 hit points after a critical hit to us is more than just a cut or a bruise. Also, in lots of fiction you get people who have been stabbed and continue to function while they are bleeding.

Sure, I get it. It's just that there's nothing mandating how you have to describe hit point loss, even if it's a critical hit. That you choose to do things in the manner you say leads you to:

The thing is if I rule in favour of this then I have to keep with the consistency which means I have to hold the same rule to the player's PC's as well and possibly come up with a rule that says if you drop below half HP then the person is allowed a Perception roll to locate you while under the effects of invisibility.

So you'll have to decide whether you want to change the way you describe things or change the rules.