In my current campaign I've been playign with any time a character would be knocked below 0 hp they have to make a save vs death modified by their current HP score.
Make the roll and one's demise is beign preemptively considered, they actually have 0 hp and are simply unconscious.
Miss the roll by 1 to 5 points and lose a randomly determined ability point.
Miss the roll by 6 to 10 points and lose 1d4 ability points from a randomly determined ability point.
Miss by 11 or more points and the character is dead
So far 1 point of STR had been lost, as has one point of Wisdom and 4 points of CON, all among 3 different characters.
The permanent wounds are records on the off chance one discovers magics or artifacts able to cure such mangling.
Getting the stuffing knocked out of a PC is serious business even when bandaging allows a generous hp restoration and death isn't always certain.
I -really- like this. I might fly it past my own group and see what they think. (Although death in my games is rare and usually of the "plummet from a cliffside" variety.
ReplyDeleteI probably should note PCs get a bonus ability point every 3rd level so some of the wounds of old will become but distant traumas.
ReplyDeleteI've been working on something very similar to this method, using the old rolemaster Crit tables....he he he
ReplyDeleteJust found the blog, love this mechanic. Will be using this immediately, but I'm running a different edition, so forgive me a daft question.
ReplyDeleteWhat is the target number for the save vs death? Eyeballing it, I'd guess a 10, but I'm really not sure.