Based in a Magic The Gathering mechanic I'm creating a creature ability and I need help fine tuning it.
Concept: The attack is supposed to consume the very essence of the creature hit by the attack slowly turning it into a wasteland with every hit.
To fulfill the concept the exhaustion mechanic was implemented.
Every 2 tokens a Constitution saving throw will be made by the creature hit.
Swallow vs Ingest: The swallow mechanic is done by having a creature big enough grapple then swallow the creature whole while Ingest the very essence of the creature hit is eaten with just the touch of the creature.
Ingest. Melee Weapon Attack: +X to hit, reach Xft., one creature. Hit: X (XdY) necrotic damage. If the target gets hit by this attack they receive an Ingest token. On a critical hit 2 (two) tokens are added instead of one. A creature who receives 2 (two) tokens must make a Constitution Saving Throw DC X or acquire a level of exhaustion on a fail.
I think I get the gist of what you're proposing to achieve, however I feel the method to be a tad cumbersome. I get that you don't want to just lay down the exhaustion levels right off of each hit, but the inclusion of a intermediary mechanic to add an opportunity for a condition seems quite fiddly and frankly, not user friendly. I feel that a simple mechanic is best for something like this, and if you want to scale the application of the condition to the amplitude of the strike applying it, then make the DC variable, contingent upon the amount of damage taken by the target.
Ingest. Melee Weapon Attack: +X to hit, reach Xft., one creature. Hit: X (XdY) necrotic damage. On a hit, the target must make a Constitution Saving Throw DC (8 + amount of damage taken) or suffer a level of exhaustion. (Creature Name) also gains half of the damage inflicted as temporary hit points.
Working this way, you don't have to track a new mechanic, the potential for the condition to apply scales with amplitude of the hit, and there is still an opportunity for the PC to luck-out of taking the condition. You could further alter the DC by changing the (8 + ...) to (10 + ...) or (6 + ...), depending on how lethal you want this to be. And to be certain after Exhaustion Level 3 the PC is in a death spiral and will have need of magical or religious intervention.
Life Drain. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 21 (4d8+3) necrotic damage. The target must succeed on a DC 14 Constitution saving throw or its hit point maximum is reduced by an amount equal to the damage taken. This reduction lasts until the target finishes a long rest. The target dies if this effect reduces its hit point maximum to 0.
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“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” - Mark Twain - Innocents Abroad
I will second the last advice and say that you should probably copy attacks like the one from the Specter or Shadow: the attack damages the player and forces them to make a constitution saving throw with them gaining exhaustation if they fail it. If you are worried about them rolling for that too often (be it because the monster has a lot of hp or because they fight several or it has multiattack) you tune the DC, say that it needs to do something like grappling the target first or just say that it can only do so once a turn because it has to assimilate the life energy.
When possible, you should always try to reduce the stuff you have to keep track of. As a DM, it is incredibly annoyingbwhen I plot a gimmick that would make an encounter harder (like filling a spider nest with webs) and then forget to roll for it when it applies. Plus, too many things to track make the game slower and with the token mechanic you have to track both exhaustation and tokens.
Hit: x (YdZ) necrotic damage and the creature gains a level of Exhaustion.
In Candlekeep Mysteries, one of the adventures is basically Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and most of the bad guys have attacks that give a level of exhaustion. In order to kill a creature outright, you need to hit a character 6 times. Unless this creature can multiattack, they're unlikely to hit that many times. If this Swallow attack can only be used once per turn then it's very possible that it misses 2 of the first 3 turns of combat, and the mechanic is never implemented.
Most combats in D&D last about 3 turns, so slow-stacking abilities will generally fail to do anything.
My experience with Exhaustion is that it's a spectacularly annoying mechanic. It probably won't win the fight for this monster, but unlike most mechanics, it lasts a really long time. I'd just go with max hp reduction, like most energy draining monsters in 5e.
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Based in a Magic The Gathering mechanic I'm creating a creature ability and I need help fine tuning it.
Ingest. Melee Weapon Attack: +X to hit, reach Xft., one creature. Hit: X (XdY) necrotic damage. If the target gets hit by this attack they receive an Ingest token. On a critical hit 2 (two) tokens are added instead of one. A creature who receives 2 (two) tokens must make a Constitution Saving Throw DC X or acquire a level of exhaustion on a fail.
I think I get the gist of what you're proposing to achieve, however I feel the method to be a tad cumbersome. I get that you don't want to just lay down the exhaustion levels right off of each hit, but the inclusion of a intermediary mechanic to add an opportunity for a condition seems quite fiddly and frankly, not user friendly. I feel that a simple mechanic is best for something like this, and if you want to scale the application of the condition to the amplitude of the strike applying it, then make the DC variable, contingent upon the amount of damage taken by the target.
Working this way, you don't have to track a new mechanic, the potential for the condition to apply scales with amplitude of the hit, and there is still an opportunity for the PC to luck-out of taking the condition. You could further alter the DC by changing the (8 + ...) to (10 + ...) or (6 + ...), depending on how lethal you want this to be. And to be certain after Exhaustion Level 3 the PC is in a death spiral and will have need of magical or religious intervention.
You might also draw some inspiration from the Wraith.
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” - Mark Twain - Innocents Abroad
I will second the last advice and say that you should probably copy attacks like the one from the Specter or Shadow: the attack damages the player and forces them to make a constitution saving throw with them gaining exhaustation if they fail it. If you are worried about them rolling for that too often (be it because the monster has a lot of hp or because they fight several or it has multiattack) you tune the DC, say that it needs to do something like grappling the target first or just say that it can only do so once a turn because it has to assimilate the life energy.
When possible, you should always try to reduce the stuff you have to keep track of. As a DM, it is incredibly annoyingbwhen I plot a gimmick that would make an encounter harder (like filling a spider nest with webs) and then forget to roll for it when it applies. Plus, too many things to track make the game slower and with the token mechanic you have to track both exhaustation and tokens.
You can simply make this:
Hit: x (YdZ) necrotic damage and the creature gains a level of Exhaustion.
In Candlekeep Mysteries, one of the adventures is basically Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and most of the bad guys have attacks that give a level of exhaustion. In order to kill a creature outright, you need to hit a character 6 times. Unless this creature can multiattack, they're unlikely to hit that many times. If this Swallow attack can only be used once per turn then it's very possible that it misses 2 of the first 3 turns of combat, and the mechanic is never implemented.
Most combats in D&D last about 3 turns, so slow-stacking abilities will generally fail to do anything.
My experience with Exhaustion is that it's a spectacularly annoying mechanic. It probably won't win the fight for this monster, but unlike most mechanics, it lasts a really long time. I'd just go with max hp reduction, like most energy draining monsters in 5e.