Hi all, What do you think would be the outcome if I change health rules to the following:
1.) When healed during "death save throws" instead of becoming stabilized you simply gain advantage on death save throws? I'm thinking the risk of dying would go from none to only 30%+-.
2.) To support this or counter it allowing "healers" to "heal" as a reaction immediately when a character in their range and sight takes damage. I think this would also encourage RP. They'll be yelling at healers immediately for help.
I just ran my first campaign 1 to 20. But one thing I noticed is death became a no fear thing, fall unconscious get healed stabilize, even die get resurrected. I dont mind the resurrecting but stabilizing just made death saving throws kind of anti climatic.
Maybe when you are healed via magic while making death saving throws you get a bonus to your next death saving throw equal to the amount of hit points healed divided by 2? it incentivizes players to expend more resources preventing death then just a simple healing word
If I'm understanding correctly how you are playing, you seem to have made it more difficult already.
When you are at 0 HP (and not dead) and someone heals you, you don't just stabilize, you become conscious and active immediately. You probably are prone, but that is a minor inconvenience.
Maybe you can use something along those lines for your game.
Yeah, this. I was thinking about incorporating this kind of mechanic into the game to prevent the scenario where the Players are constantly hovering at or near 1-2 HPs and the healers just keep popping them up as they fall. I was going with a level of exhaustion per time you dropped to zero between a long rest, and only went away at a rate of one level per long rest.
If death is a no fear thing to your players there are ways you put that fear back without changing the rules.
Many DMs are reluctant to have their monsters attack unconscious PCs but in a world where an unconscious person can be magically healed to be effective in battle again an intelligent monster will still see the unconscious character as a threat.
I died in the last session I played, I went unconscious in the same round as another PC, the bard could only heal one of use and chose my companion, I failed a death save and the bad guy attacked me (melee so auto crit for 2 death saves fails) and that was it.
Yeah I never attacked their unconscious characters but I'm thinking in the future a smart enemy or a savage enemy or a hungry one would attack the unconscious player and that would definitely yikes be heres a new character sheet. At 1 encounter I did discover power word kill as a Lich boss and 1 of my players was sooo attached to his character. I was like power woooooord.... He was like jokingly "If I get power word killed I will flip this table overrrr."... Power woooord stun!
You do need to keep it fun for the players so if they are attached to their character I would introduce the threat slowly. Initially only make ranged attacks on unconscious players who have not failed a death save. This will not kill them either on your turn or their next turn (unless one of you get a crit) giving them time to heal (or at least stabilise) while realising that unconscious can still targeted. You can then act in a way that slowly makes falling unconscious more dangerous.
Also you don't have to outright attack an unconscious character but an indiscriminately-placed Area of Effect can catch an unconscious PC in the wash...
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Hi all, What do you think would be the outcome if I change health rules to the following:
1.) When healed during "death save throws" instead of becoming stabilized you simply gain advantage on death save throws? I'm thinking the risk of dying would go from none to only 30%+-.
2.) To support this or counter it allowing "healers" to "heal" as a reaction immediately when a character in their range and sight takes damage. I think this would also encourage RP. They'll be yelling at healers immediately for help.
I just ran my first campaign 1 to 20. But one thing I noticed is death became a no fear thing, fall unconscious get healed stabilize, even die get resurrected. I dont mind the resurrecting but stabilizing just made death saving throws kind of anti climatic.
Maybe when you are healed via magic while making death saving throws you get a bonus to your next death saving throw equal to the amount of hit points healed divided by 2? it incentivizes players to expend more resources preventing death then just a simple healing word
If I'm understanding correctly how you are playing, you seem to have made it more difficult already.
When you are at 0 HP (and not dead) and someone heals you, you don't just stabilize, you become conscious and active immediately. You probably are prone, but that is a minor inconvenience.
More Interesting Lock Picking Rules
Just remembered, there was an article about using exhaustion as damage: Mechanical Thinking: Exhaustion as Damage.
Maybe you can use something along those lines for your game.
More Interesting Lock Picking Rules
Yeah, this. I was thinking about incorporating this kind of mechanic into the game to prevent the scenario where the Players are constantly hovering at or near 1-2 HPs and the healers just keep popping them up as they fall. I was going with a level of exhaustion per time you dropped to zero between a long rest, and only went away at a rate of one level per long rest.
If death is a no fear thing to your players there are ways you put that fear back without changing the rules.
Many DMs are reluctant to have their monsters attack unconscious PCs but in a world where an unconscious person can be magically healed to be effective in battle again an intelligent monster will still see the unconscious character as a threat.
I died in the last session I played, I went unconscious in the same round as another PC, the bard could only heal one of use and chose my companion, I failed a death save and the bad guy attacked me (melee so auto crit for 2 death saves fails) and that was it.
Yeah I never attacked their unconscious characters but I'm thinking in the future a smart enemy or a savage enemy or a hungry one would attack the unconscious player and that would definitely yikes be heres a new character sheet. At 1 encounter I did discover power word kill as a Lich boss and 1 of my players was sooo attached to his character. I was like power woooooord.... He was like jokingly "If I get power word killed I will flip this table overrrr."... Power woooord stun!
You do need to keep it fun for the players so if they are attached to their character I would introduce the threat slowly. Initially only make ranged attacks on unconscious players who have not failed a death save. This will not kill them either on your turn or their next turn (unless one of you get a crit) giving them time to heal (or at least stabilise) while realising that unconscious can still targeted. You can then act in a way that slowly makes falling unconscious more dangerous.
Also you don't have to outright attack an unconscious character but an indiscriminately-placed Area of Effect can catch an unconscious PC in the wash...