So I'm running Tomb of Annihilation for a large party (8 PCs and 2 NPCs). They're gotten 7/9 of the puzzle cubes and have finished the Fane. My problem is there seems to be a lack of fear of death. So I'm thinking that once they enter the tomb proper to switch up how death saves work, in so much as failures reset on a short rest as opposed to when you stabilize. There are plenty of healers in the group (2 clerics, a rouge/paladin, a (mostly) pacifist druid, a bard and a ranger), so getting people who are downed back up shouldn't be an issue, I just want to now make it a priority. I don't want to go out of my way to immediately TPK, but I want to challenge them further. So, having death saves failures reset on a short rest: would that be going too far or just far enough?
That’s interesting BL. Also addresses the idea of it not being worth healing someone until they drop. Do they take bleed damage at the start of their turn or the end? I guess it only matters in one where they are conscious, but if they’re trying to drink a potion or otherwise heal themselves, when the extra damage occurs matters a lot.
And why only people with an 18 con taking the point for the major? I’d think a higher con would be best able to shrug it off.
I guess what I was getting at with the 18 is that, as written, if you have a 16 con, you don’t take the point of con loss, heck, if you have a 19, you don’t take the point, only exactly an 18. Or do you mean something like 18 or lower?
One thing I was pondering: how about having overflow damage reduce max hp (until completion of next long rest or something)? Probably won't outright kill PCs, but does make avoiding 0 hp situations a thing to be wary of.
In the Curse of Strahd game we are in, the GM tried out the rule where falling to 0 HP as well as failing a death save adds a level of exhaustion. It turned out to be completely crippling, as we are using 7-day long rests. My character went to 0 twice in a combat, and while at 0 failed two saves. Faced with four weeks of recovery, the GM changed the rule slightly. No penalty for falling to 0, but every failed save is a level of exhaustion.
Our party once had a house rule that if you drop to 0 HP, when you are healed up, you gain a level of exhaustion. That will put up significant challenge if they are not playing carefully as they should.
So I'm running Tomb of Annihilation for a large party (8 PCs and 2 NPCs). They're gotten 7/9 of the puzzle cubes and have finished the Fane. My problem is there seems to be a lack of fear of death. So I'm thinking that once they enter the tomb proper to switch up how death saves work, in so much as failures reset on a short rest as opposed to when you stabilize. There are plenty of healers in the group (2 clerics, a rouge/paladin, a (mostly) pacifist druid, a bard and a ranger), so getting people who are downed back up shouldn't be an issue, I just want to now make it a priority. I don't want to go out of my way to immediately TPK, but I want to challenge them further. So, having death saves failures reset on a short rest: would that be going too far or just far enough?
You could go to Long Rest and I personally don’t think it would be too far.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
That’s interesting BL. Also addresses the idea of it not being worth healing someone until they drop.
Do they take bleed damage at the start of their turn or the end? I guess it only matters in one where they are conscious, but if they’re trying to drink a potion or otherwise heal themselves, when the extra damage occurs matters a lot.
And why only people with an 18 con taking the point for the major? I’d think a higher con would be best able to shrug it off.
You could use the injuries rule from the DMG. Or just apply some other lasting effect from being dropped to 0 hp, like a level of fatigue.
I guess what I was getting at with the 18 is that, as written, if you have a 16 con, you don’t take the point of con loss, heck, if you have a 19, you don’t take the point, only exactly an 18. Or do you mean something like 18 or lower?
Not trying to nitpick, just trying to understand.
One thing I was pondering: how about having overflow damage reduce max hp (until completion of next long rest or something)? Probably won't outright kill PCs, but does make avoiding 0 hp situations a thing to be wary of.
In the Curse of Strahd game we are in, the GM tried out the rule where falling to 0 HP as well as failing a death save adds a level of exhaustion. It turned out to be completely crippling, as we are using 7-day long rests. My character went to 0 twice in a combat, and while at 0 failed two saves. Faced with four weeks of recovery, the GM changed the rule slightly. No penalty for falling to 0, but every failed save is a level of exhaustion.
Our party once had a house rule that if you drop to 0 HP, when you are healed up, you gain a level of exhaustion. That will put up significant challenge if they are not playing carefully as they should.
I experienced exhaustion in game, and yeah, it's mostly obnoxious.