So... I imagine this sort of discussion has been had here numerous times before, but I'm tinkering with some form of a Homebrew rule to make death a more persistent danger in my campaigns. What I find with the default rules is that death happens very rarely (with how easy it is to get back up, the famous yo-yo healing discussion) making the players not very concerned with it... And then when it does happen it's kind of out of nowhere, with an enemy just getting a lucky crit and one-hit-killing a PC or them getting hit while down (getting 2 failed death saves) and then failing their final save on the next turn... It just feels random and unsatisfying (as much as a PC death can be satisfying in the first place)
So, the idea I had (after doing some googling) was for the PC to gain a level of exhaustion when reduced to 0hp, and every failed saving throws to give the PC another level of exhaustion instead of just 3 of them killing the character. That makes death more predictable in a way (what I mean is players can see it coming better than just 3 fails and you're out) and falling to 0hp has serious consequences even if the character is healed and kept from dying.
My issue is, and it's more of just general DM advice that I need, is that exhaustion can feel like a pointless mechanic if all it does is make the PCs sit around for a few days... timed events and raising the stakes also only works so well before becoming a vicious cycle of "we failed a bunch, so it's gonna be harder, so we'll fail more..." I'd like to maybe give the characters who don't need to "rest-away" their exhaustion to be able to do something, but pretty much all the rules for downtime activity is measured in weeks, and sometimes all the party would need is a 2-3 day stop at a town inn or something.
So in the end my question is twofold: What do you think about a system that makes falling to 0hp and failed death saves to add a level of exhaustion to the PC as a way for death to be a more "noticeable" threat with increasing consequences? And how could I as a DM make the downtime created by a member of the party needing a few days to recover from their exhaustion more engaging?
1. I like this system! To make it just a bit easier for the healer, why not make it so that, once you are stabilized or healed, you keep the exhaustion - 1? It makes it so that healer classes will not have to pick the alert feat.
2. Perhaps you take something from video games. Maybe you need a bed to regain exhaustion? So you can't just sleep in the forest for a few day, you have to go to an inn. That could turn into an adventure, you have to find a bed in enemy territory.
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When players get creative.
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So... I imagine this sort of discussion has been had here numerous times before, but I'm tinkering with some form of a Homebrew rule to make death a more persistent danger in my campaigns. What I find with the default rules is that death happens very rarely (with how easy it is to get back up, the famous yo-yo healing discussion) making the players not very concerned with it...
And then when it does happen it's kind of out of nowhere, with an enemy just getting a lucky crit and one-hit-killing a PC or them getting hit while down (getting 2 failed death saves) and then failing their final save on the next turn... It just feels random and unsatisfying (as much as a PC death can be satisfying in the first place)
So, the idea I had (after doing some googling) was for the PC to gain a level of exhaustion when reduced to 0hp, and every failed saving throws to give the PC another level of exhaustion instead of just 3 of them killing the character. That makes death more predictable in a way (what I mean is players can see it coming better than just 3 fails and you're out) and falling to 0hp has serious consequences even if the character is healed and kept from dying.
My issue is, and it's more of just general DM advice that I need, is that exhaustion can feel like a pointless mechanic if all it does is make the PCs sit around for a few days... timed events and raising the stakes also only works so well before becoming a vicious cycle of "we failed a bunch, so it's gonna be harder, so we'll fail more..."
I'd like to maybe give the characters who don't need to "rest-away" their exhaustion to be able to do something, but pretty much all the rules for downtime activity is measured in weeks, and sometimes all the party would need is a 2-3 day stop at a town inn or something.
So in the end my question is twofold:
What do you think about a system that makes falling to 0hp and failed death saves to add a level of exhaustion to the PC as a way for death to be a more "noticeable" threat with increasing consequences?
And how could I as a DM make the downtime created by a member of the party needing a few days to recover from their exhaustion more engaging?
1. I like this system! To make it just a bit easier for the healer, why not make it so that, once you are stabilized or healed, you keep the exhaustion - 1? It makes it so that healer classes will not have to pick the alert feat.
2. Perhaps you take something from video games. Maybe you need a bed to regain exhaustion? So you can't just sleep in the forest for a few day, you have to go to an inn. That could turn into an adventure, you have to find a bed in enemy territory.
When players get creative.