Here is my first foray into customizing D&D 5e. A special condition called Injury. It was too big to make a post, so included is a link to the public Google Drive (https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B_lJhbSwBglnWVctajViTkgyaU0&usp=sharing) where you can look at the PDF. This is a rough draft, not play-tested!
Your thoughts are appreciated.
The modification of the exhaustion mechanic is nice. Although it is a bit bland. Unlike exhaustion, there is a lot of variety of injury with different long term effects. For example losing an eye, versus a leg.
Have you looked at the Lingering Injury option in the Dungeon Master Guide on page 272? Some of them are permanent and other can be healed with varying difficulty and time.
I looked at the lingering wounds option. It's too stark and specific for me. I want "Injury" in the same generic approach as hit points are "luck, endurance, skill and health". Also, who wants an eye poked out? :-) A little forced bed rest brings the gritty feeling without the specific consequences (or at least, I'm trying to accomplish that...).
Also, I like how short and long rests currently work (well, short rests anyways). I may try the option where you only get HD back on long rests...
I'm thinking I should simplify it. Take out the roll for severity (one level per 0 HP or event), link it to the Exhaustion rules (I really like those), and just have it reduce Max HP, to be more tied into the "health" aspect of HP.
One idea I've toyed with for a long time is an 'opt-in' injury system.
Basically, a player volunteers an injury in exchange for damage. So instead of taking 10 hit points of damage (or some other number probably proportional to total HP), you are Limping (and possibly multipliers for how difficult the injury is to heal).
Quote from: Will;810956One idea I've toyed with for a long time is an 'opt-in' injury system.
Basically, a player volunteers an injury in exchange for damage. So instead of taking 10 hit points of damage (or some other number probably proportional to total HP), you are Limping (and possibly multipliers for how difficult the injury is to heal).
I imagine most characters could do this only once, but pirates would traditionally be allowed to stack the "lose an eye" and "lose a leg" injuries. And Allardyce T. Meriweather must have some feat or class path for this.
Version 2 is now ready for your reviews, comments and suggestions! Major revision. I think this one is MUCH better thanks to community feedback!
Quote from: trechriron;811109Version 2 is now ready for your reviews, comments and suggestions! Major revision. I think this one is MUCH better thanks to community feedback!
Well done, I rather like this and may test it out if Exhaustion and Flaws don't suffice (I still haven't had a chance to try out either of those yet). Thanks!
Interesting!
Thanks everyone! I think I'm going to add one more idea to it, to lean it on the more "heroic" side while still keeping the flavor.
Someone brought up a concern this might be "too harsh", for example; you could have a critical scored on you (1 level of Injury), then drop to 0 hit points (2 levels of Injury), then fail a death save by 5 or more and get now THREE (3) levels of Injury. In the same combat. Which could be ugly...
Now, I like a little grittiness. However, I'm not sure I need it to be THAT gritty.
I was thinking, instead of certain injury, what if there was a saving throw at the end of combat to determine IF you have any lasting injury? This way the "threat" is till there, but the character has a chance to get out of it.
I'm not sure on the specifics yet. I was thinking you would get a reduction in levels on a successful save, with a min of 1 level. The other option might be to save "for half". But then, where do you round it? Say you have 3 levels, and you save "for half" then is that 1 level? Also, Rogues still have a class ability (Evasion) that nets you no damage on a save and half on a failure. Should this also apply to lasting injury somehow? Also, I was thinking the save would be CON vs. DC20. Too high? Too low?
Would love your thoughts on it. I really want this to be something people will actually use. A good balance between fun and representing some (or potential) lasting injury.
Quote from: trechriron;811867Someone brought up a concern this might be "too harsh", for example; you could have a critical scored on you (1 level of Injury), then drop to 0 hit points (2 levels of Injury), then fail a death save by 5 or more and get now THREE (3) levels of Injury. In the same combat. Which could be ugly...
Now, I like a little grittiness. However, I'm not sure I need it to be THAT gritty.
I think I would prefer that the intensity of the injury (how much of a problem it presents - penalty to movement for a leg injury, penalty to attack, whatever) be somehow independent of the difficulty of removing it (e.g., what level cleric spell you need to heal it or whatever). So zero difficulty would be injuries that end with reasonable rest (say, one or more days after the end of the adventure but no additional intervention) and higher would require progressively more significant expertise in Medicine or healing spells.
QuoteI was thinking, instead of certain injury, what if there was a saving throw at the end of combat to determine IF you have any lasting injury? This way the "threat" is till there, but the character has a chance to get out of it.
I'm not sure on the specifics yet. I was thinking you would get a reduction in levels on a successful save, with a min of 1 level. The other option might be to save "for half". But then, where do you round it? Say you have 3 levels, and you save "for half" then is that 1 level? Also, Rogues still have a class ability (Evasion) that nets you no damage on a save and half on a failure. Should this also apply to lasting injury somehow? Also, I was thinking the save would be CON vs. DC20. Too high? Too low?
Round down always in 5e. You could rig it to round up (half of one more than the number of levels), I guess. I cannot imagine how a Rogue would Evade an injury already sustained. DC20 is really hard, especially when most (well, many, or at least all of mine) characters don't have proficiency for CON saves.
Version 3! I added a save at the end of combat, you can minimize to one level or take all levels on a failed save. I think DC20 fits the nature of the rule.
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B_lJhbSwBglnWVctajViTkgyaU0&usp=sharing
Let me know what you think.
Quote from: rawma;811956I think I would prefer that the intensity of the injury (how much of a problem it presents - penalty to movement for a leg injury, penalty to attack, whatever) be somehow independent of the difficulty of removing it ...
I wanted this to be "generic" like HP and other rules in 5e. I think it brings in the feeling of lasting injury without being to cumbersome or specific. I wanted there to be something that tracked a condition outside the "heal all HP everyday" paradigm.
I will also be using the "Slow Natural Recover" rule from the DMG.