Twilightwyrm
2011-10-18, 08:22 PM
So, I was thinking of a variant rule to add to any given campaign setting based on a bit of realism and...well a certain point made here (http://www.goblinscomic.com/11212005/). I can't help but partially agree with the subject of the joke made here, in terms of realism because people don't always go unconscious when bleeding to death, and pragmatically because player do not, in fact, tend to shut up when they are dying (unless it is convenient for them to do so). Given this, I thought of a variant rule that might remedy this, and was wondering if I could get some feedback on the idea:
Concentration:
By making a successful concentration check, a character can stay conscious and partially active while dying. Whenever a character is reduces to -1 or fewer hit point, they immediately fall prone as normal, but may make a concentration check with a DC equal to 15+1 per point of damage they are below 0. Each time they take damage, such from another attacker, or at the end of any round they remain unstabalized, they must make a new concentration check at the modified DC. Additionally, they may make an concentration check at the same DC in order to take a partial action on their initiative count. Upon completion of this action, they take an additional point of damage, bringing them closer to death, and forcing another concentration check to remain conscious. Due to the mental focus required to remain conscious in this state, the character must make a concentration check as if they were taking continuous damage at -20, in order to take any action that would take any action that requires significant concentration, such as the casting of a spell.
I feel this keeps the variant reasonable balanced, without cutting too much into the usefulness of feats such as Diehard, and maintaining a reasonable difficulty from round to round. a 1st level character, for instance, will typically be able to remain conscious for a round or two, while a higher level character with ranks may be able to remain conscious all the way through -9. Indeed, this also gives the character to take a "last action" before slipping into unconsciousness.
A potential downside of this is that some enemies become slightly more problematic to deal with, since they may well remain conscious, if not necessarily effective, through -9 (especially those with higher Con scores). This also has an inadvertent upside, in that player get some time while their opponent is down to decide what to do with them (while this are still awake, but incapacitated), without them immediately knocking out (for the more cinematic or sadistic minded).
It might also not be a bad idea for anyone using this variant to make Concentration a class skill for all classes (or at least the Fighter and Barbarian type classes, if you must deny them to the stealth classes), as staying awake while dying tends to be more thematically indicative of battle hardened warriors than bookish wizards. Adopting this approach then makes sense, the warrior types will typically have higher Con scores than the wizards, and thus a higher Concentration modifier.
So like I said, any feedback and suggestions would be very helpful, whether it is tweaks to the variant rules or problems with them. Further, any discussion of how to mirror this idea in a different manner, either in terms of mechanics, would also be welcome.
Concentration:
By making a successful concentration check, a character can stay conscious and partially active while dying. Whenever a character is reduces to -1 or fewer hit point, they immediately fall prone as normal, but may make a concentration check with a DC equal to 15+1 per point of damage they are below 0. Each time they take damage, such from another attacker, or at the end of any round they remain unstabalized, they must make a new concentration check at the modified DC. Additionally, they may make an concentration check at the same DC in order to take a partial action on their initiative count. Upon completion of this action, they take an additional point of damage, bringing them closer to death, and forcing another concentration check to remain conscious. Due to the mental focus required to remain conscious in this state, the character must make a concentration check as if they were taking continuous damage at -20, in order to take any action that would take any action that requires significant concentration, such as the casting of a spell.
I feel this keeps the variant reasonable balanced, without cutting too much into the usefulness of feats such as Diehard, and maintaining a reasonable difficulty from round to round. a 1st level character, for instance, will typically be able to remain conscious for a round or two, while a higher level character with ranks may be able to remain conscious all the way through -9. Indeed, this also gives the character to take a "last action" before slipping into unconsciousness.
A potential downside of this is that some enemies become slightly more problematic to deal with, since they may well remain conscious, if not necessarily effective, through -9 (especially those with higher Con scores). This also has an inadvertent upside, in that player get some time while their opponent is down to decide what to do with them (while this are still awake, but incapacitated), without them immediately knocking out (for the more cinematic or sadistic minded).
It might also not be a bad idea for anyone using this variant to make Concentration a class skill for all classes (or at least the Fighter and Barbarian type classes, if you must deny them to the stealth classes), as staying awake while dying tends to be more thematically indicative of battle hardened warriors than bookish wizards. Adopting this approach then makes sense, the warrior types will typically have higher Con scores than the wizards, and thus a higher Concentration modifier.
So like I said, any feedback and suggestions would be very helpful, whether it is tweaks to the variant rules or problems with them. Further, any discussion of how to mirror this idea in a different manner, either in terms of mechanics, would also be welcome.