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View Full Version : Thought on HPs [houserule]



Skjaldbakka
2008-03-04, 04:14 AM
I don't like HP. I also don't particularly care for the Injury system. However, it occured to me that a combination of the two would work really well.

Here is the Injury System (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/adventuring/injury.htm).

Normally, it replaces HPs as a mechanic for injury. However, if you instead use both, you have a system for determing injury outside of the HP mechanic.

thoughts?

Altair_the_Vexed
2008-03-04, 06:56 AM
You'll be increasing the book-keeping required by running two systems in parallel.

I thought about this sort of system for a gritty, low-magic setting. My plan was to split the body into hit locations (head, each arm, each leg, torso - maybe splitting torso into belly and thorax - and a similar location system for the different configurations of monsters), un-aimed attacks hit locations at random (but I'd also assign a modifier for attacking a specific location (say -4 to attack)), and apply a version the Injury mechanic to the hit locations (DC = 10 + number of hits taken to that location), while retaining over all HP.

For example, an attack hits a target's left arm. Target must succeed a Fort save DC 10 + 1 or the arm becomes injured and useless.

The save doesn't scale with damage - if you're also using HP, you shouldn't scale the DC with the damage from the attack, or you'll be doubling the effect of the damage.

You could run that without location hits if you like, but I think that adding the locations gives more purpose to the Injury rules.

Most important: It'll be more dangerous.