One of the biggest balance difficulties in D&D is gradual verses binary defenses. Mundane attackers and damage-dealing spells affect hit points: a gradual defense. They get worn down, but the character continues to fight at full capacity. Meanwhile, magic tends to operate on a binary system: you either make your save, or you fail it. You're either unaffected, or crippled by blindness, mind control, or worse.
Borrowing heavily from Mutants and Masterminds' Affliction power, we propose a "Condition Track" mechanic, where spells and abilities cannot inflict truly dire conditions without repeated castings and/or very poor rolls on saving throws.
Condition Tracks: Whenever a creature is affected by a spell or ability that inflicts a condition, he rolls a saving throw, as normal. If he makes the save, he is unaffected. If he fails, however, he is affected by the appropriate first degree condition. If he fails the save by 5 or more, he is instead affected by a second degree condition, and if he fails by 10 or more, he is affected by a third degree condition.
If a creature is already affected by a condition, and is affected by another ability inflicting the same condition, it takes a penalty to the saving throw: -2 if suffering from a first degree condition, and -5 if suffering from a second degree condition.
Spells and abilities are limited in how many degrees of conditions they may inflict. A 1st or 2nd level spell may only inflict first degree conditions, no matter how much the . A 3rd of 4th level spell may only inflict first or second degree conditions, and only a 5th or higher level spell may inflict a third degree condition. These guidelines hold true even when stacking conditions-- if a creature is already Shaken, it does not become Frightened if it fails a save against a scare spell (2nd level), no matter how badly it fails it saving throw.
{table=head]|First Degree|Second Degree|Third Degree
|Save failed|Save failed by 5 or more|Save failed by 10 or more.
|1-2 level spells|3-4 level spells|5+ level spells
Blinding|Dazzled: All foes have 10% concealment; -2 to Search, Spot, and AC.|Partially Blinded: All foes have 20% concealment; -5 to Search, Spot, and AC.|Blind: You cannot see-- all checks and activities that rely on vision automatically fail. All foes have total concealment; -5 AC, and no Dexterity bonus to AC.
Madness: |Unsteady: 10%: Attack caster, 70%: Act normally, 20%: Flee|Confused: 10%: Attack caster, 50%: Act normally, 20%: Flee, 20%: Attack nearest creature|Insane: 10%: Attack caster, 10%: Act normally, 30%: Babble incoherently, 20%: Flee, 30%: Attack nearest creature
Fatigue|Fatigued: -2 to Strength, Dexterity, Caster level, and spell save DCs|Exhausted: -5 to Strength, Dexterity, Caster level, and spell save DCs; speed halved, can't run or charge|Unconscious
Fear|Shaken: -2 to attack rolls, mental skill checks, and Will saves|Frightened: -5 to attack rolls, mental skill checks, and Will saves, attempt to retreat|Panicked: -5 to attack rolls, mental skill checks, and Will saves, cannot do anything but flee. If you can't flee, you cower and take no actions.
Impairing|Impaired: -2 to all rolls|Inhibited: -5 to all rolls|Disabled: Cannot take actions.
Mind Control|Trusting: Improve the target's attitude one step (as the 3.5 Diplomacy skill), to a maximum of Friendly.|Charmed: Improve the target's attitude two steps, to a maximum of Helpful|Dominated: Improve the target's attitude 3 steps, to a maximum of Fanatic.
Slowing|Hindered: Speed halved, can't run or charge, -2 attack and AC|Immobile: No movement, -5 to attack and AC, lose Dexterity bonus to AC|Paralyzed: Cannot take physical actions.
Stunning|Stymied: No swift or full-round actions.|Dazed: One standard action per turn.|Stunned: Cannot take actions.
Sudden Death|Weakened: -2 to all ability scores|[B]Drained: -5 to all ability scores|Dying: Reduced to -1 hit point, see below.
[/table]
Recovery
First-degree conditions can be cured with an hour's rest, or 15 minutes of rest and a successful Heal check (DC equal to that of the effect that inflicted the condition.
Second-degree conditions can be reduced to first degree with an hour's rest and a successful Heal check (DC equal to that of the effect that inflicted the condition.
Third-degree conditions cannot be cured or reduced without magic. You may only make one Heal check per character's condition track per day, although you may treat multiple subjects suffering from the same conditions.
Lesser restoration cures first degree conditions and improves second-degree conditions by one step. Restoration and Heal cure first and second-degree conditions,and improve third degree conditions to second degree. Greater restoration removes all conditions.
Conditions also might reverse themselves if the effect inflicting them has a limited duration which expires.
Condition-to-track conversion list
{table]Ability Damage|Normal
Ability Drain|Normal
Blind|Blinding Track
Confused|Madness Track
Cowering|Fear track
Dazed|Stunning track
Dazzled|Blinding Track
Deafened|Normal
Dead|Dying track
Disabled|Dying track
Dying|Dying track
Energy Drained|Normal
Entangled|Slowing track
Exhausted|Fatigue track
Fascinated|Normal
Fatigued|Fatigue track
Flat-footed|Normal
Frightened|Fear track
Grappling|normal
Helpless|Normal
Nauseated|Impairing track
Panicked|Fear track
Paralyzed|Slowing + Impairing tracks
Petrified|Slowing + Impairing tracks
Prone|normal
Shaken|Fear track
Sickened|Impairing track
Stunned|Stunning track
Unconscious|Fatigue or Stunning track[/table]
Things that follow a similar format
Damage
{table=head]Condition|Circumstance|Effect|Recovery
Bloodied|Two-thirds or less total health remaining.|-1 to all rolls.|Magical healing to raise your current hit points above two-thirds of the maximum, or a Heal check (DC equal to damage taken) to eliminate the penalty.
Injured|One-third or less total health remaining.|-2 to all rolls, and half speed.|Magical healing to raise your current hit points above one-third of the maximum, or a Heal check (DC equal to damage taken) to eliminate the penalty.
Maimed|Zero hit points, or negative hit points and stable.|You may only take a single standard or move action per turn, and doing so inflicts one damage (reducing you to Dying)|Magical healing to raise your current hit points above zero, or a successful Fortitude save or Heal check (DC 10 + the absolute value of your negative hit points)
Dying|-1 to –(level + Constitution) hit points.|You may not take any actions except make Fortitude saves to recover (a full-round action. Each turn, you take one damage.|Magical healing to raise your current hit points above zero. Alternately, a successful Fortitude save or Heal check (DC 10 + the absolute value of your negative hit points) will improve your condition to Maimed.
Dead|Less than –(level + Constitution) hit points.|Game over, man, game over!|Resurrection magic.[/table]
Wind
{table]Strong Winds|Severe Winds|Catastrophic Winds
Checked: Forward movement halted/prevented; flying creatures pushed back 1d6x5 feet|Knocked Down: Knocked prone; flying creatures pushed back 1d6x10 feet|Blown Away: Creatures on the ground are knocked prone and rolled 1d4×10 feet, taking 1d4 points of nonlethal damage per 10 feet. Flying creatures are blown back 2d6×10 feet and take 2d6 points of nonlethal damage due to battering and buffeting. [/table]