save-vs-lazer: Problem 1: “Death at 0 HP is all too sudden and too deadly for me” Problem 2: ”Death
save-vs-lazer: Problem 1: “Death at 0 HP is all too sudden and too deadly for me” Problem 2: ”Death at -10 HP is too predictable, players can easily make guesses as to how long until characters die and act around it, there’s nothing shocking and unexpected about being at -1 and SLOOOWLY bleeding our until -10 or until rescued. Feels like I was knocked out by a nerf bat rather than stabbed by a sharp and dangerous sword.” Problem 3: “There’s spells like Regenerate and Cure Blindness to restore limbs and body parts, but there’s very little that specifically inflicts that kind of damage in the game. These spells don’t see that much use and it’s a shame.” Problem 4: “I like the idea of a character being forced to retire by a serious wound or loss of a limb. Like, you don’t adventure ‘till you’re dead. Old retired adventurers can become NPCs and mentor the new characters and I think that that’s a cool thing that doesn’t happen as often as I’d like.” Problem 5: “I just want to fuck my players up. Like, big time. Also extreme descriptions of violence are hilarious to me.” Here’s your solution! Have a fancy Death & Dismemberment table for Dungeons & Dragons to make your players justly terrified of being near or at 0 HP. (Please note that there definitely are vastly better Death&Dismemberment tables out there and this is just my take on the subject.) (Also please note that this was written with AD&D1e in mind, but it’s really pretty universal for most editions I think.) -- source link