phred@gitpyr.UUCP (Will Rogers) (07/29/85)
[All Hail the Mighty Line-Eating Bug] In article <82@avsdS.UUCP> steve@avsdS.UUCP (Steve Russell) writes: >ALSO, not on the same subject, how do other players and gm's play >zero hit points? we've been playing a variant (aren't we all) that >allows zero hit points to be unconciousness until the missing h.p. is >restored, either by time or by magic. minus h.p.'s still cause death in >9 rounds or less. we've also been ignoring the "one week" of bedrest for >zero or below h.p. conditions (which i intend to include in my current >campaign). > >avsds:steve As you say, nearly everyone plays with some variant - most of the DM's that I play with (say what??), use a rule somewhat similar to the following: IF a character falls to or below zero hit points, he is comatose. He will lose 1 h.p. per round until he reachs -9 h.p. The following round he is dead. If the wounded player has his wounds tended for one round the loss of 1 h.p. per round is halted indefinitely. If the wounded player receives "healing" in the form of spells, potions, etc. then that player, IF the "healing" brings his total hit points back to a positive number, will be conscious. The wounded player, even if he regains ALL his hit points, will suffer some effect of havingbeen wounded, depending on the situation, and the extent of the healing. I consider a range of barely alive, but able to me moved... to nearly recovered but with a slight penalty to say, Constitution and/or Strength for the next 24 hours to be appropriate depending on the situation. Oh yes, and let's not forget a roll for System Shock; that should be the MINIMUM requirement to return to positive hit points. On the other hand, I think the whole idea of "negative" hit points is bogus. In my campaigns a player that reachs ZERO is comatose. If he receives attention he may live. If a player goes BELOW zero hit points he is dead. The newest TSR publication has something to say on all this, but since I just got it yesterday and haven't had time to review and assimilate all of it I'll reserve comment on it till later.... Will Rogers. ...gatech!gitpyr!phred (Omni, Omni, VOR, ILS, ADF, SDF, NDB, ATC, Ohmmmmmmmm...... Omni, Omni, ...) Wiley Lives. -- _____ from the rapidly decomposing neurons of: Will Rogers ...gatech!gitpyr!phred ("Omni, Omni, VOR. ILS. DME. SDF, ADF, NDB. Ohmmmmmmmmmmm. Omni, Omni, ...")
scott@hou2g.UUCP (N. Ersha) (07/29/85)
In my campaign, we play a variation on the zero hit point "death" (this works only for combat damage, not poison). When a character is down to zero hit points, he is in a "coma" if *any* character reaches him to render even rudimentary first aid within d4+1 rounds. If no one reaches him/her in this time (or first aid is "interrupted" by an adversary), the character dies. (No Save :-)). Then, AFTER a healing spell or potion is tried the character must survive a system shock roll, with a -5% modifier for each HP taken after he/she reaches zero. Note this means that the healing magic CAN be wasted. This makes characters a *little* harder to kill, but is balanced by the peril it puts his "rescuer" in. "Rescuers" are burdened with a poor defense while giving first aid, you see. And your recovery ability is based on constitution (via system shock), which is natural. SJBerry
prd7886@ritcv.UUCP (Patrick R. Demorais) (07/30/85)
In article <607@gitpyr.UUCP> phred@gitpyr.UUCP (Will Rogers) writes: >>ALSO, not on the same subject, how do other players and gm's play >>zero hit points? >> >>avsds:steve > >IF a character falls to or below zero hit points, he is comatose. He will >lose 1 h.p. per round until he reachs -9 h.p. The following round he is dead. >If the wounded player has his wounds tended for one round the loss of 1 h.p. >per round is halted indefinitely. If the wounded player receives "healing" >in the form of spells, potions, etc. then that player, IF the "healing" brings >his total hit points back to a positive number, will be conscious. ... > Oh yes, and let's not >forget a roll for System Shock; that should be the MINIMUM requirement to >return to positive hit points. > ... > >Will Rogers. > We play as above, but there is also a roll against System Shock for EVERY negative hit point that you had. Failure on any one of these rolls results in the death of that character. - Patrick R. Demorais - ritcv!ritvp!prd7886@rochester - {allegra|seismo}!rochester!ritcv!ritvp!prd7886