A few nights ago I mulled about a solution to “0 HP = unconscious, -10 HP = death” thing. Around 2 am I woke up and had most of a solution. I’ll take a stab at writing it down here. [Note: This is inspired in part by Blue Rose / True20. Iron Heroes, a new release, is supposed to mimic it in part.]
Low Death (but grittier) gaming–
The idea starts from a core: Death is dramatic… but it’s best when it’s dramatic. As it is, the space between “perfectly fine” (1 HP) and dead (-10 HP) is small. 11 hit points is normal damage from many of the critters our characters are fighting.
One advantage of this revision is that criticals have a greater impact (immediate wounding), but don’t take a character out immediately.
When a creature is hit and drops below zero hit points, or when a creature is hit for a confirmed critical, the character doesn’t necessarily fall unconscious (nor just loose hit points). Instead, the player rolls to resist the wound, to keep the character on its feet. This introduces an opportunity to introduce tradeoffs; creating wounds that don’t put a character out, but do impair fighting ability.
Whenever a character is struck and drops below 0 HP, or whenever a critical is dealt, you make a Fortitude saving throw with a DC equal to the damage your character was dealt. Compare the save and damage to the chart below. (We’ll call this “wound saves” for clarity.)
| Beat the DC by 10 or more | A scratch or bruise; no fight penalty, -1 to wound saves. (Cure minor to alleviate penalty). |
| Beat the DC | A minor wound; a cut over the eye, a bruised rib, a gash along the forearm, etc. -1 to all rolls until healed (including wound saves). Cure Light to eliminate. |
| Failed by less than 10 | A significant wound; bones break, muscles pull, artery pierced, finger severed, etc. -2 to all rolls until healed. Cure Moderate to alleviate the penalty, Cure Critical to eliminate the condition. |
| Failed by 11-20 | Maiming wound; foot removed, eye gashed, skull cracked, massive blood loss. -5 to all rolls until healed. Cure Serious to alleviate the penalty, Regenerate or Heal to eliminate the condition. |
| Failed by 21+ | Deadly wound. (Usually traded up to maiming + unconscious, unless the player decides it’s time for a dramatic death.) |
In all cases, the player can choose for the character to take a wound one step less severe as long as the character is also knocked unconscious by the blow. (This is not necessarily a blow to the head; blood loss, shock and the like are other acceptable ways to “trade up” the damage and remove a character from the fight.)