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strange_person 01-19-07, 12:48 AM

It works just like the normal HP rules. Critical hits are completely unchanged, etc. The main difference is, there is no negative HP. Instead, when a charachter would normally be reduced to negative HP, the Injury rules kick in. Lethal and Nonlethal damage both reduce HP the same way; only when HP is exhausted does the difference become signifigant. Instead of the normal massive damage rules, any single attack that deals more damage than the charachter's Con score also forces a save against injury, regardless of remaining HP. Changes to the injury rules: Great Fortitude does not add to saves against injury. Toughness, in addition to it's normal effect, provides a +3 bonus on saves against injury, and increases the charachter's effective CON by 3 for purposes of the massive damage threshold and the incapacitation thresholds (see below). Anyone with at least one nonlethal hit counts as Sickened. Anyone with more nonlethal hits than their CON counts as Nauseated. Anyone with at least one lethal hit counts as Fatigued (not cumulative with other sources of fatigue). Anyone with more lethal hits than their CON counts as Exhausted, or Unconscious if they're fatigued for some other reason. Stabilization rolls are made once per minute, rather than once per round, as long as the dying charachter is lying on a reasonably flat, steady surface (such as the ground, or a stretcher, or the deck of a boat in calm seas, or a wheeled vehicle going slowly on a good road, but not an earthquake or the back of a horse). Trying to transport someone who's dying will probably just get it over with faster. Any form of damage reduction (provided it's at least five points, and effective against the attack in question) improves the result of all saves against injury by 1 degree, even natural 1s. This makes DR a lot more powerful; epic level barbarians will be nearly impossible to kill with conventional weapons, and carrying spare weapons of varying materials will be more important. How do you think this variant will affect the balance of power between fighters, sneak-attackers, and spellcasters at mid-to-high levels?