Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 ccelizic Jan 13, 2015 13:27:06	Exhaustion is a neat little change in 5e.  It reminds me of a the fatigue track in savage worlds which I rather liked.  I dug into the mechanic, to refresh you on the rules of it, various situations like lack of food, water, not getting rest can accrue stacks of exhaustion.  Penalties can get rather fierce as it stacks up to six, at which point you die.  Monsters and such generally do not inflict exhaustion, though environmental hazards such as extreme cold or heat can layer it on.   The only ways to remove it is either a level 5 spell (Greater Restoration) or rest with food and drink.   Looking at this mechanic gave me an idea on how to combine it with dying and death to give the game a little more lasting punch on incapacitation or even giving a wounding a bit of threat.   First, we change the death saving throw.  You no longer roll vs 3 strikes and you're out.  You roll against gaining stacks of exhaustion.  The very lenient way to execute it is if they succeed the save, handle it as per the rules as written.  If they fail the save, they gain a stack of exhaustion.  This can actually extend the amount of time you have to rescue someone (unless they already have exhaustion stacks).  You can make the bite more fierce by inflicting two stacks of exhaustion when the player fails by 5 or more.  You can further increase the threat of this mechanic by increasing the DC by 5.  A natural 20 is handled as per the rules as written.  The rules for stabilizing someone are the same as always.   If you want to further heighten the danger of being wounded we can add a second twist:  When someone is below half their current maximum health, they must make death saving throws every minute.  You can lengthen the time as you please to suit your adventure needs, I waiver a lot between one minute intervals and ten minute intervals.  Ten is a bit easier on book keeping because you likely won't have the checks popping up mid-combat, forcing you to track rounds.  But in this setup, being below half health is the point where you have enough wounds that you're now at risk of death by bleeding out. A stabilization check made against someone who was dying at 0 hp does NOT stabilize someone against this slow death.  To treat someone who is bleeding out in this fashion you must spend a minute dressing their wounds and make a wisdom (medicine) dc 10 check.  Raising someone's health above half will end this effect immediately without any checks required.  While someone is having their injuries treated, delay the death saving throw until the wisdom (medicine) check has been made after which point the effects of the delayed death saving throw immediately take effect.  If someone takes damage after being stabilized below half health, then they must start making death saving throws again.   To further increase the difficulty of rendering first aid in such situations you can increase the DC to 15, or, you may wish to consider the house rule in the DMG where healing kits have a limited amount of uses and force the PCs to stock up on medical supplies.   If the exhaustion stacks cause the character's maximum health to drop by half, reduce their current health by half, to a minimum of one.  If their maximum health is raised, double their current health.  Changes in maximum health in this fashion do not cause spontaneous bleed or a miraculous recovery.  On the same token, if a monster attack reduces your effective maximum HP, you do not use the lower maximum health for calculating if you are bleeding out or not.   This mechanic should be carefully played.  A person who is wounded and brought neat death's door with exhaustion stacks will end up an immobile wreck that can scarcely lift a weapon.  They will be bed ridden for the greater part of a week before they are fully recovered from their injuries.  If you read that above paragraph and considered all those to be good points, then you know what to do.   Be sure to make the distinction that healing spells only close wounds and stop the immediate risk of death.  They do not heal deeper issues like trauma and blood loss that will leave people still fighting at less then 100%.  This can add an interesting twist to games.  Since the only way listed to remove exhaustion that I've found in the rules is resting and a level 5 spell, it can be rather hard to shed stacks of exhaustion.  A level twenty cleric has one spellcasting available for their fifth through ninth spell slots.  They would effectively use up all their big-guns to get someone from five stacks of exhaustion to completely back on their feet.  Only higher spellcasters get access to greater restoration, making the removal of the these consequences a serious matter that not just any faction can throw about casually.  As a consequence, people who get wounded in a battle front and are saved from death are likely going to be unfit for battle for a few days in the campaign world.  The PC's can no longer step up to a NPC they found at death's door from a bandit's arrow and rub cure wounds on them and deflate the drama of the injury.    Take into consideration that a lot of monster types are immune to exhaustion when you use this mechanic.  Either such creatures are simply destroyed at zero health, or for stuff like celestials and fiends they may be subject to exhaustion under this mechanic only, any other means that inflicts exhaustion will simply fail.  Fortunately, PC races are subject to exhaustion and that's likely where a lot of this mechanic is going to be focused.
#2 ChrisCarlson Jan 13, 2015 14:12:21	There's potential here. But I'd have to mull it over more.   But, more importantly, I first read the thread title to say "GLITTER DEATH". I admit to being a bit disappointed when a second take caught that initial mistake...
(Reply to #2) ccelizic	ChrisCarlson wrote:
#4 Greenstone.Walker Jan 15, 2015 15:03:21	ccelizic wrote:
#5 Devils-Advocate Jan 15, 2015 22:17:19	Hmm... I really like the idea, but I doubt I'd be able to convince a group of players to go along with it.