"Long-term" effects of 0HP or less

[CeeDub]

Salutations!

Previously, whenever an NPC reached 0 or less HP and failed their HT roll, I just considered them dead. PCs have so far always received First Aid or healing spells.

But what really happens? If I understand the RAW correctly (big "if"), there is a whole HP range where the character can't do much, but isn't necessarily dying, either. Even if you use the Bleeding rules, there is a good chance the bleeding will stop on its own and the character will not have to make any (more) Death Checks.

They're just at half Move/Dodge and they slip in and out of consciousness whenever they fail the HT roll they have to make every second they don't Do Nothing, which means getting themselves to safety is unlikely. Do such characters just die of starvation or exposure, unless their HP are close enough to 0HP that they can heal to 1HP on their own before that happens, or am I missing something?

[cdru]

Actually, recovering from unconsciousness after HP loss means that you don't make further HT rolls to stay conscious

[Anaraxes]

Originally Posted by CeeDub

They're just at half Move/Dodge and they slip in and out of consciousness whenever they fail the HT roll they have to make every second they don't Do Nothing, which means getting themselves to safety is unlikely.

Partly correct. See B423, "Recovering from Unconsciousness".

Originally Posted by B423

At 0 HP or worse, but above -1¥HP, make a HT roll to awaken every hour. Once you succeed, you can act normally. You do not have to roll against HT every second to remain conscious unless you receive new injury. But since you are below 1/3 your HP, you are at half Move and Dodge.

I'd agree that such a character, all alone, is probably in trouble if they are out in the wilderness or in a dungeon hallway prone to wandering monsters. But they're not constantly falling unconscious again and again, second by second. Once you make the hourly roll to regain consciousness, you won't lose it again until you take more injury.

[CeeDub]

Ah, yes, I see. I thought I had overlooked something. Thank you!

[AlexanderHowl]

The primary concerns are bleeding and infection. In general, I use a simplified system for both that minimizes the number of HT rolls. I will share them below.

When it comes to bleeding, I have characters who suffer from cutting, impaling, or piercing damage suffer bleeding equal to the damage taken (at a rate of one HP per minute until they reach the amount of damage taken) unless someone starts First Aid on them (which prevents further bleeding unless they roll a critical failure). Without bandaging (or on a failed First Aid roll), they must also make a HT roll to avoid infection, which can be cleaned out with a successful First Aid roll (at a -1 per HP lost to the infection). It may also be cleaned out on a successful Will roll (at a -1 per HP lost to the infection), though the individual suffers additional injury equal to the HP lost to the infection. In the case of infection in the brain and vitals, neither of the above are sufficient to expel infection, and a Surgery roll (at a -1 per HP lost to the infection) is required (modern medicine uses antibiotics against infection, which are usually effective, only a critical failure by a prescribing physician will cause issues, though a character can usually go back to their physician if things get worse).

Infection has a delay of three days (one day if the wound is to the brain or vitals) and deals 1 HP per day (3 HP per day if the wound is to the brain or vitals). Gangrene will set in if a character loses 1/3 HP to an extremity, 1/2 HP to a limb, or HP to the brain or vitals (if gangrene sets any further damage represents the infection spreading to nearby parts of the body unless amputation occurs). If amputation is impossible, gangrene will eventually kill the character.

[RedMattis]

I don't think most people play with the optional infection rules and such, they are generally more suitable for gritty settings. Bleeding is also optional, and while more often used, it is generally manageable as long as someone attends to the wounded. It can be a real killer if someone f.ex. gets left behind in a bad condition though.

I think the really bad one is if you get knocked unconscious at -1xHp or bleed your way down there, since it takes 12 hours for a chance to wake up, and if you fail that you pretty much end up comatose and will need a surgeon to recover. In a realistic medieval setting this is basically a death sentence; it counts as "Stabilising a Mortal Wound" and Surgery is made at Skill-4 at TL2-3 at that level of injury due to poor tools, etc. Assuming you can even find a surgeon who isn't a quack.