07-21-2014, 01:59 PM | #11 |
Banned
Join Date: Mar 2006
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Re: Negative HP and its effects
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Last edited by namada; 09-21-2014 at 12:11 AM. |
07-21-2014, 03:13 PM | #12 |
Join Date: Jun 2013
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Re: Negative HP and its effects
The problem is that, upon awakening, the character explicitly no longer needs to roll every second to stay conscious (at least until they're wounded again). Let's say you've got three characters - a Barbarian, a Knight, and a Scout. They get ambushed by orcs. The orcs aren't able to get through the Knight's armor, but the Barbarian and Scout get hammered - Barbarian gets dropped to -10 HP but stays up, while the Scout gets dropped to -5 HP and falls unconscious. Nobody thought to bring any healing potions, but once they've bandaged their wounds and the Scout's woken up, they keep going. If they get attacked again, the Scout (who fell unconscious) will be slower and have a poor Dodge but can shoot arrows all day without issue. The Barbarian, on the other hand, because he never fell unconscious during the previous battle risks passing out every time he does, well, anything during this combat - and he stays in that state until he either is healed back above 0 HP or falls unconscious. That seems... off.
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07-21-2014, 03:39 PM | #13 |
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Behind You
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Re: Negative HP and its effects
This is how we handle it in our games. Combat is defined as strenuous activity. In general, if nothing is going on, we treat people as doing nothing. Walking around and stuff down a hallway is just whatever...
For game effects, I don't see the point of rolling HT every second to see if you pass out when nothing is happening. Tracking second to second on situations that don't need it seems like overkill and probably not in the spirit of the negative HP. If you do want to track second to second, then just take the percentage of failure and use that for a linear time. Example: Roll of 10 or less (50%): 2 seconds an you'll pass out Roll of 13 or less (84%): 4 seconds and you'll pass out Roll of 16 or less (98%): 50 seconds and you'll pass out To summarize my view in logic: * If knocked below 0 HP in a fight. Roll every second until "Combat Ends". * If you get knocked below 0 HP from a trap or something, roll only once. But we might be combatcentric... |
07-21-2014, 03:46 PM | #14 | |
Join Date: Aug 2007
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Re: Negative HP and its effects
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Anyway, being unconscious is the main effect to be worried about. Unconscious people can have all kinds of crazy things happen to them, up to, and including, death because the enemies don't take prisoners. The fact that someone injured more recently is going to fall unconscious despite overall being less injured is less of a concern, since you've already adjusted to the shock (arguably anyone who can pass enough HT checks should also stop needing to make them). Plus, you should be avoiding combat because dropping below -HP and falling unconscious is a right pain. |
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07-21-2014, 04:15 PM | #15 | |
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Heartland, U.S.A.
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Re: Negative HP and its effects
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07-22-2014, 04:39 AM | #16 |
Banned
Join Date: Mar 2006
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Re: Negative HP and its effects
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Last edited by namada; 09-21-2014 at 12:10 AM. |
07-22-2014, 07:15 AM | #17 |
Join Date: Jun 2013
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Re: Negative HP and its effects
Combat Maneuvers don't exist outside of "Combat Time." Thus, a character who is outside of Combat Time doesn't have to make HT rolls to stay conscious, because he isn't taking Combat Maneuvers other than Do Nothing. Anything particularly strenuous, like running or quickly climbing a wall or whatever, should probably call for a consciousness check, of course.
But let's assume the intent is that the Barbarian can't do anything, even outside of Combat Time. So, he takes a seat on a stump (which calls for an HT roll, because he had to Change Posture) and decides to rest for a bit while the Knight tends to him and the Scout. After an hour, the Scout wakes up. If they decide to leave, they'll have to put the Barbarian on a stretcher or else he'll pass out on the way. That's right - the guy who managed to pull through and stay conscious is in worse shape than the guy who got knocked out. Similarly, if they were attacked, the Barbarian would need to stay on his stump and hope nobody comes after him, while the Scout can shoot arrows or even mix it up in melee to his heart's content (although he'll be slower). Arguably, the Barbarian might have been able to just give in and pass out once the battle was over so that he could keep moving with the others, but that makes him sound a bit weak. All that's needed is a mechanism to fix this. Some have been suggested in this thread - mine was to make it automatic after a half hour of rest, there have been others to allow a "stabilizing roll" after an hour or similar. But it is a potential issue, and a mechanism is needed to fix it. |
07-22-2014, 07:18 AM | #18 | ||||
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Heartland, U.S.A.
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Re: Negative HP and its effects
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Agreed. But to be clear, getting First Aided in and of itself, doesn't change any of this. Bringing your HP total back above 0 does.
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Last edited by Captain Joy; 07-22-2014 at 07:24 AM. |
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07-22-2014, 07:01 PM | #19 |
Banned
Join Date: Mar 2006
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Re: Negative HP and its effects
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Last edited by namada; 09-21-2014 at 12:10 AM. |
07-22-2014, 11:11 PM | #20 |
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Heartland, U.S.A.
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Re: Negative HP and its effects
fartrader, you've convinced me. I stand corrected.
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Tags |
health, injury, recovery, unconscious, unconsciousness |
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