Healing and survival

Nils_Lindeberg · 08-09-2018, 03:31 PM

I agree that with a rule that says you die on negative ST, then most people who falls will be "fine", as in will die in half a minute or a minute at the most.

Most people that get injured doesn't die instantly. They bleed out or die from internal injuries hours later despite being healed. Even most victims of car crashes or shooting victims doesn't die instantly.

Sure a dagger to the eye should probably kill you and a (1-1) x3 will not do that instantly. But then again some people survived multiple stabbings to the head or a bullet through their brains. And many people who get shot in the head and dies doesn't die instantly. Some victims get beaten unconscious with clubs and such, and then beaten by multiple people after that on the ground and they still survive. I would say this is more common and it definitely doesn't work in TFT where you jump around, then wobble for one hit and then die, usually without passing by the step called unconscious. It works for a war game but not an RPG.

What I want to give PC are a time buffer. If there is no healing available or no one can get to them in time, then it's over. I would even allow that they are not unconscious but incapacitated so they can whisper their last words in a dramatic way.

One could even add a system for the "bleeding" that is 1 per turn. But for each time you try to heal them you change that by a factor; 1/turn, 1/minute, 1/10 minutes, 1/hours, 1/day. And as soon as you fail, you can't do more for them, but must hope for another doctor to do it better. That means that you could end up with a fallen PC that "bleeds" out in a few hours or will die from the infection in a few days. Depending on where you are and how far away proper healing and rest is, can be very dramatic.

And we all know that 1/216 means a very real chance of death. 5 people in a party, 5 attacks on average against them, 5 turns per combat and 5 combats in an adventure. That means 2-3 x3 crits on a PC per dungeon. 6-7 x2 crits. A normal broadsword for 2die damage. That means on average with a little average deviation:
15,21,27 damage hits.
6,10,12,16,18,22 damage hits.

Looking at the top damage rolls you have enough to seriously kill a party even with death at negative ST. Maybe not all heroes with one blow, but those are only the crits in that one dungeon with a medium sized weapon…

So a hero with ST12 and chainmail, 3 wounds from earlier attacks and then a crit 27 is instant death. No chain and only ST 10 but without wounds would insta die on 21,22 and 27. And a 15,16 or 18 would put him in serious jeopardy from bleeding to death before the fight is over.

And all that from just one dungeon. And we mostly assumes they heal all normal hits in between fights or go back home to rest up and come back. TFT is deadly! And crits will kill you sooner rather than later. And yet people manage to get their characters up to 40+ points without dying. Statistically speaking it is almost an impossibility. So I say the GM is stacking the dice or adjusting the encounters to play severely in the favor of the PC or the players are exceptionally brilliant paranoiacs. OR they stack up on magical defenses and the villains doesn't, in other words the GM let the PC's have easy wins. So in short, if the rules for dying are too "nice and safe" for your taste, it is very easy to make it harder! The other way, not so much. IF every goblin have the chance to outright kill a PC with one sloppy attack, it is hard to have lots of combats (which is one of TFTs main strengths) and still keep a campaign going with satisfying character story arcs.

08-09-2018, 03:31 PM	#15
Nils_Lindeberg Join Date: Jul 2018	Re: Healing and survival I agree that with a rule that says you die on negative ST, then most people who falls will be "fine", as in will die in half a minute or a minute at the most. Most people that get injured doesn't die instantly. They bleed out or die from internal injuries hours later despite being healed. Even most victims of car crashes or shooting victims doesn't die instantly. Sure a dagger to the eye should probably kill you and a (1-1) x3 will not do that instantly. But then again some people survived multiple stabbings to the head or a bullet through their brains. And many people who get shot in the head and dies doesn't die instantly. Some victims get beaten unconscious with clubs and such, and then beaten by multiple people after that on the ground and they still survive. I would say this is more common and it definitely doesn't work in TFT where you jump around, then wobble for one hit and then die, usually without passing by the step called unconscious. It works for a war game but not an RPG. What I want to give PC are a time buffer. If there is no healing available or no one can get to them in time, then it's over. I would even allow that they are not unconscious but incapacitated so they can whisper their last words in a dramatic way. One could even add a system for the "bleeding" that is 1 per turn. But for each time you try to heal them you change that by a factor; 1/turn, 1/minute, 1/10 minutes, 1/hours, 1/day. And as soon as you fail, you can't do more for them, but must hope for another doctor to do it better. That means that you could end up with a fallen PC that "bleeds" out in a few hours or will die from the infection in a few days. Depending on where you are and how far away proper healing and rest is, can be very dramatic. And we all know that 1/216 means a very real chance of death. 5 people in a party, 5 attacks on average against them, 5 turns per combat and 5 combats in an adventure. That means 2-3 x3 crits on a PC per dungeon. 6-7 x2 crits. A normal broadsword for 2die damage. That means on average with a little average deviation: 15,21,27 damage hits. 6,10,12,16,18,22 damage hits. Looking at the top damage rolls you have enough to seriously kill a party even with death at negative ST. Maybe not all heroes with one blow, but those are only the crits in that one dungeon with a medium sized weapon… So a hero with ST12 and chainmail, 3 wounds from earlier attacks and then a crit 27 is instant death. No chain and only ST 10 but without wounds would insta die on 21,22 and 27. And a 15,16 or 18 would put him in serious jeopardy from bleeding to death before the fight is over. And all that from just one dungeon. And we mostly assumes they heal all normal hits in between fights or go back home to rest up and come back. TFT is deadly! And crits will kill you sooner rather than later. And yet people manage to get their characters up to 40+ points without dying. Statistically speaking it is almost an impossibility. So I say the GM is stacking the dice or adjusting the encounters to play severely in the favor of the PC or the players are exceptionally brilliant paranoiacs. OR they stack up on magical defenses and the villains doesn't, in other words the GM let the PC's have easy wins. So in short, if the rules for dying are too "nice and safe" for your taste, it is very easy to make it harder! The other way, not so much. IF every goblin have the chance to outright kill a PC with one sloppy attack, it is hard to have lots of combats (which is one of TFTs main strengths) and still keep a campaign going with satisfying character story arcs.