Making combat less lethal.

[pzmcgwire]

Good discussion here. I think increasing the range for unconsciousness is good. The original Melee rules of unconsciousness occurring only at ST1 was much too narrow, though surprisingly in practice how often it happens.

My original proposal of knockdown and DX penalties for hits even if stopped by armor was to make things more cinematic.

The examples that prompted this for me are big hurly burly brawls such as in the recent D&D movie where the barbarian plows through a platoon of armored guards, not killing many that I surmise, but definitely reducing most of them hors de combat.

After winning a battle, combatants are often rushed and don't have time or inclination to finish off unconscious foes. You loot the bodies then move on. If you're in a dungeon, you're moving toward the objective since likely the noise of battle probably is alerting the denizens much more quickly than unconscious foes waking up to sound the alarm.

The issue with TFT is the need to rest for spellcasters to recover strength which then makes it more likely for a PC party to hang around and investigate fallen foes further.

Just like with the ambient powerstone recharging rules, perhaps there should be an ambient fatigue recovery rule that fatigue recovers at 1 ST per 30 minutes of light exertion, such as walking, riding, hiding. As long as no combat is occurring, fatique just recovers.