Alternative injury/death rules

Terquem · 03-20-2020, 08:12 PM

I am curious if many players have introduced alternative injury/death rules of their own into their games.

I have a few of these d6s from another game company that show different "types" o injury results and I really want to put them to use in a TFT:ITL campaign

I am thinking to introduce a rule that says something like

"A figure reduced to 0 strength is unconscious, and must roll on the injury table. A figure reduced to less than 0 strength must roll two injury dice and take the worst results."

By using an injury die that itself has a "death" results, I can make death a bit less likely, and if I take a little time creating a brief injury table I can control recovery rates in the campaign better, by defining what types of injuries require what types of care/rest.

Any thoughts?

JimmyPlenty · 03-20-2020, 08:19 PM

The problem with 0 for unconsciousness had always bothered me. That's a bit of an exact result. It need to be too dead-on.

I would treat an injury result you are talking about at 3 or less ST. The same as the -3DX result. Plus, you may have to make an 3/ST to stay conscious. (Which makes the ST stat more broadly valuable.)

Terquem · 03-20-2020, 09:13 PM

I like the idea of an injury roll on a strength of 3 or less. Maybe 2 dice and pick the best roll

hcobb · 03-21-2020, 03:42 AM

Last Effort is an ability I'd tie to toughness.

Terquem · 03-21-2020, 10:28 AM

Is "Last Effort" a house skill of yours? I imagine it would be fine. Sometimes I need to remind myself to only introduce one small change at a time because I know I might not see the whole effect if I try too many changes at once.

TippetsTX · 03-21-2020, 11:23 AM

Given the deadliness of TFT, I don't have an issue with providing characters some kind of negative ST buffer and I think a distinction between 'dead' and 'dying' is a good idea.

In my own games, rather than track negative ST, I give characters who hit zero ST (or less) a time limit. The other characters have a number of minutes equal to the 'dying' character's original ST to stabilize them.

I also have a 'last effort' rule (no amulet or talent required) that allows a character who has hit zero ST to remain conscious if they make a ST roll on 3 dice against their original stat value. If the damage came from a critical hit, they roll against 4 or 5 dice.

P.S. 'Last Effort' refers to a specific magic item... the Amulet of Last Effort (ITL pg 160) which isn't available in my games. I don't like characters being dependent on an expensive magic item for something that should be a factor of their own will and stamina IMO.

Shostak · 03-21-2020, 11:39 AM

At one point, I had a house rule that required a figure to make a 3dST roll on taking a wound serious enough to knock it down, with a failure meaning the hit was a knock-out. Every turn after that the figure made a 3d ST roll, with a success meaning returning to consciousness.

Skarg · 03-22-2020, 07:35 PM

We didn't like and didn't use most of the Physicker Revival article in the old Interplay magazine, because we didn't like the random element.

However, in comparison to RAW, and having played a lot of GURPS, looking at it again, I think I prefer it to Legacy RAW.

03-20-2020, 08:12 PM	#1
Terquem Join Date: Apr 2018 Location: Idaho Falls	Alternative injury/death rules I am curious if many players have introduced alternative injury/death rules of their own into their games. I have a few of these d6s from another game company that show different "types" o injury results and I really want to put them to use in a TFT:ITL campaign I am thinking to introduce a rule that says something like "A figure reduced to 0 strength is unconscious, and must roll on the injury table. A figure reduced to less than 0 strength must roll two injury dice and take the worst results." By using an injury die that itself has a "death" results, I can make death a bit less likely, and if I take a little time creating a brief injury table I can control recovery rates in the campaign better, by defining what types of injuries require what types of care/rest. Any thoughts?

03-20-2020, 08:19 PM	#2
JimmyPlenty Join Date: Dec 2017	Re: Alternative injury/death rules The problem with 0 for unconsciousness had always bothered me. That's a bit of an exact result. It need to be too dead-on. I would treat an injury result you are talking about at 3 or less ST. The same as the -3DX result. Plus, you may have to make an 3/ST to stay conscious. (Which makes the ST stat more broadly valuable.)

03-20-2020, 09:13 PM	#3
Terquem Join Date: Apr 2018 Location: Idaho Falls	Re: Alternative injury/death rules I like the idea of an injury roll on a strength of 3 or less. Maybe 2 dice and pick the best roll

03-21-2020, 03:42 AM	#4
hcobb Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Pacheco, California	Re: Alternative injury/death rules Last Effort is an ability I'd tie to toughness. __________________ -HJC

03-21-2020, 10:28 AM	#5
Terquem Join Date: Apr 2018 Location: Idaho Falls	Re: Alternative injury/death rules Is "Last Effort" a house skill of yours? I imagine it would be fine. Sometimes I need to remind myself to only introduce one small change at a time because I know I might not see the whole effect if I try too many changes at once.

03-21-2020, 11:23 AM	#6
TippetsTX Join Date: Sep 2018 Location: North Texas	Re: Alternative injury/death rules Given the deadliness of TFT, I don't have an issue with providing characters some kind of negative ST buffer and I think a distinction between 'dead' and 'dying' is a good idea. In my own games, rather than track negative ST, I give characters who hit zero ST (or less) a time limit. The other characters have a number of minutes equal to the 'dying' character's original ST to stabilize them. I also have a 'last effort' rule (no amulet or talent required) that allows a character who has hit zero ST to remain conscious if they make a ST roll on 3 dice against their original stat value. If the damage came from a critical hit, they roll against 4 or 5 dice. P.S. 'Last Effort' refers to a specific magic item... the Amulet of Last Effort (ITL pg 160) which isn't available in my games. I don't like characters being dependent on an expensive magic item for something that should be a factor of their own will and stamina IMO. __________________ “No matter how subtle the wizard, a knife between the shoulder blades will seriously cramp his style.” -Vladimir Taltos Last edited by TippetsTX; 03-21-2020 at 11:41 AM.

03-21-2020, 11:39 AM	#7
Shostak Join Date: Oct 2015 Location: New England	Re: Alternative injury/death rules At one point, I had a house rule that required a figure to make a 3dST roll on taking a wound serious enough to knock it down, with a failure meaning the hit was a knock-out. Every turn after that the figure made a 3d ST roll, with a success meaning returning to consciousness.

03-22-2020, 07:35 PM	#8
Skarg Join Date: May 2015	Re: Alternative injury/death rules We didn't like and didn't use most of the Physicker Revival article in the old Interplay magazine, because we didn't like the random element. However, in comparison to RAW, and having played a lot of GURPS, looking at it again, I think I prefer it to Legacy RAW.