Zero BP, Bleeding, Casualties. Then the fun starts...

[cornixt]

I would stick with a more simple 2D6 table so you can stack the most common injury over the middle values and have super rare ones over the 2 and 12. Plus it means no special dice required (assuming you are going for a HQ version that is close to the original).

[DullandRusty]

instead of rolling dice, my group has decided to put each injury into card form. We have included a few additional just a scratch cards (no lasting injury) as well. While being a pain as you have to print them up, it has worked nicely in just the testing phase so far. You just draw your card and keep it next to you.

We are currently testing having anytime you go to 0bp and are not healed by a potion immediately you bleed. A hero can stop the bleeding by using their action turn as described by Stig.
One caveat we use, if an elixir of life is used (or a revive spell since we have a healer character) it will do 1 of 2 things:
if the hero is bleeding or "down" but not dead, it revives them to 2 BP without any casualty card draw.
if the hero has bled out and died, it revives them to the "down" state where they are alive again, however they have to draw a casualty card.

As some have mentioned drawing a casualty card can feel harsh each time a hero drops to 0 BP, we do have a way to remove the casualty cards from a hero. If a hero is in between quests that permits going to town (meaning the quests don't link such as one quest ends being taken prisoner, the next starts in the prison), the hero may spend 1000gold to visit a physician to remove the card.
This seems to work thus far in our testing as our heroes after doing all the expansions and some home brew stuff have way too much gold saved up.

Thus, while serving as a means to add more spice when dropping to 0 BP but not fully killing a hero, this also works to add a great gold sink to help diminish the players' banks.

[Stoner81]

the hero may spend 1000gold to visit a physician to remove the card.

I thought my system was expensive wow!

Do your players really have that amount of spare gold just lying about?



Stoner81.

[DullandRusty]

the hero may spend 1000gold to visit a physician to remove the card.

I thought my system was expensive wow!

Do your players really have that amount of spare gold just lying about?



Stoner81.

They are well into homebrew quests so they have a lot. Also we have looting the corpse of monsters which has a few negative cards like the monster not being dead, but can typically give 1-10 gold or so. Tons of monsters adds up. We also sell back equipment for 50% value, which most people do here i think.

For base game and early in expansions, i would probably only charge 500 like you do. We charge a ton due to gold amounts but also bc i want them to have to make the hard choice of a)pay a ton, b) keep the injury for awhile, or c) have to leave that hero and roll a new one.

[Stoner81]

They are well into homebrew quests so they have a lot. Also we have looting the corpse of monsters which has a few negative cards like the monster not being dead, but can typically give 1-10 gold or so. Tons of monsters adds up. We also sell back equipment for 50% value, which most people do here i think.

For base game and early in expansions, i would probably only charge 500 like you do. We charge a ton due to gold amounts but also bc i want them to have to make the hard choice of a)pay a ton, b) keep the injury for awhile, or c) have to leave that hero and roll a new one.

Good to know thanks! Do you also allow them to have more than 1 at once so they "stack" so to speak or any other funky things?



Stoner81.

[Stig]

I would allow injuries to stack - remember the alternative is just being dead - allowing stacking gives the player another option, which in my opinion is only a good thing. Imagine the narrative- an old, grizzly barbarian, weilding legendary weapons but still carrying the burden of a broken ankle they suffered trying to rescue X some years ago. However they now have a problem with their elbow..

If they decide to go with a new hero as the existing one is too badly injured, it would represent the barbarian deciding their questing days are over and that it's time to put the sword back in the scabbard for good. What a great end to a questing career, so much better than keeping going until you're dead.

[Weltenlaeufer]

Just found this Stig! Along with your search uncertainity. Brilliant!! all bookmarked!

[Stig]

Haha thanks. I've literally today reformatted all of these to match the SDE style I'm working on and added a few more to make 180, as well as simplifying some of the more complex ones. I'm becoming less of a fan of searching uncertainty as it introduces lots of rolls. I'm beginning to go through the DND tips, they're great. I'll make sure to watch the next one with a beer.

[Weltenlaeufer]

Haha thanks. I've literally today reformatted all of these to match the SDE style I'm working on and added a few more to make 180, as well as simplifying some of the more complex ones. I'm becoming less of a fan of searching uncertainty as it introduces lots of rolls. I'm beginning to go through the DND tips, they're great. I'll make sure to watch the next one with a beer.

Cool, please keep sharing your ideas/mods! Its great stuff! Haha awesome you re watching the dnd tips! A beer is mandatory for watchin these

[AngelDel]

Just found this while looking at replacing death with something more interesting, while keeping some sense of balance.

I love your "casualties" Stig, and I'll be using them no doubt. I also happen to not be as averse to using the occasional D20 as some here, it seems so I shall use it nearly verbatim. Thanks very much for the idea and the work, sir!!