However, as far as less deadly options go, 5th Edition death saves stink. If my character is going to die, I'd rather him go out in a blaze of glory as opposed to anticlimactically bleeding out.
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| The dead enjoying themselves (art by Michael Wolgemut) |
My last adventure came as part of a longer running campaign, though. The players were a little less reluctant to be quite so flippant with their characters. Instead, I convinced them to roll on an injury table whenever their characters went unconscious, then perform death saves as per 5th Edition rules.
The canned 5th Edition Lingering Injury table turned out to be dull. Most characters could hand-wave away the results. Magical healing is far too plentiful. The table resulted in a trivial injury, or a completely crippling one. So, I created a table with entries that resulted in more varied outcomes.
When you fall to 0 hit points, roll a d20:
1 - Lose an Eye - You have disadvantage on ability checks that rely on sight and on ranged attack rolls. Magic such as the Regenerate spell can restore the lost eye.
2 - Break and Arm - You can no longer hold anything with two hands, and you can only hold a single object at a time. This injury heals after one week of rest in a sanctuary during which you receive magical healing each day.
3 - Festering Wound - Your hit point maximum is reduced by 1 roll of your hit dice immediately and at dawn of every day until you complete a long rest and someone tends the wound with a successful DC 10 Wisdom (Medicine) check.
4-5 - Concussion - You have disadvantage on Intelligence ability checks and you cannot cast spells that require concentration until you complete a long rest.
6-8 - Internal Injury - Whenever you attempt an action in combat, you must make a DC 10 Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, you lose your next action and cannot use reactions until the start of your next turn. This injury heals after one week of rest in a sanctuary.
9-10 - Limp - Your speed on foot is reduced by half and you must make a DC 10 Dexterity saving throw after using the Dash action; if you fail, you fall prone. This injury heals after one week of rest in a sanctuary.
11-12 - Disclocated Shoulder - You can no longer hold anything with two hands, and you can only hold a single object at a time. You may reset your shoulder as an action, suffering 1d6 bludgeoning damage. Until you complete one week of rest in a sanctuary, whenever you are hit with a melee attack there is a 2-in-6 chance that the shoulder dislocates again.
13 - Lose Teeth - You have disadvantage on Charisma (Persuasion) checks. When you cast a spell with a verbal component there is a 2-in-6 chance the spell will not work. If the spell fails, you still used your action to try to cast it, but the spell did not use any slots or material components. Magic such as the Regenerate spell can restore the lost teeth.
14 - Tinnitus - You have disadvantage on Initiative rolls and on ability checks that rely on hearing until you complete a long rest in a quiet place.
15 - Horrible Scar - You have disadvantage on Charisma (Persuasion) checks and advantage of Charisma (Intimidation) checks. Magic such as the Heal or Regenerate spell can heal this injury.
16 - Painful Scar - Your scar gives you pain whenever it rains or snows. If you attempt an action in combat and your scar is giving you pain, you must make a DC 10 Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, you lose your action and can't use reactions until the start of your next turn. Magic such as the Heal or Regenerate spell can heal this injury.
17-19 - The scar doesn't have any adverse effect, but it looks cool. Magical such as the Heal or Regenerate spell can heal this injury.
20 - You have disadvantage on Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) checks, Dexterity checks to use tools, and on melee attack rolls with heavy and two-handed weapons. Magic such as the Regenerate spell can restore the lost digit.
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| A man rolling on the injury table |
Next time, I will change it up.
Option 1 - Keep the injury table above, but only allow a save against death every turn until a single failure
Option 2 (More Likely) - Work death results into the table above, and add modifiers to the roll that make bad results more likely based on how much damage the character took
