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--- rules:fainting-buffer [2019-04-02 15:47] – [Drawbacks] sandra
+++ rules:fainting-buffer [2019-04-04 08:55] – sandra
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-====== Hurt but not unconscious ======
+====== Fainting Buffer original proposal & discussion archive ======
 ===== How things work now =====
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 The DMG also gives the option that you might get lingering injuries on crits and when you roll 5 or lower on death saves. But that'd give way too many lingering injuries, wouldn't it?
-===== A "fainting buffer" =====
+===== The new rule: Wound Threshold  =====
-This isn't a committed & recorded rule yet, just an idea I want to discuss with you, I want to hear if you think it's cool or not.
+The new rule separates the injuring hit from the hit that makes you faint. You take the injury when you hit your wound threshold.
-What if there were some amount of hp that counts as being hit & hurt but doesn't make you faint?
+If you do take a hit without fainting, you get 1 insp. You get it in time to use on the lingering injuries roll, but you don't have to use it for that, you could also use it for other things such as striking back at your foe (adrenaline rush!) or creating drama.
-Like, say that a hit is registered at 3 hp instead of at 0 hp, like this:
+Here is an example with a wound threshold of 3.
-{{https://idiomdrottning.org/proposed-linger.png}}
+{{https://idiomdrottning.org/insp-linger.png}}
-==== Arrows ====
+You take the lingering injury when you go from strictly over your wound threshold, to at or below your wound threshold.
-=== Scratching ===
+**The default wound threshold is 1.** Going down to 1 HP exactly should be memorable enough that most people, even new/guest players or those who don't like to engage with a bunch of rules, might take note of it.
-Arrows are scratched when HP crosses 3,\\
+You can record any wound threshold, as long as it's strictly lower than your max HP, at character creation or at level up. (When you level up you might lower or increase it as you wish.) (Setting it to 0 means that you always faint from any wound --- just the way things worked before the wound threshold rule was introduced.) However, you need to keep track of it. It's mandatory --- when you go down to your wound threshold you have take the insp+wound, it's not an optional deal.
-when HP crosses 0,\\
-when there is a death save failure inflicted.
-But no more than 1 arrow per attack. I.e. if it goes from 9 to 0 (crossing both 3 and 0 in one shot) it's still only 1 arrow.
+===== Benefits of a high wound threshold =====
-=== "Porcupine mode" ===
+  * Higher chance of you getting insp and if you use it on the lingering injuries roll you'll have a lower chance of arms & legs getting chopped off
-No more porcupine mode. Shooting extra arrows (that are easily recovered) are for battlefield control, or hits armor/fur, not direct hits to body.
+  * Higher chance of enemy needing to spend 2 pieces of ammo to take you down
+  * With a low wound threshold (such as zero), if you go down, get up again, go down, get up again --- that's a lot of lingering injuries. With a high wound threshold you're not at risk of getting a new lingering injury until you've been healed to above your original wound threshold.
-=== Aren't spell slots saved the same way as arrows? ===
-No, spell slots for non-killing spells still count as normal. IDK why I had such a hang up on arrows specifically for a while.
-==== Drawbacks ====
-=== Complexity ===
-Obv it's more complicated to have two numbers to remember, 0 and 3. That's a drawback for sure.
-=== More chopped legs ===
-There might be //slightly// more lingering injuries with this scheme. If someone has 30 hp and they go down to 3, they get lingeringly injured, and then they go back up without ever having gone to 0, then that character has one more lingering injury than they would with the current rules.
-One tweak would've been to give player characters (but not non-player characters) three extra HP. Then this rule change would be all upside for players; the fainting buffer is something that is added to their HP instead of taken from their HP. (In other words a 10 hp fighter would faint&get their leg chopped off if they take 10 damage in the old system, but with this "solution" they would be a 13 HP fighter and only get their legs chopped off, not faint, if they took 10 damage. IOW, same amount of damage taken, less effect.) **However** I think this is a pretty crappy solution because it has a significant drawback: it makes it easier on you guys and you are heroes, you can take on the world, you don't need a simplified baby-game w/ kittens&grandmas.
-I don't think the //slight// risk of more chopped legs than before is such a big deal or would happen all that often compared to how cool it is to be able to survive tough situations. You got your leg chopped off, everyone else around you is dead, but you managed to stay awake through the pain, and kill your foe, and drag yourself to safety.
-=== Gore ===
-Obv a big benefit of the "you faint right away" current status quo is that gory combat details have been inherently veiled / offscreen to some extent. I.e. there hasn't been any Matthew Mercer or Lamentations of the Flame Princess style gore fests.
-==== Is three the right number? ====
-Three for the fainting number is just an example to make the proposal clear and understandable.
-There are some different approaches to take.
-=== A static number ===
-I chose three because it makes sense across all levels. If the number was 10 then some level 1 characters would get their legs chopped off almost right away. If the number was 1 then it'd almost never happen.
-A static number is great because it's easier to explain and teach to new players.
-=== A level-scaled number ===
-Maybe the number should be "your level" instead of "3".
-Makes it more likely when you fight big tyrannosauruses and dragons etc that they might get hit a couple of times before going down. A 13 HD tyrannosaurus would have a fainting buffer of 13 making her more likely to stay awake through hits. Could be cool moments for you guys fighting her.
-Tying it to HD would also give us the option to have it be tied to either max HD or current HD, the latter making it so that you're more likely to faint when you aren't well rested.
-=== A constitution-derived number ===
-Makes sense flavorfully that high con means change to stay awake.