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BtW: Death and Dismemberment Table


Death of Beowulf by JR Skelton
Beyond the Wall has a "Cheat Death" rule:
A dying character may spend a Fortune Point to stabilize at 0 hit points and not continue taking damage every round.
The rules also say:
All damage taken before reaching zero hit points represents narrow escapes, minor cuts and bruises, and painful, but not debilitating, wounds.

Once a character reaches zero hit points, however, he is out of the fight, either unconscious or nearly so. It is at this point that we can call a character seriously wounded, perhaps with a grave sword wound or a nasty blow to the head. He’s not dead yet, but he is in serious trouble and desperately needs the help of his companions.
And:
Characters who have reached 0 hit points need help immediately. They will continue to lose hit points at the rate of 1 per round unless they receive medical attention. Should a character’s hit points reach -10 he is dead.
So that works. But, after reading +Lloyd Neill's Death & Dismemberment blog, and especially after seeing the Death & Dismemberment table on Roles, Rules, and Rolls, I cobbled together a table for my BtW campaign:

Death and Dismemberment pdf

Notes:
Hitting 0 HP packs a wallop even if you spend Fortune. Without Fortune, there is the risk of imminent death and you are left permanently scarred, if you survive. Some of the results are based on Medieval notions of anatomy, in case you're wondering why an injury to the spleen makes you more jealous.

Also, there's a Spooky Addendum for when creepy magic and nether-realms and whatnot are in the mix.

EDIT: This post edited to excise some rules confusion on my part.
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Comments

  1. Peter RobbinsJanuary 26, 2015 at 10:08 AM

    This is per the original core pdf, but see p.18 "Characters who have reached 0 hit points need help immediately. They will continue to lose hit points at the rate of 1 per round unless they receive medical attention. Should a character’s hit points reach -10 he is dead." With that said, I still like what you've added/done here ; )

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. PulpatoonerJanuary 26, 2015 at 10:43 AM

      Ah! Thank! I had that in my head, but didn't find it in the new edition.

      Delete
  2. Lloyd NeillJanuary 26, 2015 at 8:45 PM

    Very nice. I like how you specify the immediate and permanent effects of being maimed, it makes things quite clear.

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownJanuary 28, 2015 at 2:24 PM

    Here's hoping you never have need of that table! ;-)

    ReplyDelete

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