[Runequest] Contemplating House Rule -- Advice?

[Peter Maranci]

Personally it has always seemed to me that the cut-off of death at zero
general HP didn't make sense - it's much too binary for a percentile system.
:D

How about this? At zero HP, the victim is unconscious. For every point below
0, they must make a resistance roll of the negative damage versus their CON.


Failure equals death at the end of the round.

Success: unconscious but stable for the next 1d6 rounds, after which they
must make resistance rolls again.

Special success: permanently stabilized, unconscious but no further rolls
needed.

Critical success: Immediately recovers consciousness and is now at a
positive value of 1d6 current HP.

What do you think, too complicated?

On Wed, May 18, 2011 at 6:14 PM, <royce at efn.org> wrote:

> Hi, All,
>   I've been contemplating a house rule to 3rd Edition RQ (Avalon Hill),
> but haven't yet thought it all the way through.   If you take the time
> to follow my reasoning below, you can see that the idea runs into
> trouble right away.
>
> Perceived Problem:  So many dismembered limbs scatter the floors of RQ
> adventures.  Seems odd.
>
> Proposed House Rule Solution:  A hit location is permanently destroyed by
> taking triple the location's HP, not double.  For example it would take 9
> pts of damage, not 6, to cut off a 3-hp arm.
>
> Obvious Problem:  Increase in the damage to general hit points.  For
> example, a severe blow to the arm could do 9 pts to general HP, instead of
> just 6.
>
> Proposed Follow-Up Solutions:
> 1.  Maybe general HP reduced to 0 isn't simply death.  Maybe it represents
> critical condition, instead.  And then the character has [general HP]
> melee rounds in which to be brought back to positive general HP, or else
> die.  Justifiable, looking at how long it can take hopelessly wounded
> animals to die, but not an elegant solution.
>   For example, Slayer Tim, with 12 general HP, takes wounds totaling 16
> points of damage.  He's out of general HP, leaving him incapacitated
> and starting to die.  He's already 4 points negative, so he needs to be
> brought back to positive HP within (12 - 4 = 8) eight melee rounds.
>
> 2.  Or maybe I could ask players to mentally remember that, while a limb
> might take up to triple damage, only up to double damage applies to
> general HP.  Lame extra mental step that is sure to cause confusion.
> Forget this one.
>
> 3.  Ask fellow RQ'ers if you guys have any better ideas.
>
>   Any feedback is welcome.  I am especially interested in hearing how my
> idea can go wrong.  Many thanks ahead of time for you time & opinions.
>   Sincerely,
> Asher Royce
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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-- 
Peter Maranci - pmaranci at gmail.com
Pete's RuneQuest & Roleplaying! http://www.runequest.org/rq.htm
The Diary of A Simple Man: http://bobquasit.livejournal.com/
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