, all
So there's one thing I really dislike about 5e - and that's the whack-a-mole effect. I've spoken about it briefly before (in my article on injuries & setbacks, which incidentally is part of the fix for making games like 5e "grittier" and more dangerous), but for now I want to suggest a very quick and easy fix. Whack-a-mole is the result of a few related matters: (i) bonus action, (ii) ranged healing (healing word etc), (iii) there being no penalties for being reduced to zero hp (in fact - sadly - there is an incentive to drop below zero THEN heal - because you dont track negative HP, you are sometimes better off dropping first, then healing), and (iv) healing magic is instantaneous. You can tweak a number of these factors to discourage whack-a-mole to a greater or lesser extent. Remove ranged healing (touch only). Make it a full action. Count negative HPs. Or make dropping to zero a very serious and incapacitating condition - like the old 2e rules, once you dropped to zero, you couldn't fight or cast spells for 24 hours (or something like that, I forget exactly). This last option gives dropping to zero the dread it deserves, but is imo too severe in practice (unless you're going for a very gritty style, and dont mind your party camping for extended recovery periods). So what's the easy fix I had in mind? It's tweaking the "instant" part of the spell. If the target is 1 hp or more, the cure spell works instantly. But if the target is zero hp or below, it takes 1d3 minutes to heal instead. This can easily be fluffed as the dangerous wound requiring more time to fix, or just the way magic works, etc. What you then get is a game where dropping to zero hp is highly undesirable and dangerous, but without the extra complexity of lingering injuries (albeit I personally like to use those as well ;) ) or 24 hr recovery breaks. PCs with cure spells suddenly have some hard decisions about when to heal, when to attack, and when to risk a drop to zero hp. If you want to make healing even more tactical/difficult, you might consider removing ranged and/or bonus action heals. Similar delayed effects can be used for other kinds of traditionally instant cures - regenerating limbs might take 2d6 hours to grow back, or removing madness 1d6 days to subside, and so on. These injuries/conditions will then hang around for a fuller time, making them more dangerous/meaningful, but not so long that they bleed into the next adventure. So there it is, Houserule #16: Tweak the Instant Cure spells. I hope it helps fix whack-a-mole in your game. PS - Low Fantasy Gaming uses this approach (free PDF in the sidebar). Art copyright 2016 123RF, used with permission, all rights reserved.
8 Comments
12/10/2016 09:47:20 am
I'd have to argue that 5e is meant to be that way. They clearly want to make it as easy as possible for people to get into the game and make it as mainstream as they can. Here's another way. No XP for anyone who drops below 0 hp. You could also lower the XP by 1/3 for the entire party for each time someone drops below 0, after 3 times they all get 0, but might make it out alive if they work together and think smart. <- Inspired by Monster Hunter.
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Steve G
12/10/2016 09:52:45 am
Yes I agree - I think that was the devs intention. But alas it doesn't suit my gaming preference, and hence the desire to tweak it... I like your alternative idea too - assuming the table uses xp by encounter, this is also a great incentive not to get dropped.
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Frank
6/5/2017 12:13:17 pm
My problem here is that a 1-3 minute onset time will basically mean that that character is out of the fight either way. This seems reasonable, but there are immediate metagame consequences. It won't result in a hard choice of whether to heal the downed character. The answer will always be don't. He's out for the fight whether you drop a spell or not and once the fights over, he has hit dice to heal himself. So, the only reason to drop a heal is to stabilize him, which you can do other ways.
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Steve G
6/5/2017 12:26:20 pm
That's true - if the adventurer drops to zero, they're out of the battle, and that's intended. The idea is to encourage healing them before they drop to zero - the hard choice is brought forward, rather than waiting until the ally is down.
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Frank
6/5/2017 01:04:30 pm
I just wonder if that might be too scorched earth of a response. Foe example, I've had my 9th level wizard dropped from full to negs in 1 hit before. I think a simpler way to hinder characters. For starters, there's the fact that they drop prone and have to get back up. On top of that, they didn't death grip their weapon while unconscious so, that's on the ground now. Gotta pick that up. Mighta clattered a ways away in the scuffle. Then, maybe a shorter res time. Like 1d6-1d10 rounds? Then it's a hindrance because they're out for awhile still. Or have the heal take effect gradually. Like 1d8 every turn.
Steve G
6/5/2017 01:20:43 pm
Yes I totally get what you're saying; and I like the 1d6 - 1d10 rounds idea too - that would serve just as well, but not necessarily put the PC out of the whole combat.
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I changed the death saves to a death and dismemberment roll. If they roll high enough they can keep fighting, but roll low enough it is instant death. There's plenty of incentive to avoid rolling on death and dismemberment, and there's plenty of drama in white knuckling a fight when you're at 0 hp and any hit is a death and dismemberment roll.
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That sounds awesome and is similar in fact to what I did with Low Fantasy Gaming and the Injuries & Setbacks table. In LFG, when you hit zero hp, you make a Con check - if you fail you die (note there is a reroll pool you might be able to use once), and if you make it you roll on the Injuries & Setbacks table.
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