Dropping To 0 Hit Points - V2 Errata

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Dropping to 0 Hit Points Death Saving Throws

Whenever you start your turn with 0 hit points, you must make a
special saving throw, called a death saving throw, to determine
When you drop to 0 hit points, you either die outright or become
whether you creep closer to death or hang onto life. Unlike other
Severely Injured, unless a creature chooses to knock you out.
saving throws, this one isn't tied to any ability score. You are in the
Instant Death hands of fate now, aided only by spells and features that improve
your chances of succeeding on a saving throw.
Massive damage can kill you instantly. When damage reduces you to Roll a d20. If the roll is 10 or higher, you succeed. Otherwise, you
0 hit points and there is damage remaining, you die if the remaining fail. A success or failure has no effect by itself. On your third success,
damage equals or exceeds your hit point maximum. you become stable (see below). On your third failure, you die. The
For example, a cleric with a maximum of 12 hit points currently successes and failures don't need to be consecutive; keep track of both
has 6 hit points. If she takes 18 damage from an attack, she is reduced until you collect three of a kind. The number of successes is reset to
to 0 hit points, but 12 damage remains. Because the remaining zero when you regain any hit points or become stable.
damage equals her hit point maximum, the cleric dies. Rolling 1 or 20. When the DM makes a death saving throw and
rolls a 1 on the d20, it counts as two failures. If they roll a 20 on the
Severely Injured d20, you regain 1 hit point.
If damage reduces you to 0 hit points and fails to kill you, you become Damage at 0 Hit Points. If you take any damage while you have
Severely Injured. While you are Severely Injured; 0 hit points, you suffer a death saving throw failure. If the damage is
from a critical hit, you suffer two failures instead. If the damage
Your movement speed is halved. equals or exceeds your hit point maximum, you suffer instant death.
You have disadvantage on all attack rolls, ability checks, and Persistent Death Saving Throws. Failed Death Saving
saving throws (except Death Saving Throws).
Throws are not immediately reset after you regain hit points. You
You cannot concentrate on spells.
remain Severely Injured, regardless of your number of hit points,
On your turn, you can use either an action or a bonus action, not
until you have reset all of your death saving throws. The DM will
both.
track these Death Saving throws until you are no longer Severely
Your Severely Injured condition ends if you regain any hit points Injured.
unless you have accumulated one or more failed Death Saving
Throws. Resetting Failed Death Saving Throws.
Monsters and Death You can reset 1 failed death saving throw;

Most DMs have a monster die the instant it drops to 0 hit points, By forgoing the healing provided by a healing spell, potion, or
rather than having it become severely injured and make death saving similar magical effect that heals you for at least 10 hit points.
throws. At the end of a Short Rest.
Mighty villains and special nonplayer characters are common Otherwise all of your failed death saving throws are reset once you
exceptions; the GM might have them become severely injured and heal your hit point maximum.
follow the same rules as player characters.
Stabilizing a Creature
The best way to save a creature with 0 hit points is to heal it. If a
Describing the Severely Injured Condition creature receives healing from any source it is immediately stabilized.
A creature cannot recover hit points until it is stabilized.
When you are Severely Injured you are visibly
damaged and have likely suffered some type of If healing is unavailable, the creature can at least be stabilized so
trauma based on the damage type. For example if that it isn't killed by a failed death saving throw.
fire reduced you to 0 hit points you may be terribly You can use your action to administer first aid to a Severely
burned with visibly charred clothing. If you were Injured creature and attempt to stabilize it, which requires a
severely injured by the blow from a giant's hammer successful DC 10 Wisdom (Medicine) check.
you may have broken ribs, a concussion, or horrible A stable creature doesn't make death saving throws, even though it
bruising. These injuries are purely the visible has 0 hit points, but it does remain Severely Injured. The creature
representation of the condition and do not have stops being stable, and must start making death saving throws again,
any additional mechanical effect. DMs are if it takes any damage. A stable creature that isn't healed regains 1 hit
encouraged to allow players to role play the extent
point after 1d4 hours.
of this damage in a way that fits their characters
persona. I recommend leaving more devastating
consequences like permanent scars, missing or
destroyed body parts, or other lasting effects up to
player agency. If the player chooses to suffer a
lasting injury, reward them if the injury contributes
to the character's story, role play, or the campaign.
Acquiesce
When you start your turn with 0 hit points you can choose to
Raising the Dead
acquiesce. You immediately become unconscious but automatically
Casting a spell that brings a dead creature back to life is very taxing
succeed your very next death saving throw. You remain unconscious
on the spell caster. The spell caster accumulates 1 level of exhaustion
until you regain hit points.
and takes damage equal to 1d4 times the spell's level plus the
Last Stand character's level. If the caster doesn’t have the necessary components
available, the spell can still be cast but the caster takes double damage
When you start your turn with 0 hit points you can choose to fail and accumulates 2 levels of exhaustion.
two death saving throws to make a heroic last stand until the end of When a creature returns to life it is considered to have 2 failed
your turn. If these additional failures would kill you, you do not die death saving throws and is Severely Injured, unless the spell restores
until the end of your turn. While you are making a last stand you all of the creature's hit points.
ignore the penalties of being severely injured and if you hit a creature These effects are in addition to any effects listed in the spell's
with an attack it is a critical hit. If you are concentrating on a spell description.
when damage reduces you to 0 hit points, you can choose to make a
last stand the instant you take the damage in order to maintain Modified Mercer Resurrection Challenge
concentration on the spell. If you are still alive at the end of your
If a character is dead, and a resurrection is attempted by a spell or
turn, you immediately fall unconscious. You remain unconscious
spell effect with longer than a 1 action casting time, a Resurrection
until you regain hit points.
Challenge is initiated. Up to 3 members of the adventuring party can
Knocked Unconscious offer to contribute to the ritual via a Contribution Skill Check. The
DM asks them each to make a skill check based on their form of
Sometimes an attacker wants to incapacitate you, rather than deal a contribution, with the DC of the check adjusting to how
killing blow. When an attacker reduces you to 0 hit points with a helpful/impactful the DM feels the contribution would be.
melee attack, the attacker can knock you out. The attacker can make For example, praying to the god of the devout, fallen character
this choice the instant the damage is dealt. You must make a may require an Intelligence (Religion) check at an easy to medium
Constitution saving throw to remain conscious. The DC equals 10 or difficulty, where loudly demanding the soul of the fallen to return
half the damage of the attack, whichever number is higher. On a from the aether may require a Charisma (Intimidation) check at a
failure you are knocked unconscious but are stable. If you take very hard or nearly impossible difficulty. Advantage and disadvantage
damage while unconscious you immediately regain consciousness but can apply here based on how perfect, or off base, the contribution
you are Severely Injured and must start making death saving throws. offered is.
After all contributions are completed, the DM then rolls a single,
final Resurrection success check with no modifier. The base DC for
the final resurrection check is 8, increasing by 2 for each previous
successful resurrection the character has undergone (signifying the
Special Interactions slow erosion of the soul’s connection to this world). For each
successful contribution skill check, this DC is decreased by 3, whereas
Path of the Zealot’s Rage Beyond Death feature. each failed contribution skill check increases the DC by 1.
While you're raging, you ignore the penalties Upon a successful resurrection check, the player’s soul (should it be
associated with being Severely Injured and willing) will be returned to the body, and the ritual succeeded. On a
Martyrdom only requires you to sacrifice one failed check, the soul does not return and the character is lost.
death saving throw.
Once a character is lost, the soul can only be retrieved by Divine
Undying Warlock Patron Defy Death feature. You
intervention or as part of an epic quest orchestrated by the DM.
can instantly stabilize yourself and regain hit
points equal to 1d8 + your Constitution Resurrections attempted within 1 minute of a creature’s death do
modifier (minimum of 1 hit point) when you not require the Resurrection Challenge but the creature's death still
succeed on a death saving throw increases the DC for future resurrection challenges.
There may be other unintended interactions Credit for Sharing the Mercer Resurrection Rules: Geek and
that will need to be added over time. Sundry
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Change Log V2

House Rule:
Changed the format of the Severely Injured
condition to match that of other conditions.
Added saves made against your spells have advantage to
the severely injured condition

Dropping Added If a creature receives healing from any source it is


immediately stabilized but does not recover hit points. A
creature cannot recover hit points until it is stabilized. To

to 0 Hit Points
the Stabilizing a Creature section. _ Removed the
hidden Death Saves.
Added If you are concentrating on a spell when damage
reduces you to 0 hit points, you can choose to make a last
stand the instant you take the damage in order to maintain
concentration on the spell. to the Last Stand feature.
Added Undying Warlock Patron Defy Death feature.
​I have always been a little unsatisfied with the You can instantly stabilize yourself and regain hit points
equal to 1d8 + your Constitution modifier (minimum of 1
rules for death and dying in 5e. This is my hit point) when you succeed on a death saving throw to
revision to the SRD for playtesting. the special interactions.

Theorycraft Feedback and Critique


It’s nothing revolutionary or ground breaking but All critiques and comments are encouraged, welcomed,
and considered! Thank you for the encouragement and
I wanted to share it to encourage theory craft also for pointing out unintended consequences and
balance concerns!! My homebrew is continuously
discussions and critique. My intention is to make
revised based on feedback and playtesting.
characters feel more heroic and give them
Special thanks to Reddit users FreezingHotCoffee,
opportunities to avoid going unconscious oddly-tall-hobbit, IntrinsicGiraffe,
CommodorePineapple, AnthonycHero,
(which I always feel is boring for a player). AsmodeusOfTheNine, Bloodgiant65, QuesoFundid0,
IlstrawberrySeed, DMsWorkshop, Infernite583,
NormalDistrict8, and many others
I attempted to balance this out by having the
Special thanks To Instagram users snuffles504,
death saves hidden from the table, adding some norobotyet, hanandlia, jokal_25, and many others
lingering consequences, and by also making it a I apologize in advance if I missed a user name, all
contributions are appreciated!!
little harder to bring a dead character back to life.

This Is Playtest Material


The homebrew material is presented for
playtesting. The game mechanics are in draft form,
usable in your campaign but not refined by
feedback and editing. All critiques and comments
are encouraged, welcomed, and considered.
This work may contain material that is copyright
of Wizards of the Coast and/or other authors. Such
material is used in good faith with every intention
to comply with Community Content, Fair Use, and
Fan Art Agreements. All other original material in
this work is copyright 2020 by Feralborn Trading
Company and/or Design Team members.

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