2nd Edition AD&D had a good lingering injury system in the book Combat and Tactics. There were several steps to getting a lingering injury, not just getting hit by a critical roll. And it's a system that's easily adapted into later editions. Step 1) Roll a Critical Hit. Step 2) Roll a Saving Throw vs Reflex/Dex (DC 20) Step 3) If the Saving Throw is successful, roll double damage. If it fails, continue to Step 4. Step 4) Determine what body part is getting hit by rolling 1d10 1 = Head 2 = Left Arm 3 = Right Arm 4 = Chest 5-6 = Abdomen 7-8 = Left Leg 8-10 = Right Leg Step 6) Determine the dice to roll for the Critical Effect. Weapon is smaller than target = 1d6 Weapon is equal to target = 2d4 Weapon is larger than target = 2d6 Weapon is 2× larger than target = 2d8 Step 6) Roll the required dice on the Critical Effect chart. Step 7) Read the result out to the players.

@DM-Timothy

2 ай бұрын

One of the few books from that era I still keep on my shelf! Thanks for sharing this oldy but goody!

Great and thought provoking. Thanks you!

@DM-Timothy

5 ай бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for your comment!

I'm working on a Lingering Injuries of my own and this video is by far the best one about this topic out of all others out there as it mentions all the design issues with every system out there

@DM-Timothy

4 ай бұрын

Thanks so much! I'm really glad you like it. I'd love to hear about the system you settle on, at some point.

Thanks for the video Tim! I’m considering adding one to my next campaign which will be an exploration heavy hex crawl as a means to prompt downtime and add a little more weight to getting in a fight. I found this advice very insightful.

@DM-Timothy

4 ай бұрын

I'm super glad it was helpful! New campaign sounds like fun to me!

I'm starting a campaign as the DM and my world, due to lore reasons, currently has no death. And so I had to figure out a consequence for reaching 3 failed death saves. Basically, the PC remains unconscious, and they gain a permanent point of exhaustion (onednd version) that can only be removed with a reviving spell. If the PC reached the 3rd failed death save due to an enemy attack, that PC would lose a random limb. It's a more lightweight system but its easy to manage.

@DM-Timothy

5 ай бұрын

Interesting! What kind of impact have you seen from putting these rules into play?

I broke it down to different tier of injury based on threshold 1:Minor-injury: Example Bruised Hand (20% HP lost on Single Hit Con Save ( Resist Injury Roll) DC 12 2:Lesser-Injury: Example Twisted Wrist (45% HP lost on Single Hit Con Save ( Resist Injury Roll) DC14 3:Major-Injury: Example Broken Limb (60% HP lost on Single Hit Con Save ( Resist Injury Roll) DC 18 4:Deadly-Injury: Example Lost Limb (80% HP lost on Single Hit Con Save ( Resist Injury Roll) DC 22 Gain Injury on Crit Hit DC based on % hp Lost Similar Injures From Failed Saves from environment effects Examples (Failed Athletics roll to kick door open or walking in blizzard) Also armor has Resist Injury bonus to roll Light armor +2 Medium Armor +3 Heavy armor +4 Unarmored Roll at ADV Having Resist to Damage type give adv on Resist Injury Save PS barbarian Player lost Limb and now has seiko style replacement limb with Kusarigama built in and loves it has blade shoot our like grapple hook grab enimes and yells get over here or zipping up to higher areas

Great points! And timing, I’ve been wanting to introduce this into my game but the RAW feel half baked. I was considering having it proc on taking half HP like Massive Damage rule (they’re level 5 now so less likely than at 1 haha). Another idea I saw online was just like your sword of sharpness idea. It was something like roll d20 (or con save); 20-10: nothing, 9-2: cosmetic injury aka the “roleplay for inspiration” scar, nat1: injury. I’d do this because it seems this kind of system is a much bigger drag on martials in the front line. I might have to just make an injury more likely for squishier PCs. Also, nice link! Have you seen the resources (1) Maxwell’s Manual for Malicious Maladies or (2) Grit and Glory? They look intense!

@DM-Timothy

4 ай бұрын

I have not seen those resources, unfortunately! Are they on DMSGuild?

@17joren

4 ай бұрын

@@DM-Timothy also, after having reworked the giant crocodile in Saltmarsh, I think the ultimate trigger for me is context. I agree HP should also represent your stamina, will to fight, luck, etc., not just your amount of blood and meat. However, a giant croc clamped on your leg and doing a death roll should certainly be crippling to that limb! 😂

The linked lingering injuries table says that it's deprecated and the user has a more up to date version elsewhere. Do you happen to have a link to that more up to date version? Also, another option I've seen was to have a chance at receiving a lingering injury after taking damage from a single attack equal to more than half your total HP. Can't remember the exact chance though or the table used, but I thought that was a good way to do it, to make that single overwhelming strike be the cause of injury and also an "oh crap, we're probably underlevelled for this" warning to players. Makes more sense than the final 0HP strike, as that final dagger to the back from the now-spellslotless mage shouldn't be more permanent than the overwhelming strike with a club that knocked the character down to 3HP in the first place!

@DM-Timothy

5 ай бұрын

I can see the argument for that. Half of a characters hp in one attack would balance out in mid game well enough but might be too much at low level play… I’m afraid I don’t have an updated link. If I can find one, I’ll add it in.

I used to use permanent injuries and I found it a very good tension builder. However for a character to suffer a critical physically impairing damage first of all required a nat 20 critical I'm going to character failing a saving of some sort. Could be a simple decks check you twisted just enough to avoid getting the spear literally into your guts. Or you just give them a DC and call it luck and tell them roll your luck. You can create something at the table with the player keeping them part of the story and doing just that will generally helped into embrace what's going on in the story Good or bad

@DM-Timothy

5 ай бұрын

I'd agree that lingering injuries can be great for adding tension to a moment, and lasting consequence.

I mean to be fair lingering injuries in real life suck too lol

@DM-Timothy

5 ай бұрын

Man, you’re telling me! Lol. Can’t wait to get better from surgery, and I’ve got it so much easier than so many other people.

The gm binder version says its deprecated amd says to go to a google site, what google site?? I cant find it

@DM-Timothy

2 күн бұрын

Great question honestly. It says it’s only for minor adjustments made while transferring, but I’ve never found the specific google doc, myself, and always worked off this depreciated document.

i think the sistem zweihänder rpg has rules for injuries someone told me but i was also told that the sistem is complex

@DM-Timothy

5 ай бұрын

The balance between complexity and depth is a tough one. Thanks for suggesting another resource.

@LordDany

5 ай бұрын

@@DM-Timothy 👍👌

Honestly I think there's only one reason for lingering injuries. They look cool. But as a bonsu; taking care of a party member helping them recover is amazing character building, etc.

@DM-Timothy

5 ай бұрын

Looking cool is definitely a big plus, lol.

well that's convenient my character just lost his right arm

@DM-Timothy

5 ай бұрын

Hope you’ve got some sweet prosthetic lined up!

If a character pretends to have a lingering wound, is that a malingering wound?

@DM-Timothy

26 күн бұрын

Ba dum tiss!

Ok, first. Injuries or similar type flavor is super cringe with no negative mechanics. Second, you would have to cover this in session zero, you would also have to homebrew the solutions. This is a massive gap in 5e, so I try to avoid it.

@DM-Timothy

5 ай бұрын

No negative consequences isn't my style, either, but it is *A* style, so I included the option for people. I definitely agree that Injuries should come in Session 0, generally speaking. As to homebrewing the solution, you COULD just adopt the ones from the DMG, or from the attached PDF, but generally I concur, you would have to create something you like, to some degree. Totally fair to avoid that if it's not something you're dead set on.

@WayneBraack

5 ай бұрын

Or you could stop avoiding the thing that you're at a lost to describe, get into doing it and you will have a grasp of what is good and fair not long after you jump in. Had a character once he was smashing the face by a giant with a club. I spent the rest of that character's life with a hefty negative charisma modifier. It was interesting playing that out. The definitely cause problems. It was a lot more fun because it was realistic and we didn't ignore the critical injury that I suffered.

@archersfriend5900

5 ай бұрын

@@WayneBraack I agree, as a dm I love that stuff. It is instant story and quest lines, but a lot of players do not like character disfigurement, like I said, you need to hammer that stuff out at session zero. Here's the thing with critical hits. They greatly favor the dm. Monsters in general make more attacks against players. Think about those four first level characters facing 20 kobolds. Dm rolls 20 times for attacks vs characters 4. As a player I would be interested in any critical hit tables as long as their is a way to potentially fix the damage. Potion of regeneration.