A Replacement Death Saving Throw Mechanic
There’s a thing about D&D character progression and power creep that never really sat well with me. Lower levels of the game are very deadly for PCs – they’ve got very little health, weak stats, and the worst defense they’ll ever have in the game. A couple unlucky dice rolls, and your low level character can be killed outright. The other side of the coin is true, as well – at mid and higher levels of game play, the majority of the world is just no longer a threat to the PCs. There’s not much that can pose an actual threat, and this drains some of the immersion and realism from the game.
This mechanic turns all of that on its head. With Life Points, lower level PCs are more brash and reckless, taking chances and feel unstoppable – just like they would be in real life. Older veteran adventurers would be more cautious, judging the risks and going in with a game plan based on their years of experience and knowledge. They know that death can be around the corner, and are less likely to take unnecessary risks. To me, this makes for an interesting shake up to an otherwise boring mechanic.
The Basics
Ignore the Death Saving Throw mechanic completely and replace it with a pool of Life Points. These points are separate and distinct from HP, and cannot be refreshed through normal means. They represent the impact and effect that a life of adventuring has on a person. When these points are gone, the PCs don’t have much time left in the world.
Life Points (LP)
LP is determined at character creation and is equal to 10 * Constitution (generally a range of 100-200). A PC with 18 Constitution would have 180 Life Points. When a PC is reduced to 0HP, not only do they fall unconscious, but any extra damage is taken from the LP. It’s a backup pool of health in this sense. Example: a PC at 10HP who takes 15 damage would fall unconscious and take 5 damage to LP. 10-15 = -5.
While unconscious at 0HP, a PC will lose 10 LP per round until they’re stabilized. If/when they’re stabilized, they will be at 1HP and stop losing LP. When a PC is at both 0HP and 0LP, that character dies.
Refilling Life Points
LP doesn’t replenish like HP does, except through great sacrifice. When a PC levels up, they can sacrifice Ability Score points to help replenish LP. Permanently sacrificing 1 Ability Score Point increases LP by 10. Examples of how this could play out role-play wise include:
- STR: General wear and tear to the body and soul from repeated battles.
- DEX: Loss of mobility from both age and injury.
- CON: Reduced stamina and immune system of a hard life.
- INT & WIS: The effect of repeated concussions taken during battle.
- CHA: Disfiguring and painful injuries that affect your appearance and personality.
Players are encouraged to come up with their own reasons for these decreases in stats.
Resurrection Magic
Life Points are not just physical, but like other attributes and abilities, tied to the soul. Much the way a reincarnated PC retains skills, powers, knowledge, etc… injuries absorbed by life points are tied to the PC’s soul. This mechanic deals with the following spells in this manner:
- Revivify: This spell functions as written in the Theria Setting Book. No Life points are granted.
- Raise Dead: This spell functions as written in the Theria Setting Book. No life points are granted.
- Resurrection: This spell functions as written in the Theria Setting Book. No life points are granted.
- True Resurrection: The spell functions as written in the Theria Setting Book. The newly raised creature gets a pool of Life Points equal to 5x their current Constitution score, unless the spell is supplemented in some fashion.
- Wish: The most powerful spell in the game has the ability to fully restore a Life Point Pool. The spell functions as written in the PHB but can be used to refresh Life Points at the same exchange as granted on character creation (10x current Constitution score). All side effects in the PHB are still possible.