"Damage dealt" and 0 Wound Points

[Cicciograna]

Greetings Playground! I'm up to start a new campaign, and while discussing about the build of one of my players a question arose.

We will be using Vitality/Wound points (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/adventuring/vitalityAndWoundPoints.htm), and as per the rules, when a character reaches 0 WP:


0 Wound Points

Wound points cannot drop below 0; any damage that would cause a character’s wound point total to drop below 0 simply causes the character to have 0 wound points.

Moreover, in this system, the rules for the coup de grace state that:


Coup de Grace

A coup de grace functions normally in that it automatically hits and scores a critical hit (and thus the damage dealt is applied to the target’s wound points). If the defender survives the damage, he must make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + the amount of damage dealt) or die.

Now, the question is: what happens if a character is at 0 WP and is coup de graced? Since his WP cannot drop below 0 effectively no damage can be "dealt" to him, so should the Fort save be against DC 10?

And what about critical-triggered abilities, such as thpse of a Mindfeeder weapon? This property gives 1 temp PP for each 5 HP of damage dealt on a critical hit, so it should work in conjunction with a CdG; but what if the previous situation shows up and no damage can be dealt?

[TuggyNE]

In all those cases: you calculate the total damage that would be dealt, apply all other effects, and then apply the lower bound on wound points, bringing it back up to 0 if necessary.

[Cicciograna]

In all those cases: you calculate the total damage that would be dealt, apply all other effects, and then apply the lower bound on wound points, bringing it back up to 0 if necessary.

Okay, so if 15 damage were dealt in the critical, the subject of the attack would go to -15 WP, the Mindfeeder would grant 3 PP, the Fort save would be against DC 25 and then the target (assuming he survived to the coup de grace) would jump back to 0 WP, right? That sounds good for me.

[TuggyNE]

Okay, so if 15 damage were dealt in the critical, the subject of the attack would go to -15 WP, the Mindfeeder would grant 3 PP, the Fort save would be against DC 25 and then the target (assuming he survived to the coup de grace) would jump back to 0 WP, right? That sounds good for me.

Basically, although note that mindfeeder is based on multiplied critical damage, while vitality/wound points assumes that critical damage is merely applied, unmodified, to wound points. So you need to multiply the damage by the critical modifier in the usual way to get the exact amount for mindfeeder.

[Cicciograna]

Basically, although note that mindfeeder is based on multiplied critical damage, while vitality/wound points assumes that critical damage is merely applied, unmodified, to wound points. So you need to multiply the damage by the critical modifier in the usual way to get the exact amount for mindfeeder.

Got that covered: I have changed the Mindfeeder property to give 3 PP per 5 point of damage dealt.