That -1 to -10 combat cushion

[Shadowbane13]

Does anyone have any variant methods for handling unconscious players? My friends and I came up with a system where you roll d% to see if you slowly bleed out or heal. Here's our system
1-25 lose one point of health
26-50 stay where your health is at
51-75 heal one point of health
76-99 go to +1 point of health
100 regain full health.

Most of the time it just slows the death timer and gives your allies time to get you up. As long as the enemy doesn't swarm and coupe de grace ya.

We're just looking to see what others do as far as dealing with unconscious people.

[Psyren]

How do you explain something like "-9 and dying to full health" in-universe? Even if that only happens 1% of the time, it still seems very odd.

[FocusWolf413]

That 1% is insanely high. In any battle, be it major or minor, people are going to randomly spring from unconscious, dying, and riddled with holes, to fully healed with no holes, in the middle of combat. Possibly in the middle of enemy formations. It's crazy.

[ComaVision]

That 1% is insanely high. In any battle, be it major or minor, people are going to randomly spring from unconscious, dying, and riddled with holes, to fully healed with no holes, in the middle of combat. Possibly in the middle of enemy formations. It's crazy.

The god of gambling has a queer sense of humour.

[Âmesang]

Every character has a little bit of Terry Tsurugi in him. :smalltongue: "Listen, my son! Trust no one! You can count on no one but yourself! Improve your skill, son. Harden your body. Become… a number one man! Do not let anyone beat you!"

[Shadowbane13]

It is comical to the story but in the 8+ years I've been using this method I've seen 100 rolled once (for this intended use. I've seen it for other purposes) so that 1% is fairly rare. And to be honest most of the time our healer or some ally get to them by the 3rd "attempt" and revive them. It's a flawed system but it works to help keep people from losing their favorite character or something.

Also I never said they heal wounds. They just go back to full hp. So if one was bleeding out or something of such manner they have to heal or have someone heal them or they'll end up back in the negatives.

[ComaVision]

It's a flawed system but it works to help keep people from losing their favorite character or something.
If that's the goal, I think there are much better ways to achieve it. You could just make True Resurrections easily attainable.


Also I never said they heal wounds. They just go back to full hp. So if one was bleeding out or something of such manner they have to heal or have someone heal them or they'll end up back in the negatives.

What? If I have a max hp of 50, and I'm currently at -8, going back to full hp would mean I'm at 50.

[zergling.exe]

What? If I have a max hp of 50, and I'm currently at -8, going back to full hp would mean I'm at 50.

I assume that they would continue to be bleeding out, as they never stabilized.

[Psyren]

I assume that they would continue to be bleeding out, as they never stabilized.

Even if that's true (which makes no sense as the dying condition specifies -1 or lower), being at positive hit points means you can act normally, so a 1 hp bleed is not going to be relevant to the price of cheese in Candlekeep.

[Nibbens]

Every character has a little bit of Terry Tsurugi in him. :smalltongue: "Listen, my son! Trust no one! You can count on no one but yourself! Improve your skill, son. Harden your body. Become… a number one man! Do not let anyone beat you!"

I kind of agree with the 100% thing. We see it all the time in movies and in literature. The hero is beaten down and then through sheer will and drive they're standing up fighting again, and the enemy is going "How!"

And to further state the point - some have said that "if you're full of holes and broken bones how do you get 100% healed?"

We could get into that argument about HP being an abstraction. One camp says it's not holes and broken bones but a measure of stamina. The other camp says that there are sources that imply otherwise.

We could go down this road, but I'm of the impression that it's a little bit of both - it's subjective. And there's no reason why this subjective-ness can't be used full throttle here. All of a sudden, your down and out hero is standing up toe to toe with his foes again.

[kellbyb]

Even if that's true (which makes no sense as the dying condition specifies -1 or lower), being at positive hit points means you can act normally, so a 1 hp bleed is not going to be relevant to the price of cheese in Candlekeep.

That gives you 5 minutes. While it won't impact gameplay much if at all, it's fast enough to make logical sense.

[SangoProduction]

People on these forums seem convinced that hit points are directly related to wounds. Let's think of other media. Let's take anime for example. More often than not, if it's some sort of action genre, it's not uncommon for the main character to get beaten down (sometimes to unconsciousness), often to the taunting of the villain, then remember some inspirational words from a mentor, or remember what (who) ever they are fighting for, and get back up to continue the fight.

They didn't heal (unless it's DBZ), but just found the determination to ignore the wounds (for the time being) and keep fighting. Rolling a heal indicates that you have had a moment like that.

I'd still suggest that they'd return to their original hp after 1d6 rounds or so, as to keep it more obvious that it's not an actual heal. Of course the 100 roll could be literal divine intervention and be an actual heal, or whatever.

Of course, you could just say that it's actually an abstraction...which HP are...but last time I did, I got a warning, so I'll avoid that.

[Âmesang]

There's also this (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/epic/skills.htm#autohypnosis):

DC 30: If reduced to negative hit points but not dead, make a Autohypnosis check. If successful, the character does not go unconscious and can continue taking actions until he or she bleeds to death or stabilizes (the character can also continue making stabilization checks). If healed or stabilized, the character continues to take actions normally.

[Psyren]

That gives you 5 minutes. While it won't impact gameplay much if at all, it's fast enough to make logical sense.

That's 50 rounds. Even funnier, being conscious you can bandage yourself. Which is fine, but it begs the question of how you got up from being pincushioned with arrows/riddled with holes/burnt to a crisp/melted into a puddle etc. in order to do that :smalltongue:



Of course, you could just say that it's actually an abstraction...which HP are...but last time I did, I got a warning, so I'll avoid that.

Of course they are, but there's limits to how far you can take that. Especially when negatives literally mean you're bleeding out, i.e. clearly wounded. Saying every loss of HP results in broken bones or gushing blood is silly, but it's equally silly to say you're perfectly unblemished at -9 and then eviscerated at -10.

[johnbragg]

I can't remember playing at a table where 0 to -10 was Schrodingers' cat territory--you are either alive or dead, depending on the outcome of the rest of the combat and what people do when it's over. Maybe we're just filthy hippies who should just go play Fate.

[Ruslan]

How do you explain something like "-9 and dying to full health" in-universe? Even if that only happens 1% of the time, it still seems very odd.

Seems to happen to Bruce Willis often enough, and he doesn't bother with explanations.

[johnbragg]

Seems to happen to Bruce Willis often enough, and he doesn't bother with explanations.

I didn't see the later Die Hard movies, but I'm pretty sure he's never knocked unconscious (dropped below 0 hp.) I think "Die Hard d20" would deal with a lot of status effects. Status effects can be shaken off, or wear off, and the hero keeps going.

[Invader]

I've never really had a problem with the system as it is and I don't think I've ever played in a game where we really changed it much.

[icefractal]

That's 50 rounds. Even funnier, being conscious you can bandage yourself. Which is fine, but it begs the question of how you got up from being pincushioned with arrows/riddled with holes/burnt to a crisp/melted into a puddle etc. in order to do that :smalltongue:I would think "melted into a puddle" is well past -10 hp. If you haven't reached -10, then it's possible for you to heal entirely back to full vigor without any assistance (if you're lucky), so it can't imply being that badly annihilated. Bleeding out, yes, but not missing any parts until past -10.

[Nibbens]

We're just looking to see what others do as far as dealing with unconscious people.

You know, I was so caught up in the conversation, I forgot to answer the OPs question. lol. I use PF's system slightly modified.

At 0 you're staggered, any action other than move actions drops you to -1 at the end of your turn.
-1 to -X, where X is your con score Except in cases where X is less than 10, at which it becomes 10.

Yeah, it's not much different, but it feels a little more forgiving (at least in early levels). Later it doesn't seem to matter that much. lol.

[Psyren]

I would think "melted into a puddle" is well past -10 hp. If you haven't reached -10, then it's possible for you to heal entirely back to full vigor without any assistance (if you're lucky), so it can't imply being that badly annihilated. Bleeding out, yes, but not missing any parts until past -10.

I was exaggerating here obviously but it's still silly. There are spells that can remove your skin and cause your blood to be violently purged from your body among other things; there's only so much of that you can explain with gumption.

Also, you're incorrect - without assistance, the best you can get to is conscious and disabled. Not only are you still in negatives, but your actions are still restricted, and you can even start bleeding out again by doing nothing at all - which is a far cry from "full vigor."

[martixy]

Pathfinder to the rescue:

-Con score is dead. Scales with damage. Not by a lot, but certainly enough to keep up with escalating damage.

My personal additional tweak is Diehard raises this cap to double Con score, and you get to act staggered up to 1x Con score.

[SangoProduction]

I was exaggerating here obviously but it's still silly. There are spells that can remove your skin and cause your blood to be violently purged from your body among other things; there's only so much of that you can explain with gumption.

Also, you're incorrect - without assistance, the best you can get to is conscious and disabled. Not only are you still in negatives, but your actions are still restricted, and you can even start bleeding out again by doing nothing at all - which is a far cry from "full vigor."

He's talking about natural healing, i'm quite sure, which can result in being full health, until you reach -10.

[Âmesang]

Pathfinder to the rescue:

-Con score is dead. Scales with damage. Not by a lot, but certainly enough to keep up with escalating damage.

My personal additional tweak is Diehard raises this cap to double Con score, and you get to act staggered up to 1x Con score.
My Diehard ranger would love that. She has the "heart of the wilderness" alternate human racial feature, so she normally dies at the negative value of her Constitution score plus ½ her character level; with your personal addition you'd have a 3rd-level character dying at –25 HP. Not bad—especially since the maximum crit damage of a (DUNGEON MASTER'S Guide) shotgun is 32 points. :smalltongue: In other words you could press a shotgun against her chest, pull the trigger, and she'll still be conscious and (relatively) active at –5 HP and could then take a max-damage, non-crit blast and still not be dead.

At 3rd-level.

[Shadowbane13]

We also came up with this method because it was a way to keep a player in the game. Instead of hoping someone comes to the rescue and sitting out nearly the entire rest of the encounter (if not forever). Also can help stop a full party wipe.

[Âmesang]

I mean I'm not trying to make fun of the houserule in-and-of-itself; if it can keep a player in the game without making things too easy, that's great.

…I just suddenly have the urge to create a sort of "Inigo Montoya with a dagger in his gut" to "Monty Python and the Holy Grail's Black Knight" wound comparison scale. :smalltongue: Maybe throw in Amilyn from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

"He ruined my new jacket. Kill him a lot!"

[Andezzar]

I kind of agree with the 100% thing. We see it all the time in movies and in literature. The hero is beaten down and then through sheer will and drive they're standing up fighting again, and the enemy is going "How!"



Seems to happen to Bruce Willis often enough, and he doesn't bother with explanations.
That is a misconception. While heroes and villains do seem to recover to full effectiveness after fatal injuries, a D&D character is just as effective at 1 HP as at 200 HP. So I don't think full HP should happen nor is it a trope of action movies.

John McClane also does not miraculously heal all the little and big injuries he has sustained. After a while and some treatment they just bother him less.

[ComaVision]

We also came up with this method because it was a way to keep a player in the game. Instead of hoping someone comes to the rescue and sitting out nearly the entire rest of the encounter (if not forever). Also can help stop a full party wipe.

Do the NPCs get to benefit from this method?

[johnbragg]

Do the NPCs get to benefit from this method?

That question wasn't to me, but it is a point in favor of the informal "everybody from 0 to -10 hp is out of the fight, can be killed or revived after combat is over depending on who wins/runs" method.

[Nibbens]

That is a misconception. While heroes and villains do seem to recover to full effectiveness after fatal injuries, a D&D character is just as effective at 1 HP as at 200 HP. So I don't think full HP should happen nor is it a trope of action movies.

John McClane also does not miraculously heal all the little and big injuries he has sustained. After a while and some treatment they just bother him less.

Again to reiterate my point, HP is can be a mix of abstraction and actual wounds in D&D. So while my character is beaten bloody with bones exposed, he's now standing and still won't go down while taking more damage despite all his injuries. But, I'll agree that this could be perfectly represented by full hp, half hp or 1 hp, as you've stated. Full hp is not necessary for the concept to work, but I don't think it's unfeasible.

... and arguing the validity of d&d mechanics represented in action movies is kind of a moot point. But arguing how action movie tropes could be applied in d&d is more than valid...

And how is the recovery not an action movie trope!? LOL.

[Andezzar]

And how is the recovery not an action movie trope!? LOL.Woops I omitted part of my point. While movie characters do recover, they don't recover to a state without any sign of combat, unless there is some kind of magic involved.

[SangoProduction]

Woops I omitted part of my point. While movie characters do recover, they don't recover to a state without any sign of combat, unless there is some kind of magic involved.

And no one is suggesting they would have no sign of combat.

[Psyren]

And no one is suggesting they would have no sign of combat.

No, just full hit points. Unless they're in some kind of mindscape/Matrix simulation, it doesn't make sense.

[ThisIsZen]

It's that mid-battle rest. The character stands up, spits out blood and some teeth, sets their arm back in joint, squares up and gets back in the fight. The second half of the fight lasts as long as the first, but now the character really realizes what's at stake, but they still aren't gonna back down.

Going from -9 to 40 HP just means you can take another 50 damage before dying. It doesn't mean your wounds magically close or the blood stains vanish from your clothes - it just means other people can hit you more before you die. If you want to impose costs, you could have the character suffer repercussions after the fight, but it seems perfectly reasonable to me.

HP doesn't have to be fully abstracted from wounds for this to work - you just have to conceptualize the "full heal" as something other than actual healing.

[Shadowbane13]

Do the NPCs get to benefit from this method?

Only "real" benefit is for the players so they don't die as easily.

As others have said they still have damages such as broken bones or cuts and etc.

This is all situational too though. You may be unconscious and an enemy can finish you off or you get knocked out and fall down a hill and off a cliff. There's many variables for it. One roll of the % every round isn't really that powerful. You have a higher chance of someone picking you up than you rolling a 100 to receive full health. And even if someone manages to get to 1 health they can drop down just as quick as they got up.

[ComaVision]

Only "real" benefit is for the players so they don't die as easily.

That's not very clear. So NPCs don't have the 1% per round chance of popping up at full health?

[Seto]

Does anyone have any variant methods for handling unconscious players?

If they're passed out from drinking or somesuch, move the game to another room. If it's serious, try to wake them with water and if it doesn't work, call 911.

... Oh.

[martixy]

My Diehard ranger would love that. She has the "heart of the wilderness" alternate human racial feature, so she normally dies at the negative value of her Constitution score plus ½ her character level; with your personal addition you'd have a 3rd-level character dying at –25 HP. Not bad—especially since the maximum crit damage of a (DUNGEON MASTER'S Guide) shotgun is 32 points. :smalltongue: In other words you could press a shotgun against her chest, pull the trigger, and she'll still be conscious and (relatively) active at –5 HP and could then take a max-damage, non-crit blast and still not be dead.

At 3rd-level.

That's really kinda the point, innit?
A buffer to make characters less squishy. If you invest your skilled racial trait and a feat, just in stay-alivedness you deserve to that tough to kill.

I kinda dig the idea of a character that's endured so much, that he's just that damn hard to put down.

'sides... With so much abstraction, perfect realism is bound to suffer in one form or another. They're heroes. All of them are hardy, that one is just hardier than even the heroes.

[SangoProduction]

HP doesn't have to be fully abstracted from wounds for this to work - you just have to conceptualize the "full heal" as something other than actual healing.

This. People are really intent on making an abstract construct to be the least believable they can, when it allows it to be perfectly believable. Kinda like the stereotypical woman.

[Shadowbane13]

That's not very clear. So NPCs don't have the 1% per round chance of popping up at full health?

I apologize I read the question incorrectly. Yes this rule applies to everything in the game that can fall unconscious. It was rather comical to see the group knock out a bounty and have him pop up mid transport and cause some mayhem.

[ben-zayb]

This. People are really intent on making an abstract construct to be the least believable they can, when it allows it to be perfectly believable.Well, you know what the Giant himself said. Oh wait, it's actually in a sig somewhere in this thread!

[SangoProduction]

Well, you know what the Giant himself said. Oh wait, it's actually in a sig somewhere in this thread!

lol...amusing.

[ThisIsZen]

Well sure, but the discussion is about a houserule that changes the text. I feel like the interpretation fits better than a "dimmest view" take that suggests people are leaping back to perfect health.

It's HP, you can fluff it however you want. I've never really understood what is lost by disconnecting HP a bit more from physicality.

[Sliver]

I have a different dying threshold houserule:

You die at your - Con Score+Level. The base con score, unmodified by magic items or spells. If you are dropped to negative hp but not to -level or under, you can make a Fort save against DC 10+1 per 5 damage taken by the dropping attack. If you pass the save, you are Disabled instead of dying. A heal check at DC 15, as long as you have the appropriate tools, can shift a dying character to Disabled or Staggered, as appropriate, regardless of HP. If you are dying or unconscious, getting enough healing to raise to the negative threshold automatically puts you at conscious and disabled or staggered, as appropriate.

[fishyfishyfishy]

This rule is mostly unaltered in my game. The only change is that instead of dying at -10 you die at a negative HP amount equal to your Constitution score.

Every character has died at least twice now (not counting the number of times they were saved by a Revivify spell). There have been several instances where they went into negatives but were saved by a timely Heal spell.

[dascarletm]

In my games when players are at - HP they are not actually unconscious, unless they want to be. Mechanically they can't do anything like move or attack (unless they have the ability to), but they can still talk and role-play their character dying instead of just sitting there.

I also use a "last word" sort of house rule for people who died.

[Psyren]

Well, you know what the Giant himself said. Oh wait, it's actually in a sig somewhere in this thread!


lol...amusing.

That would be my sig, and while you could try to apply it here, I think there's not really much you can do with a condition explicitly called "dying" to justify springing back to your feet completely unmolested. Recovering with low HP I can buy, but not this - if I wanted anime mechanics I'd be playing Exalted or something.


It's that mid-battle rest. The character stands up, spits out blood and some teeth, sets their arm back in joint, squares up and gets back in the fight.

See, this really implies damage to me. "Spitting out blood and teeth" and "setting your arm back in joint" doesn't square with "I have no damage at all." Even if you abstract HP to dodging or mitigation, you are less able to do those things with a recently set limb or joint.

[dascarletm]

What if they were temporary HP equal to your Max HP that drained at 1 HP (or some other number of HP) per round?

[ben-zayb]

That would be my sig, and while you could try to apply it here, I think there's not really much you can do with a condition explicitly called "dying" to justify springing back to your feet completely unmolested. Recovering with low HP I can buy, but not this - if I wanted anime mechanics I'd be playing Exalted or something.Where are you getting this assumption from? And is this "anime mechanics" claim sarcasm, a reflection of a limited fantasy booklist, or something else? D&D has monks and ninjas, anyway, so feel free to take that ridiculous argument elsewhere. Even genuine "anime mechanics" has a place in D&D, although maybe not in your miniscule bubble of playgroup.

[SangoProduction]

See, this really implies damage to me. "Spitting out blood and teeth" and "setting your arm back in joint" doesn't square with "I have no damage at all." Even if you abstract HP to dodging or mitigation, you are less able to do those things with a recently set limb or joint.

Not just HP damage being abstraction, but HP healing as well. You ignore the pain and hop back in to the action.

But, if you still feel this way after my explanation, there's nothing I can say to you to think otherwise, so have a good day.

[Psyren]

Where are you getting this assumption from? And is this "anime mechanics" claim sarcasm, a reflection of a limited fantasy booklist, or something else? D&D has monks and ninjas, anyway, so feel free to take that ridiculous argument elsewhere. Even genuine "anime mechanics" has a place in D&D, although maybe not in your miniscule bubble of playgroup.

If it were just "my miniscule bubble of playgroup" I think D&D characters leaping to their feet fully healed without any actual healing abilities being used on or by them would have been widespread long before this houserule came along. But if you happen to like it, more power to you, thankfully we probably won't ever play together.


Not just HP damage being abstraction, but HP healing as well. You ignore the pain and hop back in to the action.

But, if you still feel this way after my explanation, there's nothing I can say to you to think otherwise, so have a good day.

Pain that, if untreated, causes you to bleed out. Because that's what pain does, sure.

To you as well.

[martixy]

HP doesn't have to be fully abstracted from wounds for this to work - you just have to conceptualize the "full heal" as something other than actual healing.
This. People are really intent on making an abstract construct to be the least believable they can, when it allows it to be perfectly believable. Kinda like the stereotypical woman.

On that note... it's already been done. (As they say, there's nothing new under the sun.)
PF Ultimate Combat book has a variant rule called Wounds and Vigor.
Basically you got 2xCon score life, the rest is Vigor, vitality, endurance, whatever you wanna call it.
You're staggered at half life and dead at 0. Damage to your life means actual bodily injury.

Feel free to add effects to your heart's content.

[ThisIsZen]

See, this really implies damage to me. "Spitting out blood and teeth" and "setting your arm back in joint" doesn't square with "I have no damage at all." Even if you abstract HP to dodging or mitigation, you are less able to do those things with a recently set limb or joint.

Well yes. Like I said, you could add further rules to cause characters who benefit from this mid-battle second wind to suffer penalties after the encounter if you want to, or if it would add verisimilitude. My point is that you don't need to rationalize it as healing unless a character is explicitly receiving a healing effect. The only mechanical effect of being set back to max HP is that you can re-enter the fight and have to take more punishment before you go down. It's a cinematic conceit.

I wouldn't necessarily use it exactly as written - I think you should only get one "second wind" per combat and second winds shouldn't be allowed to occur after the encounter is resolves, but the mechanic itself seems like a fine way to run a number of different cinematic tropes.

[Shadowbane13]

This whole argument is over the 1% chance that a player will pop up to full health. As I said before with this rule you rarely and I emphasize RARELY get it. With the number of rounds and the enemy/allies coating the board you get maybe 2-3 attempts at this before someone either kills you off or heals you. So it barely happens. Hence why it's offered.

[ComaVision]

This whole argument is over the 1% chance that a player will pop up to full health. As I said before with this rule you rarely and I emphasize RARELY get it. With the number of rounds and the enemy/allies coating the board you get maybe 2-3 attempts at this before someone either kills you off or heals you. So it barely happens. Hence why it's offered.

If there was a one in a million chance that you would turn purple and double in size I would think that is ridiculous too. I don't think infrequency counts as justification.

[Psyren]

I wouldn't necessarily use it exactly as written - I think you should only get one "second wind" per combat and second winds shouldn't be allowed to occur after the encounter is resolves, but the mechanic itself seems like a fine way to run a number of different cinematic tropes.

I think there are much better ways to express tropes like that mechanically, for example Hero Points.


If there was a one in a million chance that you would turn purple and double in size I would think that is ridiculous too. I don't think infrequency counts as justification.

Precisely.

[ThisIsZen]

I think there are much better ways to express tropes like that mechanically, for example Hero Points.

Probably. I'm not saying it's the most elegant way, and honestly giving players the chance to control their own "heroic returns" to combat probably is more cinematic than having random chance dictate, but the postulated rule seems like it could do the job, and it's the one up for discussion here.

Would you be opposed, for instance, to the stabilization rules as-is, except with a 1% chance that the character is set to 1 HP, or half HP, or some other not-max amount? Or possibly that they're set to max HP but considered staggered until they receive healing of some sort (or some other penalty)?

[Psyren]

Probably. I'm not saying it's the most elegant way, and honestly giving players the chance to control their own "heroic returns" to combat probably is more cinematic than having random chance dictate, but the postulated rule seems like it could do the job, and it's the one up for discussion here.

Well, technically the OP was polling for variant systems, not actually putting his and only his up as the sole focus of the thread, though it seems my question turned it into that.


Would you be opposed, for instance, to the stabilization rules as-is, except with a 1% chance that the character is set to 1 HP, or half HP, or some other not-max amount? Or possibly that they're set to max HP but considered staggered until they receive healing of some sort (or some other penalty)?

1 I could see. Half (or less) are a bit more of a stretch for me but at least you'd still be seriously wounded under both. Full HP with no explanation though, even with a condition attached - again, just not for me, but those who enjoy it should have at it.

[Shadowbane13]

Yeah I guess going back to max could be a bit extremely. Probably never really cared of it because it has only happened to me once. And the one time it did happen we were low level and it was only to like 20 HP so not too bad but I do understand that once you're at higher levels jumping back to 80-90 health is a bit extreme.

And this is perfect example of the benefits of this forum/site. That's why I posted here. For insight. Everyone has house rules or plays to the book and everyone comes up with variants from time to time and it's always good to get an outside opinion on matters that you think may be "overpowered" or something of that stature. And I'm happy that this turned out the way it has. Cause now I know better methods for gaming and how to possibly piss off my players more haha.

I think I'm gonna add status effects to the knocked out player if they manage to return on just the d% alone. And 100 is probably just gonna be temp HP that depletes at a rate determined by the status effect applied. Or maybe make it so that they always take 1.5x damage. If you're already injured you usually take harder hits no?