Wounded condition

[Laurefindel]

Despite some references in healing spells, D&D does not deal with the concept of "wounds". Instead, it uses an abstract concept of AC and HP to simulate how long one lasts in a battle.

Now this absence of wounds is probably for the best for the pulp-fantasy action RPG that is D&D, but it could be included as a house rule for a more "gritty" type of game.

To keep things simple, a wounded character could...

- suffer 1 level of exhaustion
- have its maximum hp lowered by the amount of damage dealt by the attack causing the wound
- both of the above?
- something different?

And to keep the condition from happening to frequently, a character could become wounded by one of the following trigger:

- receive a critical hit
- being reduced to 0 hp
- failing to succeed a STR, DEX or CON save by rolling a natural 1.

Impressions?

[Ruslan]

It's a good addition for groups that want a gritty realistic game. Keeping in tradition of 5E not being too fiddly, this can just be modeled with levels of exhaustion, with each wound adding +1 level, possibly accumulating into death. I would also add "taking more than half of max hit points in damage from one attack" to the list of things that cause wounds.

For super-gritty game, replace with "taking more than half of current hit points in damage from one attack". Beware, this one would be really gritty and wounds accumulate quickly.

[Vogonjeltz]

Despite some references in healing spells, D&D does not deal with the concept of "wounds". Instead, it uses an abstract concept of AC and HP to simulate how long one lasts in a battle.

Now this absence of wounds is probably for the best for the pulp-fantasy action RPG that is D&D, but it could be included as a house rule for a more "gritty" type of game.

Lingering Injuries are a variant option in the DMG, they trigger off several of the same trigger conditions you mentioned (although I think the failure to succeed at a saving throw is penalty enough.