Bjarkmundur
2021-11-01, 03:43 AM
I am following homebrewing to the letter today "Creating custom rules that best fit the needs of my table"
I was looking at ways of softening up my party, to give the sense of 'skipping' straight to the last encounter of an adventuring day. After having the horrible idea of removing resources right out of my players hands as a consequences of a skill challenge, I thought of another idea: Exhaustion.
Exhaustion was probably designed for something similar to what I'm looking for, but not quite. Upon closer inspection, it becomes obvious that Exhaustion was designed to work in a very different context, and for a much different game than I seem to be running. So I sat down and created my first draft of Distress.
Design Goal
Create a new Condition for tiredness. This new Condition should include levels of severity, and a handful of effects that give the player a handicap for upcoming combat encounters. This handicap should give a similar experience to fighting an encounter late in the adventuring day. The effects of the conditions should therefor be combat oriented.
Bonus Point given for penalties that feel hurtful, but aren't unfun.
Distress
Distress is a condition that represents weariness, lack of rest, and long adventuring day. Distress can be used as a Consequence for a Skill Challenge, as adverse effects of traversing hostile territory, or as a way of representing the effects of an extended siege. Distress is also a great way to start a One-Shot, to make the finsæ battle a little more dramatic.
These effects stack. If you have 3 levels of Distress you suffer the effects of all of the first three levels.
Your Distress level is reduced by 3 at the end of a long rest.
1st Level
Fatigue has made you sluggish, you don't seem to be able to capitalize on opportunities as well as you should.
You cannot gain advantage on ability checks, attack rolls or saving throws.
2nd Level
Your body feels heavy and slow to respond.
You have Disadvantage on initiative rolls.
3rd Level
Only a warm meal and a soft bed will satisfy your needs for rest.
You take receive half healing from all sources.
4th Level
Your mind is clouded and your vision is swimming. You are beginning to lose the fight against your own body.
You take a 1d4 penalty to all attack rolls and saving throws.
5th Level
Existence is agony, you cannot go on much longer.
Your Hit Point maximum is reduced to half.
6th Level
You've realized that you're not going to make it out of this alive.
When you roll initiative with 6 levels of Distress, you know your days are numbered. Once within the next minute you can use your Heroic Death ability. When you've used your Heroic Death ability, or at the end of the minute (whichever comes first), you succumb to your wounds. Your Distress level becomes 5, you are reduced to 0 hit points and you take two automatically failed death saving throw, as if you had rolled a 1 on a Death Saving Throw.
Heroic Death
As a Reaction to another creature's turn ending, you can move to that point in the initiative order and take your last turn. During this turn, you can turn one attack roll you make into an automatic crit, and you gain the following effects:
You become immune to all Conditions except Blinded and Deafened.
Your attack rolls automatically succeed.
Saving Throws against effects that you create fail automatic.
Your movement speed is doubled.
You cannot use Heroic Death again until you have completed a Long Rest.
When you roll initiative you instead go to the top of the initiative order and all conditions affecting you are temporarily removed until the end of your turn.
Until the end of your turn, all your attacks and saving throw are considered as having rolled a Natural 20, and all saving throws against effects you create are considered Natural 1s. In addition, your movement speed is doubled.
And the end of your turn, your character is Killed Outright, and you may hand your DM your character sheet. Your last stand will be remembered in the stories told by those who witnessed it.
I was looking at ways of softening up my party, to give the sense of 'skipping' straight to the last encounter of an adventuring day. After having the horrible idea of removing resources right out of my players hands as a consequences of a skill challenge, I thought of another idea: Exhaustion.
Exhaustion was probably designed for something similar to what I'm looking for, but not quite. Upon closer inspection, it becomes obvious that Exhaustion was designed to work in a very different context, and for a much different game than I seem to be running. So I sat down and created my first draft of Distress.
Design Goal
Create a new Condition for tiredness. This new Condition should include levels of severity, and a handful of effects that give the player a handicap for upcoming combat encounters. This handicap should give a similar experience to fighting an encounter late in the adventuring day. The effects of the conditions should therefor be combat oriented.
Bonus Point given for penalties that feel hurtful, but aren't unfun.
Distress
Distress is a condition that represents weariness, lack of rest, and long adventuring day. Distress can be used as a Consequence for a Skill Challenge, as adverse effects of traversing hostile territory, or as a way of representing the effects of an extended siege. Distress is also a great way to start a One-Shot, to make the finsæ battle a little more dramatic.
These effects stack. If you have 3 levels of Distress you suffer the effects of all of the first three levels.
Your Distress level is reduced by 3 at the end of a long rest.
1st Level
Fatigue has made you sluggish, you don't seem to be able to capitalize on opportunities as well as you should.
You cannot gain advantage on ability checks, attack rolls or saving throws.
2nd Level
Your body feels heavy and slow to respond.
You have Disadvantage on initiative rolls.
3rd Level
Only a warm meal and a soft bed will satisfy your needs for rest.
You take receive half healing from all sources.
4th Level
Your mind is clouded and your vision is swimming. You are beginning to lose the fight against your own body.
You take a 1d4 penalty to all attack rolls and saving throws.
5th Level
Existence is agony, you cannot go on much longer.
Your Hit Point maximum is reduced to half.
6th Level
You've realized that you're not going to make it out of this alive.
When you roll initiative with 6 levels of Distress, you know your days are numbered. Once within the next minute you can use your Heroic Death ability. When you've used your Heroic Death ability, or at the end of the minute (whichever comes first), you succumb to your wounds. Your Distress level becomes 5, you are reduced to 0 hit points and you take two automatically failed death saving throw, as if you had rolled a 1 on a Death Saving Throw.
Heroic Death
As a Reaction to another creature's turn ending, you can move to that point in the initiative order and take your last turn. During this turn, you can turn one attack roll you make into an automatic crit, and you gain the following effects:
You become immune to all Conditions except Blinded and Deafened.
Your attack rolls automatically succeed.
Saving Throws against effects that you create fail automatic.
Your movement speed is doubled.
You cannot use Heroic Death again until you have completed a Long Rest.
When you roll initiative you instead go to the top of the initiative order and all conditions affecting you are temporarily removed until the end of your turn.
Until the end of your turn, all your attacks and saving throw are considered as having rolled a Natural 20, and all saving throws against effects you create are considered Natural 1s. In addition, your movement speed is doubled.
And the end of your turn, your character is Killed Outright, and you may hand your DM your character sheet. Your last stand will be remembered in the stories told by those who witnessed it.