[Pointless] Changes to Damage [PEACH]

[Amechra]

Damage in 3.5 is simple on the higher level, but messy in the specifics. Go take a look at how objects handle damage - I'll wait. And let's not forget that two creature types had to get an exception to the standard "you die at this point" threshold to handle the fact that they can't fall unconscious.

First of all, let's separate damage into three "basic" types: Pain, Harm, and Shock.

Harm:
This is your classic "lethal" damage. Harm is subtracted directly from your HP - with the expected results.

Shock:
This is "delayed" lethal damage - halfway between lethal and nonlethal. At the end of each encounter (or when you fall unconscious, whichever comes first), subtract your accumulated Shock from your HP and set it back to 0 - your adrenaline rush pushed you through, but now you need to face the music.

Pain:
This is your classic "nonlethal" damage. You just keep a running total of your Pain. Simple!

Oh, and while we're at it, let's also simplify HP:

There are no direct negative effects for dropping to 0 HP or below - instead, any damage past 0 turns is subtracted directly from your Constitution score, with the expected result for hitting 0 there. If your Shock + Pain is higher than your HP total, you fall unconscious - and yes, this can kill you straight-off if your Shock is high enough.

Now, let's convert some things over:

Immunity to Nonlethal Damage
If you are immune to nonlethal damage, you ignore Pain, and convert Shock directly into Harm. If you have no Constitution score, any damage to your Constitution score drops you past 0. Sorry.

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Weapon Damage
If it deals lethal damage, it deals Harm. If it deals nonlethal damage, it deals Pain. If it has two damage dice, it instead deals one point of Harm and one point of Pain for each point of damage it would deal - so a greatsword would deal 1d6 Harm & Pain. If it's a projectile weapon, it instead deals that much Shock and Pain - a crossbow bolt deals 1d6 Shock & Pain.

Damage Scaling
Whenever a weapon would go up a die size past a d12, instead drop it back down to a 1d10 and the weapon deals an additional 1d4 Shock. Any further die-size increases bump up that extra Shock die, until it hits a d12 and gets split into a 1d10+1d4 itself.

The Monk
A 1st level Monk deals 1d6 Harm with their unarmed attacks. At 4th, their unarmed strike deals that much Pain as well - at 8th level, they deal Shock as well. Every 4 levels thereafter, bump the damage die up by a step - a 20th level Monk deals 1d12 Harm & Shock & Pain with each punch, kick, or headbutt.

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Critical Hits
Whenever you confirm a critical hit, you deal some extra Shock and Pain. If it was a x2 crit, deal additional Shock and Pain equal to your die roll plus any static bonus to damage you might have. A x3 crit deals that much additional Pain on top of that - a x4 crit adds that much additional Shock on top of that. If John the Fighter (Strength 14) attacks with a scythe and scores a critical hit, he can deal up to 6 Harm, 12 Shock, and 12 Pain - nasty.

Precision Damage
If you've got Sneak Attack (or any similar ability), you deal +1d6 Shock & Pain when in the proper circumstances. Each additional die you'd gain past that point instead increases the die size by one step - a 9th level Rogue would deal 1d10+1d4 Shock & Pain whenever they get the proper opening.

Immunity to Critical Hits and Precision Damage
If you're immune to precision damage and critical hits, you instead ignore all Pain from critical hits, and convert all of the Shock into Harm.

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Magical Healing
Each point of magical healing you get clears the best two out of a point of Harm, a point of Shock, and a point of Pain. So if you've taken 10 Harm, 6 Shock, and 12 Pain, 8 points of magical healing would leave you at 2 Harm and 10 Pain. Each die past the first just bumps the die size up - Cure Critical Wounds gives you 1d10+1d4+CL points of magical healing.

Magical Hurting
Treat spell damage (and the damage of similar scaling effects that aren't covered elsewhere) as if it were weapon damage - each additional multiple of damage instead bumps the die size by one step. If the base damage of an effect is has more than two dice, each die past the second just bumps the die size up by one. For example, Acid Arrow deals 1d4 Harm & Pain each round, a 10th level Fireball deals 1d10 Harm + 1d10+1d4 Shock, and a successful save against Disintegrate still deals 1d12 Harm & Pain.

Reserved for damage types, resistances, vulnerability, and immunities. Also, how the heck does choosing to deal nonlethal work? Not sure yet.

[noob]

So if you deal constitution damage to an undead(with stuff like life spark) it die instantly.
Also what is the new hp progression?
Damage have been lowered a lot so now how is hp changed for not dragging the fight for too long?
How do damage reduction works now?
And it seems that dealing multiple magical attacks like with searing ray or magic missile deals a lot more damage than casting a spell that anciently dealt a lot of dice of damage.

[nonsi]

There are no direct negative effects for dropping to 0 HP or below - instead, any damage past 0 turns is subtracted directly from your Constitution score, with the expected result for hitting 0 there.

My opinion: a creature's HD should be added to its Con-score when calculating neg-HP.

If you have no Constitution score, any damage to your Constitution score drops you past 0. Sorry.

If you have no Constitution score, then Con damage is meaningless and has no effect.



Also, I'm under the impression that this could be simplified, but I think things are much too detail-packed to be practical in P&P games (I've explored this angle myself in the past).
Would be great for PC games though, and the "Shock" part is innovative and realistic.