Injury and Death

Hitting 0 HP

When characters fall to 0 HP, they fall unconscious, prone, and are Dying. They also sustain a Lingering Injury (see below). Characters continue to lose health each round (“bleeding out”) unless they make a successful Stamina check. They do not wake up until a successful First Aid check has been made.

Monsters who reach 0 HP immediately die unless the character who landed the final blow specified that it was nonlethal.

How to Stop Dying

When you are Dying, you need to make a Stamina check at the end of your turn each round. Each failed Stamina check results in losing 5 hit points. If you reach -20 hit points, you immediately die. The Dying condition ends and you become stable (but not conscious) when you make a successful Stamina check. Once you are stable you no longer need to roll Stamina checks.

• On your first turn Dying, the Stamina check DC is 25.
• On your second turn Dying, the Stamina check DC is 20.
• On your third turn Dying, the Stamina check DC is 15.
• On your fourth, fifth, and sixth turn Dying, the Stamina check DC is 10.
• On your seventh turn Dying (and each turn afterward) the Stamina check DC is 5.

Natural 20s are an immediate success, and stabilize a Dying character regardless of the Stamina DC. Natural 1s are an automatic failure.

If you have regained consciousness (via an ally's successful First Aid check), you gain a +10 bonus to your Stamina checks.

Healing & Staving Off Death

While an ally is down rolling Stamina checks, others can cast healing spells on them. If a healing spell brings a character back above 0 HP, it does not wake them up, nor does it stop the Dying condition. Healing only staves off death and does not prevent it.

Regaining Consciousness

Someone can wake an unconscious character by making a successful First Aid check while in melee range of the unconscious character (DC set by DM, depending on how injured you are. Recommended DC 15). In combat, this requires a Minor action and is typically performed by an ally on a downed comrade.

If the First Aid check is successful, the downed ally gains a +10 bonus to future Stamina checks made to stabilize.

Lingering Injuries

When you fall below 0 Hit Points, roll a d100 on the following table to determine what Lingering Injury you have. You must be magically healed by a single spell for more than 15 HP (or be healed at DM's discretion) to recover from Lingering Injuries rolled below 50 on this chart. Any injuries sustained by a roll of 51+ may be healed by a single spell that heals more than 10 HP (or be healed at DM's discretion).

Roll	Effect	Description
1-2	Lose an eye.	-2 to attack rolls until you get used to aiming with one eye, and -5 to perception checks involving sight. It takes 5 encounters for your penalties to fade, or 2 in-game months, whichever comes sooner.
3-4	Lose an arm or hand.	You cannot hold 2-handed weapons or items that require two hands until you acquire a prosthetic.
5-6	Lose a foot or leg.	Your speed is reduced to Low, and you are slowed. Using a cane or crutch allows you to move at Low speed. -5 on Dexterity checks made to balance. Once you acquire a prosthetic, you can move at full speed again.
7-8	Lose an ear.	-5 Perception checks involving hearing (or keeping watch) for 2 months until you learn to accommodate your missing ear.
9-15	Blurred vision.	-5 Perception checks, -2 to ranged attack rolls for 2 encounters.
16-20	Broken arm or hand.	You cannot hold 2-handed weapons or items that require two hands until the bones are set by a successful Knowledge check (rec. DC 15), and you survive 30 days without straining the broken appendage.
21-25	Broken foot or leg.	Your speed is reduced by one level unless you use a crutch or cane to move. -5 on Dexterity checks made to balance. If you survive 30 days without putting strain on the broken appendage, it heals.
26-30	Ringing ears.	-5 to perception checks that involve hearing (or keeping watch) for d6 days.
31-35	Limp.	Your speed is reduced by one level, and you have a visible limp.
36-40	Lose a finger.	-2 to Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) checks and Dexterity checks to use fine tools (such as thieves' tools) using the hand with which you lost the finger. If you lose all the fingers from one hand, then it functions as if you had lost a hand.
41-45	Break a finger.	-2 to Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) checks and Dexterity checks to use fine tools (such as thieves' tools) using the hand with which you lost the finger. If someone sets the finger with a successful Knowledge check (rec. DC 10), the injury heals after 10 days of not using the affected hand.
46-50	Break an item.	A randomly determined nonmagical item you hold, wear, or carry on your person is broken or ruined. Roll a d10. On a roll of 1, the item broken is a weapon, on a roll of 2 the item is armor or a shield, and on a roll of 3-10 it is an item that's not a shield or weapon.
51-60	Festering Wound.	Your hit point maximum is reduced by 2 every 24 hours the wound persists. If your hit point maximum drops to 0, you die. Someone can tend to the wound and make a Knowledge check once every 24 hours. After ten successes (rec. DC 15), the injury heals.
61-65	Open Wound.	You lose one hit point every hour the wound persists. Someone can tend to the wound and make a Knowledge check (rec. DC 15) once every hour. After ten successes, the injury heals.
66-70	Skull Fracture.	Whenever you attempt an action in combat, you make a DC 10 Stamina saving throw. On a failed save, you lose your action. The injury heals if you spend 30 days resting.
71-75	Punctured Lung.	You can move or take a Major action on your turn, but not both. If you puncture both lungs, your hit points drop to 0 and you immediately begin dying.
76-80	Internal Injury or Broken Ribs.	Whenever you attempt an action in combat, you make a DC 10 Stamina saving throw. On a failed save, you lose your action. The injury heals if you spend 10 days resting.
81+	Nothing.	You do not sustain a Lingering Injury, but your character may experience some lingering pain, a headache, or weariness as a result of dropping to 0 HP.

Death and Resurrection

If you reach -20 hit points, you die. Someone can attempt to resurrect you, but it requires divine intervention if you have been dead for more than 24 hours.

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Resurrection Spell

For creatures that have been dead for 24 hours or less.

Resurrections require the Resurrection Ritual, which can be inscribed in spellbooks. Priests, clerics, necromancers, and others divinely attuned or specializing in Life or Death magic may learn to use Resurrection. It may only bring back a dead creature that has been dead no longer than 24 hours. You may only attempt to resurrect a creature twice. If both attempts fail, you cannot try again until d4 days have passed -- by then, resurrecting the creature will require divine intervention.

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Divine Intervention

For creatures that have been dead for more than 24 hours.

If a creature has been dead for longer than 24 hours, someone specializing in Life or Death magic must attempt the resurrection with divine intervention. Remedia is the goddess of nature and life, and Kerrigor is the god of death. They are both neutral deities and may require a quest, special items, or a special ritual to bring someone back to life. Characters returned to life by Remedia or Kerrigor are relatively whole and unharmed by the resurrection process. They may have memories of their time in the afterlife, or minor alterations to personality or appearance.

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Alternative Magic

If someone tries to bring back a deceased character using a different kind of magic, such as Vandun’s Shadow magic, the effects can vary. The character may return in a Celestial body, have a wildly different personality, or have extra appendages (like horns, wings, or other symbols of the patron who helped bring them back to life).

It is usually inadvisable to bring back a character using divine intervention from any god but Remedia or Kerrigor. Exceptions exist; for example, if the dead character was a devout follower of Vandun, it would make sense for Vandun to aid in their return to the world. Another example might be if a devout follower of Duros died; Kerrigor or Remedia might allow Duros to influence the resurrection of his mightiest servant, and gift them with his power.

No deity has the supreme control over resurrection that Remedia and Kerrigor have. Without Remedia or Kerrigor taking part in a resurrection, resurrections will always be imperfect, and include blessings and penalties decided on by DM discretion.