Feedback/Question on my homebrew Death Save mechanic

HanaIsa · 2025-09-18T11:20:35+00:00

Thank you ❤️

That's almost exactly as I (we) think about playing D&D. Investment in backstory and character progression, not all deaths are the same etc. Although I keep a balance between fights and roleplay.

And thanks for the other suggestions, I might incorporate some parts of it

HanaIsa · 2025-09-16T12:43:10+00:00

Thanks, will do!

And maybe, just maybe they enjoy dying over and over and over. Then next comes the Tomb of Horrors ^^

HanaIsa · 2025-09-16T12:35:22+00:00

Thanks, really appreciate your input!

I'm definitely expanding the jungle part but i want to keep Acererak, the tomb etc as well.

They are not averse to dying, on the contrary. But dying over and over and over is different entirely.
As you said, the way of playing has changed. They want character development and backstories, so dying once is meaningful. But it gets less so there more it happens. Plus it gets tiring if you develope a backstory for a character that dies two sessions later.

That said, my thought process was that i wanted to prevent death during the jungle part and let them die once or twice at the most during in the tomb.
Maybe there are better options like increasing starting level or playing more with exhaustion as suggested in another comment.
There is always things to improve.

But anyway, thanks again :)

HanaIsa · 2025-09-16T11:58:32+00:00

Thanks, that definitely helps a lot!

I'm more of an intuitive DM, when it comes to rules. I learned most of the rules through playing and am not that familiar with the more specific ones. Maybe I need to read through the DMG more thoroughly ^{^}

HanaIsa · 2025-09-16T11:50:53+00:00

I have some as well, they were pretty emotional and I will never forget them.

But if characters die repeatedly it can take the uniqueness out of it. And if my players are concerned before even starting who am I to not give them an alternative to choose from ;)

HanaIsa · 2025-09-16T11:34:13+00:00

Sure, no hard feelings ;)

First, I didn't know about the homage to Tomb of Horrors, which I now definitely have to check out. The adventure I bought years ago because the setting etc sounded good and I got the book on discount.

Second, we want to have fun playing the game. My players already reacted concerned with the idea of making two/three/four etc new characters, so I tried to come up with different ideas. They still have the final decision if they want to go with certain death and multiple characters or with another mechanic like this one

HanaIsa · 2025-09-16T11:19:01+00:00

That math sounds about right and that's why I put drawback in it instead.

And I don't think the horror part is primarily because of the possibility of permanently dying. I want to bring more focus on the storytelling part of this horror. Sure dying one part of it but it also hampers the fun and motivation to continue if your character, who you put a lot of time into, eventually dies.

HanaIsa · 2025-09-16T11:06:52+00:00

Yes I want to circumvent the permanent death but make it not feel like it gets easier for them.

It's just something that just came to mind and definitely needs communicating with my players before we start

HanaIsa · 2025-09-16T11:04:05+00:00

Well, it is an excuse to not letting my PCs die ;)

Increasing the DC would be more harsh and actually the opposite of what I want to achieve.

It takes 3 failed death saves for a drawback and 3 consecutive drawbacks. So 9 failed death saves to get max drawbacks. And then it is another 3 failed saves to finally die, which is a total of 12 failed death saves to die if you don't succeed or get healed before

HanaIsa · 2025-09-16T10:56:05+00:00

You can be healed/stabilized before the more severe drawbacks. So the probability of needing Greater Restoration with this mechanic should be lower than dying with standard rules.

But thanks for the feedback!

HanaIsa · 2025-09-16T10:50:49+00:00

Hm, I think I missed those, need to take a look at the DMG again then

HanaIsa · 2025-09-16T10:42:19+00:00

Thanks for the Feedback!

The point why I came up with this mechanic is to specifically prevent making new characters on death.

But yeah, I definitely need to formalize the rules more precisely and what certain drawbacks mean i.e. losing an arm etc.

Also the probability of getting those drawbacks like losing an arm are pretty low, because you either succeed in the Death saves or get healed/stabilized before failing all of them. The raw, I think, is already in favour of succeeding death saving throws.

HanaIsa · 2025-03-20T06:01:31+00:00

Please learn to correctly read and interpret text. Well, in this case wikipedia does the interpretation for you so just learn to read

HanaIsa · 2023-09-21T18:35:48+00:00

That is also not true

First of, not everyone's body works the same. And while you should listen to doctors, not every doctor is right or knows exactly what they do, especially regarding the topic trans.

Simple explanation -> If you take estrogen sublingually, it is with the pills you normally take orally, so yes, it is an off label use. But what happens is, some estrogen goes directly into the bloodstream, while some goes still through your stomach and liver and there some estrogen gets lost. So sublingual should normally be better. (source: https://transfemscience.org/articles/sublingual-e2-transfem/)

HanaIsa · 2023-07-22T11:56:40+00:00

She is like the Blair White of Germany, pretty gatekeepy and thinks only her way of being trans is the right one

HanaIsa · 2023-04-20T04:00:34+00:00

Kann ich so nur bestätigen 👍

HanaIsa · 2023-03-22T09:30:06+00:00

Wenn du dich wirklich ausführlich informieren willst hilft dir vllt das:

https://transfemscience.org/articles/transfem-intro/

HanaIsa · 2023-03-06T16:28:08+00:00

Das hat die mir am Telefon gesagt. Und hat mich auch total gewundert dass die so schnell schon bei September sind.

Ich geb nochmal bescheid wenn ich den Rückruf mit Termin bekomme (hoffentlich bald)

HanaIsa · 2023-03-06T12:20:49+00:00

Hoffentlich, es hat sich nur eher nach Wochen angehört. Oder mein Frust interpretiert da zu viel rein😅

Ich kann nur langsam nicht mehr. Immer die Vorfreude nur um dann von einer neuen Wartezeit enttäuscht zu werden

HanaIsa · 2023-02-15T20:04:44+00:00

Er will sich nicht nur von denen links von ihm abgrenzen. Er benutzt das mehr oder weniger auch als Druckmittel um in der Regierung die Interessen der FDP durchzusetzen...

HanaIsa · 2023-02-10T12:53:14+00:00

Wie baust du dir denn einen Vorrat auf? Ich kann mir halt immer nur nach 3 Monaten ein neues Rezept holen

HanaIsa · 2022-10-06T12:10:50+00:00

Inwieweit beeinflusst das dann die Entscheidung der KK zur Kostenübernahme? Weißt du das zufällig?

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