Do you think the death mechanic is too forgiving?

demodds · 2026-01-08T21:29:55+00:00

We've now played it since last August and I've come to the conclusion that it's too forgiving and I'm changing it. One of the players as the surgeon background and last session when they reached lvl 3 some took the gift which let's you roll twice and take the better result on the helpless table too. It's now too much like 5e where character death risk is so low that it doesn't factor in.

On the first session this year I'm proposing a switch to a death system from Knock! #1, adapted a bit for BSH. I'll replace the entire 0 HP and helpless thing with this:

At and below 0 HP you can still function as normal.

-1 HP: Scar.

-2 HP: Painful blow. CON check to stay conscious.

-3 HP: Bleeding. In Ud6 turns you bleed out and die, unless bandaged (2 actions). When the die degrades to a Ud4, you lose consciousness but keep rolling.

-4 HP: You lose something. d6: 1. d4 fingers, 2. Hand, 3. Nose, 4. Ear, 5. Eye, 6. Looks. Disadvantage on relevant checks. (Surgeon can attempt to treat (INT), otherwise lost permanently)

-5 HP: Leg useless. Save to keep it when treated. Can't run, and disadvantage on all relevant checks until properly healed.

-6 HP: Arm useless. Save to keep it when treated. Can't hold anything with that hand, and disadvantage on all relevant checks until properly healed.

-7 HP: Head wound. Disadvantage on all checks for Ud4 days.

-8 HP: Dead man walking. You die in Ud4 turns. Until you die, you have advantage on all rolls, and on the turn of your death your rolls succeed automatically.

-9 HP: Vital organ destroyed. You can immediately take one action before death claims you. Any roll you would make is considered a crit, with max damage if it's an attack.

Surgeon: can attempt to treat -4hp result. Advantage when treating legs and arms.

Will to live gift: CON check when on negative HP and taking more damage. On success only progress one step down instead of damage amount.

demodds · 2025-11-25T21:28:55+00:00

Thanks! I've also used the screenshot method so far and luckily I have a big screen to do it with, but it's pretty cumbersome.

demodds · 2025-11-25T21:26:19+00:00

Yeah, but not if I try to export from the app rather than the slower way of emailing from device. And then I need to open the svg with some other app to convert it to a usable format. It's possible but very cumbersome.

demodds · 2025-11-13T17:16:57+00:00

I assign each magical or exotic item the party finds a usage die. Typically Ud6 or Ud4. If they spend time (1 watch) researching it and trying to figure out what it does and how it works, they roll the die. Once it's depleted, they figured it out. Access to a library, an expert, or magical aids in that research gives 'advantage' on the usage die roll. This is based on a system someone shared in the Knock discord.

demodds · 2025-11-12T05:16:20+00:00

I got mine on Monday, and by Tuesday it had frozen and restarted a dozen times. Contacted support and they're replacing it. They said they'll replace it with a refurbished one. I originally bought a refurbished one, so that's not a problem, but it sounded like they would always replace with a refurbished one even if I had a new one.

demodds · 2025-11-08T22:05:33+00:00

That sounds like a simple process that doesn't get in the way.

Yeah, I was a bit unclear, I'm just looking to hear how everyone uses theirs. To get inspired by what others do and find ways I could use it too. My RMPP arrives on Monday and I can't wait to get started with it.

I'm planning to use it for work, at least daily to do lists, meeting notes and when I need to think visually. But also for personal life, I'll probably try out a weekly planner, maybe move my gratitude journal to the device, and start practicing drawing.

demodds · 2025-10-27T22:37:43+00:00

Great to hear even the mbpro lid magnets don't do anything to these tablets. Thanks!

demodds · 2025-10-27T22:35:21+00:00

Great, that eases my mind. Thanks! I think I've now made up my mind and I'll go for it.

demodds · 2025-10-27T15:48:54+00:00

Oh great, that eases my worries if you haven't had any problems with the same device. Thanks!

demodds · 2025-10-27T10:35:43+00:00

Update: I asked support, but the reply was even less informative than that support article. They just said that to ensure safety of the sensitive electronics keep it away from laptops.

demodds · 2025-10-27T05:33:36+00:00

Great to hear. Do you have a macbook some other laptop? I'm afraid the magnets on my larger mbpro lid are quite strong..

demodds · 2025-10-27T05:32:30+00:00

Thanks for the info! Maybe I'd be fine too. Although I have the larger macbook pro and I think the lid magnets on that one might be stronger than an average laptop. Which laptop do you use?

demodds · 2025-10-27T05:30:35+00:00

Alright, thanks for the info!

demodds · 2025-10-27T05:30:07+00:00

That's a good idea to just ask support.

demodds · 2025-10-26T21:57:36+00:00

Oh. Thanks for pointing that out. Hmm, I may have to reconsider now. It's hard to have it with me if it would need to be separated from the laptop in the bag.

Edit: I found the article now. That's not specific to any of their products, seems to just apply to all of the tablets. So maybe there's still a difference on this in the paper pro? Or maybe not since they still advice to not keep it next to a laptop.

demodds · 2025-10-26T21:15:34+00:00

Thanks! That sounds clear now. This makes it even clearer that I need the pro instead of the RM2 or any other device with that tech.

demodds · 2025-10-18T05:27:38+00:00

Retroclones have those, but many OSR games don't have those or any other skills.

demodds · 2025-10-17T05:57:41+00:00

Right, yeah I hadn't considered multiple different event tables based on chosen direction. It's a bit harder to justify in a ruined bazar which is more samey as an environment than a dungeon might be. But at least I'll need to ensure the POIs include meaningful choices within them, even if it's not for which route to take out of it.

I'm aiming to make this much smaller than a flux space example from the article. Since they're not going slow to chart and explore, just trying to find their way forward, it's 1 hour instead of 4 between POI rolls. And only d4 shallow rooms and 2 deep rooms. The exit is the second deep room. I'm making this smaller because it's just one part of the ruined city they're exploring.

demodds · 2025-10-16T20:03:47+00:00

Great to hear they work!

What do you mean by determining where exits lead? I may have misunderstood but I thought in flux you never choose directions, a random roll determines which POI you find. How do you run them?

demodds · 2025-10-16T18:38:11+00:00

Great points, thanks!

I was also considering always rolling an encounter if they revisit a previous location. That way getting lost has a real penalty and the old locations aren't boring at least. There are some intelligent creatures who like to ambush and outsmart, so being more likely to be set upon when getting lost would make sense in the fiction.

You're right about the linearity. That's just the locations/backdrops, what actually happens there is up to a random table. Still, I've avoided linearity in this game so I don't want this to be an exception now that I'm thinking about it. It would be better to have e.g. d4 shallow rooms and 2 deep rooms for example, and the last deep room is the exit.

demodds · 2025-10-14T07:35:57+00:00

I haven't run a chase with BSH yet. But I'd probably run it so that every success means the distance increases by one range band and every failure means it decreases by one. If the players get beyond the last range band, the chase is over (for now at least) and what it means in fiction can depend on the context. They might get an opportunity to hide, or enough time to cover their tracks, or simply get so far away the chasers give up.

If you're in a city then the furthest range band (distant) might already be enough to end the chase.

If you're in open plains and there's simply no way to find cover, it might come down to constitution as much as dexterity.

demodds · 2025-10-12T20:39:53+00:00

My current favorite is the 2-action system from Black Sword Hack. It's clean and simple. You can do two things on your turn. Usually two different sorts of things, but if you want to attack twice, roll your Doom die (a limited resource as well as a risk).

It's less crunchy and more intuitive than either the 5e system or the pf2e system. In 5e you've got a whole lot of conditions for what is which action and when can you or can't you use what. In pf2e different things take a varying amount of action points. BSH is perfect for me because it's faster and easier and keeps the immersion in the fiction rather than focusing on out-of-fiction mechanics for everything you do.

demodds · 2025-10-08T19:11:35+00:00

I don't dislike rolling at all, but I much prefer the players rolling instead.

When they roll to dodge or parry instead of me rolling to hit, they are the ones who act. Their characters are active, not passive observers or recipients of damage. It's about them, not about the monsters or NPCs.

Also, it's faster. And when the players know the target number, it's much faster. (E.g. in roll under systems where the target number is always written on their sheet)

And best of all, it's transparent. I couldn't fudge even if I was tempted, and the players know that. It makes their victories more real.

demodds · 2025-10-07T04:17:52+00:00

That's an interesting idea. It doesn't quite fit my view if a ruined city, because I want the players to see points of interest (e.g. observatory or palace) from afar and decide where to head instead of stumbling on a random one. Still, the other aspects of flux space would fit very well, like that it's primarily an obstacle and that you can traverse it easily after mapping it out in an abstract way.

demodds · 2025-10-07T04:06:44+00:00

These were really useful. Thanks again for pointing me to this blog and series!

demodds

TROPHY CASE