Just a reminder

fighter (battle master) Geth one-shotting down a staircase

In case you didn't know, I've started a podcast of our actual play sessions of Princes of the Apocalypse (and other stuff later): gg no re. We're on iTunes as well.

The latest episode is here:

Elemental, I choose you!

source unknown

I think it'd be pretty cool if you're fighting an elemental, and, instead of killing it, you throw a pokéball at it and capture it. Then you treat it like a pet and toss it out to fight for you. 

(I've been thinking about elementals a lot because I'm running Princes of the Apocalypse; listen to our campaign over at gg no re: http://ggnorecast.blogspot.com.) I'm thinking of putting these in our game. If you use them, let me know. 

Table of contents:

1. Using them
2. Creating them
3. Generalizing the concept, for full on pokemans: TERATOSPHERES
4. A class: the KETCHUM

CATCHING THEM ALL

You must attune to the ball in order to use it. if you're not using D&D 5e, you can't use more than 2 other serious magic items while you're using a stoichesphere. Magical interference or something. 

While you hold it against your skin and consider an elemental creature, the stoichesphere haptically alerts you to the current strength of the elemental's coherence. This means that, If it's below half hp, the GM will tell you exactly how much hp the creature has left. 

Toss it at an elemental creature within 30'.  

The elemental makes an hp save vs the sphere's DC. Making an hp save means rolling a d20 and adding the creature's current hp to the roll.  

If the creature makes its save, the spell flares out of the sphere, but the creature is yet too coherent to be contained. The spell fails, and the ball is now inert until dawn.  

If the creatures fails its save, you caught it. 

If the creature hits 0 hp before you catch it, sorry! OR: you get one shot this round or the next to catch it before it fully dissipates.

IGNIS, I CHOOSE YOU!

You must be attuned to the ball in order to use its creature in combat. 

Name the captured creature in order to use it in battle. 

To make it fight for you, toss the ball within 30' of you and say earnestly, "[creature name], I choose you!" It fights as a normal creature and recovers hp in exactly the same way PCs do in your campaign. 

The ball flies back to the caster's hand. The caster now controls the creature.  

It shares your turn and will do whatever you say, but it will do nothing unless you issue a command properly: "[creature name], [command]!" Don't forget the exclamation mark when you say it. It doesn't really have an action economy, per se. You get one command per turn (just based on the six second round, and how much time you have to talk), and it does whatever is necessary and possible to complete it. So you don't have to command it separately to move and attack. Just tell it to attack or come back to you or whatever, and it'll do its best.

If the creature goes to 0 hp, it dies, and its ball shatters. Perhaps it looks at you with big sad eyes. 

You can recall the creature by command. 

CREATING THEM

When an elemental creature dies, it leaves behind an elemental mote that remains for an hour unless stored properly, e.g., in a stoppered glass vial. They are subtle and easy to miss unless you're looking for them. These are the components of the ritual to create a sphere. Note the HD of the creature that left the mote behind. This is the potency of the mote.

In order to be able to create stoichespheres at all, you must know the ritual. These are contained in schemata that the GM will place as treasure (or in shops possibly; see below). The schemata detail how to make the sphere and the spell required to imbue it with the relevant magic. 

Any blacksmith can look at the schema and can create the object with a gold and a day, and any arcane caster can learn the ritual. 

You need a suitable lab or arcane study. Surround / immerse it with the proper elements (burning fires, troughs of water, a dozen servants waving fans—the DM will tell you what). 

Then decide which of your motes you will use as components. This determines the save DC of the sphere. 

You must also expend a number of spell slot levels equal to the potency of the strongest mote used. Multiple casters can help to share the spell slot expense load. 

The base DC is equal to:

caster's proficiency bonus* (x2 if all motes used are of the same element)

+ 

potency of strongest mote used

Thus a level 1 caster (prof bonus +2) who is performing the ritual with only an HD 5 elemental creature's mote will create a sphere with a save DC of 4 (prof bonus of 2, x2 since all motes are of the same element) + 5 = 9. The caster would need to expend 5 levels of spell slots, split up however: 2 level 2s and a level 1, for instance. 

To increase the save DC beyond the base, you can add additional motes. Total the potencies of the lesser motes you are combining and divide by the potency of the greatest mote, rounding down. Add the result to the DC. You can't add more than 5 to the DC this way. 

Example 1: You have 4 motes, each of potency 5 (these were 5 HD fire elementals). The greatest mote is set aside (since they're all the same, it doesn't matter which one we choose). This means, with our example above, we have a base DC of 9. But now we have 3 "lesser" motes to add into the mix. We sum their potencies and get 15 (5 + 5 + 5). We divide 15 by the potency of our "greatest" mote (5) and get 3. That's what's added to the DC for a total DC of 12. 

Example 2: a level 1 caster (prof bonus 2) is going to create a stoichesphere using a greatest mote of potency 6. Base DC = 6 + 2 = 8. Caster has 5 other motes, of potencies 2, 3, 3, 4, and 5. These motes are a mix of fire, water, air, and earth. Summing those together we get 17. 17 divided by 6 (the potency of our greatest mote) gets us 2, rounded down. So probably the caster will want to reserve her potency-5 mote for later so as not to lose it to rounding. Removing that, we have a lesser total of 12, divided by 6, equaling 2 on the dot. We add that to the base DC of 8 for 10, again. Note that, because we used motes of different elements, we don't double the proficiency bonus when calculating DC.

BUYING THEM

If you can buy magic items in your game, these would be considered common to rare, depending on how plentiful and strong elementals are in your setting. Maybe 50g per point of DC. Schematics cost a flat 1000g.

You might also find elemental motes for sale. I'd say maybe 50s per HD, times the proficiency bonus* of the creature. I don't know. That number is mostly made up off the top of my head.

PLACING THEM AS TREASURE

Elemental cults will have them, as will wizards and magic merchants. Ruins of old cities, especially underdark cities would have them, as well, more rarely, schematics for them.

GENERALIZING THE CONCEPT

It should be reasonably clear how to turn this into all the way pokemans:

• elemental mote > most iconic piece of carcass
• "elemental" > creature type 

For instance, say you find the schema for creating a goblin-ball. This will capture goblinoids (goblins, hobgoblins, orcs, bugbears, orogs, ogres maybe). Their "mote" is the liver, maybe, or the stomach, or the eyes. Try to find something evocative. Maybe goblins are iconic for their greed in your campaign. Then choose the part that most represents that: the eyes maybe, or the stomach. Then that's what the schema tells you that you need to grab. If you use all goblin eyes, then double your prof bonus, and the ball works only on goblins (or, don't double your bonus and have it usable against orcs too). 

If you're using generalized balls, maybe call them TERATOSPHERES.

A CLASS: THE KETCHUM
This is just the skeleton of the class; I don't really care to go into the fine details now.

• HD as wizard
• no armor
• +1/12 of XP needed for next level when you catch a new monster and add it to your teratotome (see below); this is the small quest XP award in the 5e DMG if you just want to use the chart
• simple weapons like slingshots and sticks and stuff you might find at a disused park or an old shack
• when you do damage, your dice is of the same size as your HD
• no multiclassing
• primary stat: charisma
• good saves: charisma, wisdom
• survival, nature, perception
• goal: wants to catch them all and be recognized as the best
• flaw: gotta catch em all
• flaw: attracts rivals who try to foil plans, steal teratospheres, and show the ketchum up; the ketchum must save or try to do the same
• bond: Magister X, who gave you your first teratosphere, containing your first monster
• bond: your first monster
• bond: your rival
• bond: your first teammate
• item: your teratotome, which has the notes from all the monsters you've caught; if you actually keep a physical teratotome with you and updated, gain +1 HP / level. 
• teratospheres don't count against attunement limit
• can be attuned to a maximum of [proficiency bonus] spheres at once
• your sphere DC is 8 + Charisma mod plus proficiency bonus; this puts a floor on the sphere DC of spheres you use; the save DC can never be lower than your personal DC
• starts with 1 sphere and 1 creature, HD 1 probably, name it
• your creatures don't die when reduced to 0 hp, and your spheres don't shatter; instead, the creature returns to the sphere and is exhausted and can't be roused until dawn
• however, if the teratosphere is destroyed, your creature is too; the sphere is just as strong as the material it's made out of; give it an appropriate AC value + 5.
• you don't need schemata; you got this naturally
• you don't need to spend spell slots (you don't have them and can't gain them) to enchant pokeballs; you are born with THE TOUCH and simply hold the ball in one hand and the motes you wish to use in the other, and wham, there's your teratosphere
• EVOLVE: your monsters level with you. 
• They get the same XP you do as long as they participated 
• They level by the same scheme as you, where HD = level
• When they level, they get another HD (and thus more hp)
• When they level, you learn something about them that you write in your teratotome
• this is an opportunity to come up with something smaller that's still fun: 
• it's tougher than it appears because X: +1 AC
• it's stronger than you'd think: +size to damage die
• you can only make such a discovery once about a creature
• When its proficiency bonus increases, the creature evolves
• you learn a big feature about it: multiattack, elemental damage, etc. 
• you give this evolution of it a particular name

* 1 + # of caster's HD / 4, rounded up

Mana System for 5e

You don't have spell slots. 

When you cast a spell, choose what level you cast it at. If you want to cast cure light wounds at 9th level, go ahead.

Targets save as normal, you apply the effects as normal. 

Then you lose mana. 

You start with mana = max hp. 

The mana you lose is XdY, where:

X = the level of the spell you cast it at

Y = your HD size (or, if you're the kind of person that multiclasses, shame on you, you use the highest HD you have hahaha; but, since I am merciful, if you have only 1 level in fighter and cast a level 2 spell, "use up" your figher HD first, and then you can use your next highest HD size; so 1d10+1d6 mana). 

However, don't count any die that comes up its max value. 

So a level 1 wizard with 7 mana casts fireball (presuming the character somehow knows the spell). It's a level 3 spell. That means 3d6 mana loss after the spell takes effect. Death save time. 

Mod to taste.

* you lose maximum hp and don't track a separate pool of mana; this way clerics can't be a mana fountain

* make a check to avoid mana loss

Cinematic Fights: Skeleton Warriors Example

From this post, we extract these principles, with some revisions and additions:

RULES SUMMARY
Whenever you attack a creature, before you roll, just make sure we know who you're attacking and with what (e.g., keep using my sword, attacking the zombie in the funny hat).

When you miss, your opponent takes control; you mark a death slash (1/2 a death save failure—a whole death save failure is two slashes, an X), and the GM escalates the brutality of the fight.

When you hit a creature, roll and apply damage as normal.

When you hit without advantage, you may take control against them, providing you can think of some way in the fiction to do so that doesn't render the creature incapable of fighting.

When you hit with advantage or reduce a creature to 0 hp, what you intended to do to them happens.

When a creature attacks you, the GM makes it act against you at the current level of brutality (determined by the number of your death slashes). This is before any attack roll from the GM.

When a creature misses you, the GM will ask how you take control of the situation.

When a creature hits you, you lose hp as normal, mark a death slash, and the GM escalates the brutality of the fight.

When a creature hits you with advantage, you lose hp as normal and mark a death save failure (two death slashes), and the GM escalates the brutality of the fight.

When you hit zero hp, you fall, and we are agnostic about your fate (as long as you have less than 3 death save failures). The normal death save mechanic kicks in.

Whenever you use the environment to your advantage, the effects (however resolved) should bypass hit points and instead use your intent. 

When you hit an enemy with a magic effect that could kill, resolve hp, etc. as usual. In addition, it does indeed kill the creature if you have advantage or the enemy is at disadvantage; otherwise, it's about to kill the creature; say how the effect is putting the creature at a disadvantage. 

When you attack from range, resolve hp, etc. as usual. If you have advantage, you hit just where you intended. Otherwise on a hit, the GM says where you hit. 

Here are the levels of brutality or escalation:

• 0 = no slashes: pressure/threat
• 1 = /: battered
• 2 = X: bleeding
• 3 = X /: screaming
• 4 = X X: broken / torn / disfigured / disabled
• 5 = X X /: maimed / permanently disabled
• 6 = X X X: dying / dead

Note that, although this is written for 5e, it's really system agnostic. Tracking HP just possibly makes it more deadly.

If you read the previous post, you'll notice I've replaced the "seize advantage" verbiage with "take control". I feel it's clearer and less mechanical.

Say we've got three skeletons as in the picture above. We're fighting in an unlit tomb with pillars and coffins everywhere.

To keep things simple, I'm not going to use fancy powers and such. I'll give AC, hp, attack bonus, and damage in the statblocks and then update them as the fight goes on. I'll be using a dice roller and not fudging.

I'm making one change to the monster: instead of having skeletons be vulnerable to bludgeoning, I'm having them be resistant to slashing and immune to piercing. And you have to break their spines to kill them.

Skeleton (mace + shield): AC 15 ATK +4 (1d6 + 2) HP 13
Skeleton (axe + shield): AC 15 ATK +4 (1d6 + 2) HP 13
Skeleton (dual wielding mace + sword): AC 13 ATK + 4 (1d6 + 2), +4 (1d6) HP 13
Fighter (L1, shield + mail + defensive + mace): AC 19 ATK +4 (1d6 + 2) HP 12
Wizard (L1, robes + out of spells, ray of frost cantrip): AC 12 ATK +5 (1d8) HP 7

I'm worried for my party. I think they should have run. But maybe they've triggered a trap that keeps them locked in the tomb until the skeletons are dead. Let's run with that. Time for initiative. Skeletons are +2; my characters are +1 for fighter and +2 for wizard.

INITIATIVE
Wizard: 15
Skeletons: 9
Fighter: 8

So that's it. In 5e, initiative order is static; so each round it will remain the same. Glad my wizard goes first :\

ROUND 1: FIGHT
Wizard: I'm shooting ray of frost at the dual-wielding one. [ROLL: natural 1]. Of course. You said there were pillars and sarcophagi around here, right? I'm going to go take cover behind one of those.

GM: The one with the mace is going around to get at the wizard, but the rest are converging on the fighter. We'll do the wizard first. You'll have cover for being behind the sarcophagus. [ROLL: natural 1 again]. So it swings and misses you, and chunks of marble are spraying everywhere; how do you take control?

Wizard: I'll reach out and freeze its hand to its mace, shatter them both on the lid of the sarcophagus, and kick it away from me.

[Notice that the player disarmed the skeleton and cut off its hand. That's fine. We don't care about the bodily integrity of the baddies. They are playgrounds of destruction, and the PCs are fragile as well. We don't need to carefully monitor things so that nothing awesome happens. Also note that the wizard will not have mechanical advantage against the skeleton because of this; he's just created distance and reduced the skeleton to unarmed damage. It's debuffing without having a power that tells you that you can debuff.]

GM: Cool, you do it. Now the other skeletons are coming up on the fighter. [DUAL WIELDER ROLLS TWICE: misses both times. AXE misses as well; fighter's AC is too good.] How do you take control?

[Notice I didn't even narrate the attacks of the skeletons at all. I'm not concerned about that. That they initiated an attack is assumed and will of course be incorporated into what the player says. If the player needs more info, they can just ask.]

Fighter: I'll block the dual wielder's attacks and shove him away while I break the knees of the other one with my mace. I want him on the ground when I attack him.

[Again, bodily destruction of the opposition is A-OK as long as they still might pose a threat.]

GM: your turn, fighter. [Previous action was just the fighter's response to the misses of the skeletons; now it's the fighter's turn proper.]

Fighter: I've got advantage, right? [Yes, he does.] I'm just going to stomp his skull with my boot.

GM: Okay, and go ahead and roll your mace's damage for this; I don't want to penalize you by making you do unarmed damage.

[Fighter ROLLS with advantage and hits, does 1d6+2 = 7 damage.]

[Notice, though: the player doesn't know that delivering a headshot doesn't matter for these skeletons. Their spine must be broken or crushed. I don't let on, though.]

GM: Okay, you smash his skull; go ahead, wiz.

ROUND TWO
Wizard: I'm going to keep skirting around the sarcophagus and shooting at its legs. [Hit for 5 damage.] Okay, I hit it; so I'm freezing it to the floor, and the frost is spreading up its legs.

GM: I'm going to have the skeleton try to come at the wizard. [Makes a STR check to have it break free of the ice; fail]. But it can't; its leg is frozen into the ground, and it only manages to break its leg off—which means your ice isn't creeping up its body anymore, wiz. It's crawling toward you, but can't reach you yet.

GM: The dual wielding skeleton is coming at you, fighter. [I'm also going to use the now headless skeleton at the fighter's feet, but I'm not giving that away yet. It'll attack with advantage because the fighter doesn't know it's still a threat.]

[Dual wielder rolls, hits with the main hand, misses with the off hand. The other skeleton attacks with advantage: miss. Since at least one attack hits, we use the hit rules rather than the miss rules: 5 damage, two death slashes, escalating to bleeding. I don't know if the fighter would have noticed the attack of the skeleton on the ground; I see that he does NOT have Perception trained. So that will mean he doesn't notice the skeleton's bump against his greaves. If he had been wearing no armor on the legs, maybe I would have ruled differently.]

GM: The skeleton drives you back against a pillar, and you're just barely able to keep him off you, and then he brings down his mace onto your thigh, and you can feel the broken mail biting in. [Note: if we were using an armor repair / damage system, here's one way you can bring it in.] It's angling its sword to stab you right in the face; what do you do? [Transitioning to fighter's initiative count; I'm still judging that the fighter wouldn't notice the other skeleton rising and approaching.]

Fighter: I'll keep fighting. I hit for 7 damage.

GM: Okay, how do you take control?

Fighter: I block the sword then smash its legs so it can't walk.

GM: You do, and then you notice [because the skeleton's not in the way anymore] the one whose skull you crushed advancing toward you. He's charging with the tip of his spine toward you.

ROUND THREE
Wizard: I'm going to try to freeze the headless one to the ground while running away from the one that's been fighting me; I'll circle around to try to get cover behind a pillar. Miss again!

GM: [I've got to think about what the skeletons are going to do now. I think the one engaged with the wizard would be crawling toward him. So he'll be crawling toward the dropped torch, putting himself between the wizard and fighter. I don't think he'll be able to threaten anyone this round.]

GM: wizard, you see the skeleton who was chasing you crawling toward the torch, but he can't get in range of either of you yet.

[Now, for the other two. Since the fighter's legs are armored, I'm thinking the main threat is the charging skeleton, but the other skeleton on the ground might hold him in place. So that's the situation I'll present. I'll be at disadvantage to attack from the ground but not to grab; so I'll try a grab and an attack.]

GM: fighter, the charging skeleton is coming right for you, and you can see the skeleton whose legs you just smashed stirring at your feet.

[The dual wielder successfully grabs, but the charging skeleton misses by 1.]

GM: as the skeleton gets even closer, you can feel the other one's hand grab your ankle; you're grabbed. How do you take control of the situation?

Fighter: I brace for impact and shove the charging skeleton on its back, then turn and stomp the arm of the skeleton that's holding me, then jump on top of—

GM: That's enough. We'll start your initiative with your breaking free of the skeleton.

[There's an art to knowing what's too much for one take control.]

Fighter: Well, obviously crushing their skulls isn't enough; so maybe I need to crush the spine? I've already got advantage since he's prone; so that's what I'm gonna do, just bring it down straight through the ribcage onto the spine. Hit for 4 damage.

[Note that this brings the dual wielding skeleton down to 2 hp; but, since the fighter already had advantage, it's treated as if the creature were at 0 hp, which means he gets to do whatever he wants. Crushing the spine will indeed kill the creature.]

GM: that's what happens. You break through the spine, and you can feel the impact on the stone beneath, and sparks fly up off your mace [insert weapon breakage/degradation rules here]. It's not moving.

ROUND FOUR
Wizard: I want to keep running from the one that was originally attacking me and keep trying to freeze the one to the ground that's grabbing at the fighter. Hit for 8 damage.

GM: [noting that it takes the skeleton to 0 hp] you do freeze it in place and can finish it.

Wizard: Okay, I close my fist, and it shatters.

GM: [judging that the remaining one really isn't a threat]. The last skeleton can't move quickly enough to threaten y'all.

Fighter: Okay, I just break it's spine like the other one.

GM: Done.

AFTERMATH
The wizard didn't get touched, luckily.

The fighter took one good hit to the leg, which broke some of his mail and caused bleeding. You can (and should I think) call in any subsystem you wish to handle this business. Maybe a surgeon needs to extract the broken links that might have been embedded in the flesh. Maybe it needs to be cauterized so there's no infection.

The wound is certainly painful but may not have any mechanical effects (at least not yet). If you wished, you could certainly implement such a system.

But, for those who are curious, that's an idea of how it would work.

Cinematic Fights: a 5e Hack

EDIT: the mechanics in this post have been revised and expanded, with an additional extended example, here: http://detectmagic.blogspot.com/2014/11/cinematic-fights-skeleton-warriors.html.

 

D&D combat is abstract, but it doesn't have to be.

See, we're going to change it up.***

It's going to require some close reading, because the heavy lifting here is for (of course) you, the GM. It's not difficult, but it requires you to say certain things and certain times and specifically refrain from saying other things at other times.

And not only will your fight be pleasantly/disgustingly choreographed when you get to the bloody end, but it will reward players who can use the fictional environment to their advantage. So come on and sit down right here on this old tree stump and have a listen.

Wait

I was reading the details below, and I thought "people are going to freak out and think this is no fun because you wrote this like a textbook."

So, first, let me try to sell you on it.

What This Does

• Every hit or miss corresponds to something visible in the fiction
• Savvy players can use the environment to their advantage
• Savvy players can use fictional positioning re: particular configurations of armor and particular modes of attack to their advantage
• It makes fights scarier by accruing death save failures before PCs reach 0 hp
• It incorporates lasting injuries
• It has definite ideas about what hit points, hit point damage, and hit point healing means
• It makes gaining fictional advantage, which translates to the advantage/disadvantage mechanic, hugely important
• It makes missing even more scary, such that, if you don't have the advantage, it's probably a better idea not to engage at all unless you seriously outclass your opponent
• It makes fighting multiple opponents a very bad idea
• It makes fights brutal and visceral as part of the process and not some tedious and unnecessary add-on that just slows things down and is boring and embarrassing

Rules Summary

Whenever you attack a creature, before you roll, say what specifically you are trying to do: choreograph your intent. 

When you miss, your opponent seizes advantage over you; you mark a death slash (1/2 a death save failure—a whole death save failure is two slashes, an X), and the GM escalates the brutality of the fight. 

When you hit a creature, roll and apply damage as normal. 

When you hit without advantage, you may seize advantage against them, providing you can think of some way in the fiction to do so that doesn't render the creates incapable of fighting.  

When you hit with advantage or reduce a creature to 0 hp, what you intended to do to them happens.

When a creature attacks you, the GM makes it act against you at the current level of brutality (determined by the number of your death slashes). This is before any attack roll from the GM. 

When a creature misses you, the GM will ask how you seize advantage against the creature. 

When a creature hits you, you lose hp as normal, mark a death slash, and the GM escalates the brutality of the fight. 

When a creature hits you with advantage, you lose hp as normal and mark a death save failure (two death slashes), and the GM escalates the brutality of the fight. 

When you hit zero hp, you fall, and we are agnostic about your fate (as long as you have less than 3 death save failures). The normal death save mechanic kicks in. 

To Illustrate

Cato, our level 1 fighter, has 19 AC (shield 2 + chain 16 + class feature 1) and attacks at +5 with his sword for 1d8+3 damage.

He's in a filthy cave and steps too loudly in a puddle, and there's the goblin, gnawing on the meat of the kid he was supposed to rescue.

Cato drops his torch and his pack and readies his shield.

The goblin grabs the cleaver he used to chop the boy up and rushes Cato [monster has initiative, moves to Cato, misses attack], leaping up to bring the cleaver down on Cato's head, but Cato [seizing advantage] plants himself into the ground and bashes the thing out of the air with his shield.

He follows it as it rolls on the ground, and [attacking] thrusts down at its neck, but [misses] it rolls away [marking a death slash], grabs Cato's leg and pulls it out from under him and his head bashes against the ground, face submerged in a shallow puddle [seizing advantage at the / level of brutality—battered].

Now the goblin climbs up Cato's back, grabs his hair, and forces his face back into the water to drown him [acting at the current level of brutality]. Goblin makes an opposed Strength check with advantage and succeeds. Cato takes damage but still has hp. Marks two more death slashes. The brutality level is now /// or 3 or or X/ or 1.5 death save failures—screaming. The GM has the goblin in full control, pushing Cato's face deeper into the mud.

Now it's Cato's turn again. Before he rolls, he choreographs. This step, even if the attack misses, is essential because:

• it tells the GM how to respond in the fiction
• it gives the GM the information necessary to determine if advantage or disadvantage is warranted

Cato will reach back with both arms, grab the goblin's head, and slam him on his back onto the ground in front of him.

GM doesn't rule for advantage or disadvantage on this, and he succeeds. Damage applied to goblin as normal, but the goblin still has some hp left.

It's the goblin's turn. He crawls over to his machete while Cato is gasping for breath, swings at Cato until he cuts into his thigh [enforcing the current level of brutality], then takes a big swing for the neck: miss.

GM asks Cato's player how he seizes advantage: grabs his own sword of the ground, parries the machete, grabs the goblin's neck and bashes its head on the ground. 

Cato's turn, attacking with advantage since he's on top of the goblin with his hands around its neck and head. The choreography: break its head open. Rolls with advantage, hits: so that's what happens. Even if the goblin had hp left (doubtful), this would kill it. 

So, at the end of the fight, Cato's face is covered in grime and blood; he's bleeding from a deep cut in this thigh, and he probably swallowed some parasite while the goblin was on his back drowning him in the cave puddle.

Now Then For the Details

This comes with some rules changes baked in; so here we go. 

Death Saves

• You can mark death save failures while you still have hp remaining
• You can mark partial death save failures
• a partial failure is indicated by a slash in the death save failure circle
• a full failure is indicated by an X in the death save failure circle
• adding one slash to an existing slash makes an X
• The number/type of death save failures you have marked is significant; here are the categories
• —: pressure/threat
• /: battered
• X: bleeding
• X/: screaming
• XX: broken / torn
• XX/: maimed / disfigured
• XXX: dying / dead 

When You Reach 0 HP

• You are down
• Make death saves as normal to see how bad it is 

When You Take a Short Rest (Or: When the Fight is Definitely Over)

• Erase all death save failures and successes as normal 
• Any wounds or injuries remain until healed

Healing

• Healing hp damage does not reflect healing serious wounds
• So a cure wounds spell doesn't really have visible physical effects; it's more like a prayer for preservation, and potions of healing are like drugs
• To heal an actual injury, when the time comes at which the injury could significantly improve or worsen, a Wisdom/Intelligence (Medicine) check must be made vs DC 15:
• Disadvantage if not proficient. 
• Advantage if properly cared for by someone proficient in the proper environment 
• The one primarily treating the wound should make the check
• Miss: gets worse; eventually you'll just die
• Hit: gets better

HP Damage

• For PCs, "damage" is more like "threat". A high damage monster isn't actually hitting you with that acid spit each time; its higher "damage" output reflects its higher threat to the PC
• For human and demihuman NPCs, the same
• For monsters, damage that doesn't take the monster to 0 hp can be actual damage: lopped off arms, arterial spray, whatever. Monsters can take serious meat damage and just keep going. 

Saving Throws

• To succeed on a saving throw, you must identify the way, fictionally, that you are avoiding the threat
• If you can't do that, you suffer the full effects regardless; no need to roll the save
• Suffering hp damage even when you take cover from the dragon's breath isn't problematic; the damage just represents the ticking time-bomb threat of the monster
• Similarly, if something that would kill you (getting caught in dragon fire) is written not as save-or-die but instead as, say, 6d6 damage, save for half, then, even on a failed save, you must say how you're actually avoiding getting consumed by the fire. A failed save in this instance would just represent more narrowly escaping the immediate threat than you would have been the case had you made the save. 

Injuries

• When you receive an injury, write it down
• DM will adjudicate effects of injury and tell you them; write them down

PROCEDURES

I like monsters-go-first initiative, but do as you please. 

When a monster or group of monsters attacks a PC:

• Before the roll, enforce the current level of brutality. 
• If the PC has no death slashes yet, just threaten harm against them; put pressure on them
• If the PC has, say, three death slashes, that's screaming-level brutality. Even without a roll, you're permitted to do things to them that would make them scream. 
• And that's just the setup to your actual attack. 
• And this brutality-enforcement can come from any appropriate source. Let's say it's Goblin A's turn, but we know there are goblin archers within line of sight. You can enforce brutality by having the PC get an arrow in the shoulder before the goblin even makes his attack.
• Make it feel real and unpleasant. 
• There are two options here regarding monster initiative-groups:
• Option 1: all monsters in an initiative group are treated as a single unit for the purpose of death slashes. If a fighter is facing 3 goblins, make all the attacks for the goblins at once, and consider the fighter to have sustained a hit if at least one of the goblins hit; otherwise consider the monsters to have missed. 
• Option 2: treat each monster as a separate unit. This one is much less friendly to the PCs. 
• Hit: roll and apply damage as normal.
• Option 1: Tell the player make a death save failure slash / death slash / whatever you want to call it, and ask how many the player has now (if you're not already keeping track).
• Option 2: keep track beside the name of each PC how many slashes and Xs they have. You mark another slash yourself beside the PC's name. 
• Hit and taken to 0 hp: narrate at the new brutality level what the monster(s) do(es) to the PC, and end with the PC "down."
• If the PC has 3 Xs, obviously there's no reason to make death saving throws. Otherwise, PC will make them on PC's turn like normal.
• If they accrue failures, when the PC dies or is stabilized we will see that the damage is worse than it appeared.
• For instance, PC went down with 1 X (bleeding), has a death save failure for 2Xs total (broken/torn), and, upon stabilization, we "discover" that his shin is sticking through his skin. 
• Hit with hp remaining: mark a death slash, and apply the new level of brutality to the PC, seizing advantage if possible
• Miss: describe what the monster or gaggle of monsters was trying or about to do, and ask how the PC seizes advantage.
• It may be that the player cannot think of a way to seize advantage. That's fine: simply avoiding or deflecting is okay too.
• But, if they can't think of a way to do even that, treat it as a hit after all. 

When a PC attacks a creature:

• Ask how they are attacking, what specifically they are tying to do or are aiming for; give them disadvantage if it is weak and/or boring
• Have them roll, and note if they have advantage or not
• Hit with advantage:
• What they player intended happens
• If this takes the creature out, that's what happens
• Otherwise, say what happens and subtract hp from the creature as normal
• Hit without advantage:
• subtract hp from the target creature(s) as normal
• ask how they seize the advantage vs the enemy
• it's possible there's no way to do so, given the circumstances—or, if there is, it's possible the player can't think of a way—and that's fine
• Hit that takes enemy to 0 hp: if what they intended to do would not kill them, ask how they finish off the creature (this is important because, if the creature has an unknown weakness or whatever, they may not be able to finish off the creature!)

WHEW THAT'S IT

That was tedious to write up and feels more complex than it is. 

This really benefits from a richly described environment, or at least an environment that becomes richly described. Like, if a PC says, I grab a rock and bash his head in, and you haven't specifically said there are rocks just lying around for the bashing, you should probably say sure, okay (1) because that's great and (2) because then you can bash him right back. 

Extra points for unstable columns to push over on people, fountains to drown people in, ledges to push people off of, all that action movie stuff.

Go watch some action movies or some fight scenes on YouTube. Soak in it for a while, and it shouldn't be hard to come up with interesting things to say when enforcing brutality levels or seizing advantage. 

DO LET ME KNOW

If I haven't been clear on the procedures and output here. I'm afraid that I haven't been and that none of it makes any sense, but I also feel that it's great and makes total sense. 

So who knows what's what. 

I can give more examples of course, but they take way longer to write up than they do to narrate in the moment.

***However, if you don't want to change it up, I think really abstract is the way to go. Just blow through it until someone drops. 

The Summoner: a 5e Class Where You Literally Play Magic the GatheringWhile Everyone Else Plays D&D

UPDATE

Obiously, the math is off, as I indicated originally. I've not gotten around to testing things at higher levels, but we're all grownups here and can adjust as it comes up in our campaigns. 

For now, I think I'll work with replacing all attack/toughness calculations with the following: 

Power or Toughness = Power or Toughness x Proficiency. 

Maybe that's a bit weak, but we'll have to see.

Destroy a creature: probably this effect should only work if the creature has <= hp than you currently do; otherwise, it does damage = your current hp.

Toughness variant: instead of being killed when they take so much damage over the course of a round, summoned creatures have an AC = 10 + proficiency bonus + toughness. If their AC is hit, they are killed. If they need to make saving throws, their bonus is their toughness.

RESUME ORIGINAL POST

This class lets you actually play Magic the Gathering within a 5E D&D game.

Really, the conversion is so simple I don't know why I haven't written it up ages ago.

The writeup assumes you already know how to play M:tG, have cards, etc.

Overview

It lets you play Magic within D&D. In a fight, you're initially at great risk, and you may not have anything immediately useful to do (such is the luck of the draw). However, with a fast-playing deck and some allies relieving pressure on you, you can lay down some destruction. And there's nothing saying you have to limit your summoned creatures to combat functions.

Class: the Summoner

Hit Points, Proficiencies, and Equipment: as wizard, except up to 5 components pouches instead of 1

Special Components: you start with up to 5 pouches. Each contains a handful of a different land:

• a handful of water (blue mana)
• a handful of ash (red mana)
• a handful of loam (green mana)
• a handful of pale grass (white mana)
• a handful of black moss (black mana)

You must either have these components on your person or be in a suitable region (in plains, in swamp, etc.) in order to tap the related color of mana.

Spellcasting

Cantrips: Summoning Circle, Summoning.

You do not use the 5e spell list. Your only magical abilities are those in your Magic deck, plus the ability to summon and make a summoning circle. Intelligence is your spellcasting ability should you need to specify one.

Summoning Circle: if you do not move on your turn, you can use your action to drop a half-handful of your special component(s) onto the ground in a rough circle around you. It does NOT have to be unbroken line but only a circle clearly identifiable as a circle. Now you have a summoning circle.

• While summoning within the circle (i.e., not during the turn in which you are creating it), the circle acts as a physical barrier
• Any damage done to you is instead done to the 'walls' of the circle. 
• *The circle resists all damage (i.e., halves damage taken)
• You share hp with the circle
• When the circle reaches 0 hp, it is destroyed, along with the component material used to create it, and you follow the 'being at 0 hp' rules as well
• If you exit the circle, it is destroyed, but the component material remains and may be gathered up for reuse (which is a bit harder with water)
• While in the summoning circle, you can control anything you have summoned, as in normal M:tG
• The circle remains as long as you concentrate on it

Summoning: when you start summoning things, you are playing Magic!

• Summoning takes an action and does not require concentration, only consciousness (i.e., you can get hit and still be summoning)
• Summoning only requires material components
• When you begin summoning, draw your hand as usual for M:tG
• Take your turn as normal in both D&D and M:tG 
• You can play lands, tap mana, and play the cards you have the mana for
• You can move, talk, do whatever
• Your summoned creatures have 30' movement by default (GM may adjudicate different rates for different creatures)
• You can only see what you can see and sense what you can sense, but you can control your summoned monsters over any distance so long as you remain conscious and have the components to draw the proper mana from
• Even when it's not your turn, you may move any of your untapped summoned creatures to block attacks (per standard M:tG)
• Blocked attacks do no damage to you or your summoning circle but may kill the blocking creature
• *When you attack with a summoned creature (or any other card), it does damage equal to its (attack x your proficiency bonus) + your summoner level
• There is no attack roll. Remember: you are playing Magic. 
• *When a summoned creature of yours is attacked, its defense equal to defense x your proficiency bonus
• Your creatures and your summoning circle have no AC; every attack automatically hits. Remember: you are playing Magic. 
• While conscious and NOT in a summoning circle, you can control creatures having a summed mana cost no greater than your summoner level (e.g., at level 1, I can control a creature that costs 1 mana, at level 2, I can control one that costs 2 or two creatures that each cost 1).
• Summoned creatures have names and personalities and goals. If they are freed from your control, they will pursue these goals with abandon, whatever they are. When they are killed, they return to wherever you summoned them from, to be summoned again. You might want to stay on good terms with your creatures so they don't try to kill you as soon as you break your circle
• A summoned creature is killed when it suffers damage = its toughness x your prof bonus, plus your summoner level) over the course of a round.
• Otherwise, GM adjudicates card effects using the above as guidelines

Example Cards (2015 Core)

• Caustic Tar: 4, 2 black; enchantment — aura; enchant land; enchanted land has "tap: Target player loses 3 life". ADJUDICATION: target creature loses (3 x proficiency) + summoner level life. 
• Invisibility: 2 blue; enchantment — aura; enchant creature; enchanted creature can't be blocked except by walls. ADJUDICATION: creature is invisible; easy.
• Mind Sculpt: 1, 1 blue; sorcery; target opponent puts the top seven cards of his or her library into his or her graveyard. ADJUDICATION: target loses its action. 
• Torch Fiend: 1, 1 red; creature — devil; 1 red, sacrifice torch fiend: destroy target artifact. Adjudication: the fiend moves up to a creature and blows up an item.
• Venom Sliver: 1, 1 green; creature — sliver; sliver creatures you control have deathtouch. (Any amount of damage a creature with deathtouch deals to a creature is enough to destroy it.) Adjudication: SEEMS LEGIT.
• Flesh to Dust: 3, 2 black; instant; destroy target creature. It can't be regenerated. Adjudication: only if you have more hp right now; otherwise, deal damage = your current hp.
• Soulmender: 1 white; creature — human cleric; tap: you gain 1 life. Adjudication: you get 1 + proficiency bonus + summoner level temp hp.

* May need scaling adjustments. This is not even back of the napkin calculation. Seems fine at apprentice levels to me. If it's too powerful, I see easy adjustments. 

How to Grind 5E's Inspiration and Tell a Story While You're at It

Here is the (paraphrased) RP info from the starter set's dwarven cleric's background: 

Alignment: Neutral Good

Background: Soldier

Traits: polite, defers to others

Ideal: respect

Bond: three cousins

Flaw: doubt if the gods care about mortal affairs

The starter set elaborates on the background, saying that you disobeyed an immoral order and got suspended, and now you're out on the road wanting to dish out some violence to folks that ain't got no respect. 

I rolled some dice and ended up with Thoradin Dankil, middle aged male dwarf of average height/weight. 

After the first encounter (after 3 in-game hours, when I recovered from dropping to zero), I figured I needed to get some inspiration. I checked out my RP info above, and the flaw looked like easy pickings. 

It was. I said he went off to the woods to pray, but couldn't get the words out. Just assumed a bitter look and went back to the party. 

That's not bad. But, once that inspiration was gone and I was jonesing for another hit, I thought: how can I leverage that flaw again? Just doing the same thing would be lame; it needs to go somewhere. 

I could talk about it with another character, but, once you've done that, that's about as far as you can go, isn't it? For instance, I could ask if another player wanted to do a little scene: "How about you ask me to pray for you or a relative or something?" That would give me an opportunity to reveal my flaw. Or I could ask the GM for a scene where I see a leper or something who sees my holy symbol and asks if I can heal him. Both of those would work. Once. 

Hopefully the PHB or DMG will have some advice/techniques along these lines; but, until then, I present unto ye: 

HOW TO MAKE YOUR STUFF DYNAMIC

In the first instance, show how you are dissatisfied, discontent, or unhappy with some state of affairs. 

Example: Thoradin tries to pray but can't. 

In the second instance, show the reason for that dissatisfaction. 

Example: "A stooped and slender woman approaches Thoradin with her infant son; the kid's barely breathing and is thin and wrinkled like a raisin. She asks me to pray for him. I say, if the gods really cared about what happened to him, they wouldn't have let him be born this way in the first place. She says just pray for him. I do."

In the third instance, you are going to assign yourself a goal. 

To do this, you first have to know what you want. What do you want to change? And what significant opposition or situation is stopping you from changing it? 

Then, once you know that, what single, concrete achievement do you think will make that possible? Write that down. 

Then show your work. 

Example: I think: how do I want this to go? What does Thoradin want to change about this situation? Does he want to believe that the gods actually do care? Or does he want to give up all pretense of devotion to the gods to attain some sort of personal authenticity? 

Let's say that I want to believe my god is not only powerful but good. Like Mulder, I want to believe. 

But I don't know right now how it will turn out; I'm only putting a pin in my destination; I'm not mapping the roads I'll take to get there, not yet anyway; and it's not a sure thing that I'll get there at all or that I'll even be satisfied when I get there. 

This isn't plotting a story; it's not railroading or story-before. It's deciding what my story is going to be about—and how I'm going to benefit the party by gaining inspiration like crazy. 

So now I know what I want to change: I want to believe that the (good) gods are actually good and do care about human affairs. The signficant opposition is: everything, all the suffering in the world, personal defeats, baddies making saving throws vs my spell DCs, etc. In other words, the opposition is internal; it's my judgments and emotions. It's a conflict essentially about changing my own beliefs. The world itself need not change for my character to overcome or surrender to this opposition. 

So what is the single, concrete achievement I think will make this change in my beliefs possible? You don't have to decide this on your own; if you don't know, the other players might have something cool in mind, or the GM might have something prepped that already fits. 

Example: I just start making stuff up. Thoradin grew up hearing stories of the Egil Sanguispire, a legendary warrior-ascetic who, because he longed to commune with the same deity that Thoradin worships, dug a pit just wide and tall enough to fully contain his body when kneeling, inscribed the walls with psalms, and filled it with the blood of the god's enemies. When it was full to the brim, he sat in it and breathed until the blood filled his lungs. After ten minutes, he emerged, vomited gallons of blood back into the pit, and the whole thing drained into the earth. He wasn't the same afterward, slew dragons, built empires, etc. They say for those ten minutes he entered the presence of the god and could speak with him as a friend speaks to a friend. That's what Thorin's going to do. He's going to get answers directly.   

Single, concrete achievement: build and drown in a pit of sanguispiration.

Now then, I've got to show my work. I'll have Thoradin start digging a pit somewhere and ask the players which one of them wants to come ask me what I'm doing. That will let the explanation enter the fiction. We'll do a montage or something.  

In the fourth instance, you've got to advance toward you goal in clearly identifiable steps, suffering setbacks, and really suffering. 

Example: digging the pit, killing the god's enemies, collecting and transporting and preserving their blood until I have enough to fill the pit.

In the fifth instance, you need pushback from the world. I'll recruit the GM and other players to pass judgment on what I'm doing and why, to change how I'm thinking. 

Example: one of the PCs brings my a drink while I'm in the pit, inscribing runic psalms into the walls. "You know you're just going to drown in there and die, right? It's just a story." How do I react? Another example: an NPC asks me "What are you hoping to learn? What could you gain from all this?" What do I say? Do I even know? 

In the sixth instance, I need to change my mind or hold steadfast. After suffering, questioning, exploring the issue through my relationships with the other characters in the game (as above), I need to make a decision: is Thoradin going to go through with his original plan, or has he been dissuaded. Then show your work. 

Example: I'm standing above the pit, having filled it to the brim with the big bad's blood, straight from his severed head. Looking very grim. Thoradin has made his decision. 

In the seventh instance, show the outcome of your decision. You reach a point of no return; your decision is tested, and you are vindicated or defeated. How you determine this can vary. There can be a whole subsystem implemented; you can ask the GM just to fiat what happens, you can roll for it, take a vote among the players. Whatever. 

Example: Thoradin walks away. He fastens the lid over the pit and walks away. However it is determined, it's determined that this will be a positive resolution for Thoradin. Maybe, as a result of everything he's experienced, he can believe in the goodness of the gods without possibly drowning to death in a pit of blood for no reason. Or maybe he ditches his holy symbol and retires or switches his cleric levels for fighter levels. 

Alternately, if he had gone through with the sanguispiration, and the resolution was negative, he could just have died, and the party finds him in the morning and holds a funeral, and it's sad. Or he has his vision, gets answers from his god, and they incense him. He emerges from the pit, sets his affairs in order, and kills himself. Or his god blows his mind, and everything is illuminated, even if he can't articulate it to his compadres, and he emerges with pep in his step and a smile on his face.

BUT WHAT IF YOU DIE FIRST?

Sorry, you have a bad ending. Getting a good ending should be hard: you have to survive long enough to get it. If Thoradin dies before his moment of truth, then we probably have our judgment: the gods really don't care. See, Thoradin? You're dead. 

WHAT ABOUT SUFFERING?

Part of the drama of the thing is striving after your character's goal, then suffering. The problem is that D&D doesn't model suffering very well right now. If you have hp, you're pretty much fine. If you don't, you're either about to be fine or dead. 

So you need (a) some things and people to care about that can be damaged or destroyed in the process to cause you mental/emotional suffering, and/or (b) you need to implement some sort of injury system to model physical suffering. Like every failed death save represents an injury or something. 

It could be as simple as: when you fail a death save and survive, you have an injury. GM says what it is, fictionally. Adjudicate any mechanical consequences on the spot. 

 

 

Already Hacking: Redoing HP, Damage, and Death Saves in 5E

D&D has a binary PC-health state by default: fine/dead.

Also, losing hp, being "hit" doesn't necessarily mean anything in the fiction. At least not anything interesting. A goblin can hit you six times with a meat cleaver, and, if you still have hp, you're basically fine. 

Which is why it's a chore to narrate the choreography. It doesn't really affect anything, and I think a lot of people just drop it.

Which is good because it makes things go faster.

HOWEVER, what if this situation were more awesome? Where every hit mattered and changed the fiction, such that leet and brutal choreography was a necessity. 

This is way more lethal than standard. 

DAMAGE = THREAT

Damage should be construed not as physical damage mostly but as the threat of such. When your hp runs out, the threatened damage happens. 

So monsters that do more damage are bigger threats. They're more likely to actually damage you more quickly. 

Option 1: Null Misses

This option doesn't change what misses do. If you miss, you literally just miss or get blocked or whatever. 

On a hit, however, THE MACHINE CRANKS TO LIFE:

Roll damage as normal. If this does the guy, then the guy is done. 

If the guy isn't done, subtract from remaining hp yadda yadda. 

THEN THIS IS THE KEY:

The player that hit has to GRIMLY ESCALATE THE THREAT, and the character so escalated upon MARKS A DEATH SAVE FAILURE (DSF). A critical hit means mark TWO DSFs.

This is awesome and also great, because it creates fictional circumstances that feed back into the mechanics, esp. re: advantage and conditions. 

Example: goblin fighting PC with 35 hp. Goblin does 1d6. If goblin survives, he will take an average of 10 rounds, hitting every round, to deeps those heeps. 

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Instead, how's about the goblin does his 4 damage, the PC scoffs, erases down to 31 hp, and then the GM says, the goblin drops his cleaver and leaps onto you; you roll around on the ground and slam into the wall, and he's climbing up your chest. MARK A DEATH SAVE FAILURE. 

When the PC attacks the goblin, he'll probably hit and do like 80 damage; so he can just say he crushes the goblin's skull between his pectorals or whatever. 

But there are three more goblins coming, and he can only take one more hit before …

THIRD TIME'S THE CHARM

When you hit 3 DSFs, girl, it's time to roll on some death and dismemberment table, or roll on the exhaustion levels table from 5E Basic and apply injury appropriate to the listed effect. Whatever your flavor. Do you. 

Maybe you just trigger the "dying" condition at this point. 

Whatever. What happens at DSFx3 isn't the point.

GETTING RID OF DSF

Let's say our fighter made short work of the gob mounting him. Now he's got a DSF and he's staring down more gobs in the distance. What happens now?

Well here's the deal: if you start AND end your turn UNTHREATENED and you have hp, erase all your death saves at the end of your turn. 

Being threatened in this case means suffering an attack in a round (hit or miss) or starting/ending your turn next to a hostile melee target. 

You know what being threatened is; do I really need to put it in rulesese?

So if those goblins in the distance are shooting at you (whether they hit or miss), you're still threatened and your death saves remain. In any case, since you were in combat at the start of your turn, you're threatened for this turn anyway and can't erase DSFs this turn. 

So a good idea is to use your move to run and break line of sight, get behind cover, head for the back ranks, refocus, and charge back into things. 

Option 2: Monotonicity = felicity

When a character misses while threatened by melee, as a reaction the most likely melee threatener gets a free autohit against them and all that entails. Yes, this makes dodging very useful since it's like attacking with advantange. This is fine with me. Have your fighter tank up and dodge. Someone misses them? Free hit. Downside: don't get to use cool special attacks, maybe not multi attacks—I don't recall. 

Speaking of multi attacks, the "miss" trigger should only count if ALL the attacks miss. If an action produces any hit at all, the action counts as a hit.  

EXAMPLE OF CRAY-CRAY PLAY-PLAY

CATO
AC 19 HP 12 ATK +5 DMG 1d8+3

VS

3 GOBLINS
AC 13 HP 3 ATK +1 DMG 2

FIGHT!!!

Option 1: Null Misses

Round 1: Cato charges gross goblin. Hit. Kills on hp. Filthy goblin misses. Disgusting goblin hits for 2 damage. Cato now at 10 hp. GM says, "Something hits your helmet. It smells like pus, and you can't hear, an you stumble back into the wall." 

Round 2: Cato attacks the disgusting goblin. Kills. Filthy goblin misses. 

Round 3: Cato misses. Filthy gobin hits. Cato now at 8 hp. Marks second DSF. GM says the thing has knocked you down and is straddling you, about to bite your neck.

Round 4: Cato is going to have disadvantage (at least) to do anything fancy; so he decides to roll the goblin and bash his head into the ground repeatedly. Fighters are proficient and killing things; so he'll have his same +5 bonus and no disadvantage. 1d4+3 damage if successful, which it is, and the gob is toast. 

Round 5: reinforcements arrive and draw bows. Cato dashes behind cover and breaks LOS. Luckily, the readied shots miss him. Although he is not currently threatened, he was attacked this turn, and so he can't rid himself of his DSFs.

Round 6: Cato spends his turn holed up against the crates or whatever while the archers maneuver into position. He suffered no attacks started and ended his turn unthreatened by melee; so he erases all DSFs and can start next turn fresh but for the lost hp. 

Option 2: Monotonic

Round 1: Cato charges gross goblin, hits, kills on hp. Filthy goblin attacks, misses, giving Cato a free autohit, kills on hp. Disgusting goblin hits for 4 damage. Cato now has 8 hp and marks DSF. GM says, "It lodges its machete in a crack in your plate, then launches itself at your face. You're barely holding him back from your neck when you both crash into the pillar."

ROUND 2: Cato doesn't want disadv to try to attack with weapon while prone and straddled and grappled; so he tries to choke the goblin out. Miss. Goblin gets an autohit, does 3 damage. Cato now has 5 hp and has failed 2 DS. GM says, "It slips your grip, grabs your head, and starts bashing it against the ground, and your helmet falls off."

Goblin's turn now. GM says, "It pulls away and goes to stomp your skull." Rolls, misses. GM tells Cato to do his damage. It leaves the goblin with 1 hp. GM says, "What do you do, short of taking it out?" Player says, "I roll out of the way, grab it's leg, and sling it into the pillar."

Round 3: GM says, "Great, the pillar is cracking and falling when you lose your grip on the goblin." [Randomly determines direction of pillar's fall: toward the goblin, lucky.] "The goblin has to dive out of the way of the pillar; you'll have advtange if you attack him while he's recovering in the dust." Player says, "O course, I slice him in two." And he does, then slides down behind the pillar in case more hostile a are about. 

Round 4: There are, archers newly arrived, but since Cato began the round in cover behind the fallen pillar, he can spend this round refocusing and erase his DSFs at end of round. He takes a second wind to restore some hp and at end of round erases DSFs. 

SUMMARY

Either option makes things WAY more dangerous and hp less important. I think that's just great. 

I think my players would mutiny though. 

I'll have to bring it on slowly.