Dungeon Master: Wounds

Even when not facing dragons and undead on a daily basis, everyone gets hurt. Of course, the chances of getting hurt are much higher when sharp pointy swords and powerful spells are involved. Just recently I had a situation where my players damaged a character with a crossbow bolt, failed to kill him and instead wounded him. For this reason I would like to put forth optional combat rules for handling an NPC character that was wounded. The exact values and terms used will match up with D&D 5^th edition but can be converted to other systems as well.

When to Use It

I'd recommend using this kind of system mainly for non-playable characters. However, if desired it could also be used for players. It also allows the players the ability to fight someone usually out of their level range depending on the penalty that the wounded character receives.

Types of Wounds

There are a large variety of different kinds of ways characters can be damaged over the course of a campaign and likewise there are many ways for them to get wounded. In the example I mentioned, the character took a crossbow bolt to the chest. Depending on the situation, the type of wound has to be handled on a case by case basis.

Example

Body Wound

The character took a crossbow bolt roughly a week ago (any kind of piercing or slashing wound would also work). As a direct result, scabbing and healing has started but may be torn open from too much strain (three actions taken in three turns or less). If the character does put themselves under too much strain (three actions in a row), they must make a saving throw (DC15) right after taking the third action and on a failure have the wound torn open.

When the wound is torn open, the character takes damage at the end of every turn (2D6) including the turn that the wound was torn open on. The character may use one hand to reduce the damage (by 1D6) or both hands and an action to completely stop the bleeding. They will need to apply pressure on the wound for a short rest before they stop taking damage.

Notes

Severity of the wound can be changed by changing the DC, the damage taken (both with pressure applied and without), the number of turns that determines if the character is under strain as well as the length of time needed before the damage stops being taken. Certain actions can also be chosen not to count to the 3 in a row limit (if a level 1 party is facing a level 5 fighter, you may rule that the wound is bad enough to be under strain after 2 actions). Alternatively, saving throws can be made again after taking damage. On a success, the character stops taking damage. You can also force the character to roll a save if they are damaged in a way that may tear open the wound.