Conversion of stat / lvl Dmg / drain.

[Jazzic]

Hello there fellow pathfinders!

Im GM'ing a group of 6 players, and we have for some time now decided not to play with stat/lvl damage or drain. Simply cause we think its too big of a game changer, and it kinda slows things down too much.

Is there a guide to converting these things to flat damage or some fun conditions/poisons/deseases w/e. I know i can just do it as i see fit, but i want to make sure that it gets balanced so that the CR still matches the creatures.

For example 1d4 wis dmg could be converted to 1d6 or 1d8 flat dmg?

Any thoughts or better yet, a guide!

Yours truly
The Jazzman

[Amanuensis]

Well, there are obviously a lot of ways to work around these effects (potions, scrolls, friendly temples), but I can understand that people don't like the book-keeping that is involved and the fact that it interrupts the dungeon crawl ("That is the third time today that you show up at our temple for a lesser restoration spell - maybe I can interest you in our holiday special healing flat rate?").

You could have it work as temporary conditions that last only several minutes, but your players would still have to keep track of the effects.

Converting ability/level damage/drain into regular damage will be difficult. To figure out damage, you could compare the monster to other monsters of similar CR.

I like ability damage/drain, because it is one of the few things that scares even powerful adventurers. And it is more of a psychological effect - usually, the consequences aren't as devastating as they were in previous editions of the game (I think in my whole GM career, I only killed one unlucky PC with a combination of energy drain and finger of death).

[Jazzic]

Thanks for the reply.
Discussed it witht the group and we actually decided to bring it back in after 5 years absence lol. Though on a test basis and only with effects lasting minutes and not hours days or weeks.
Regards
The Jazzman

[Knight Magenta]

Ability damage is not really damage. It's more of a debuff. You can convert drain/damage into conditions instead of tracking scaling penalties. Keep track of the damage/drain as normal, but apply regular conditions at certain thresholds.

If the damage is more than 2, but less than half the character's stat, apply the lesser condition, if it is more than half, apply the greater condition. If the damage is more than the stat, then the character is unconscious.

STR/DEX Damage
lesser: fatigued
greater: exhausted

INT/WIS/CHA Damage
lesser: sickend
greater: nauseated

Con damage
lesser: sickend
greater: nauseated
Unlike other abilities, each point of CON damage also deals 1/2 your level in un-typed damage. Also, when your CON damage equals your CON score you die.

These sort of mimic the effects of ability damage. They may be more dangerous this way since the conditions affect more things, but they don't really scale up.

Adjust the thresholds to fit. It may make more sense to make the lesser condition start at 4 damage and the greater start at a (character's max stat - 4)