First off, "Con drain" and "Con damage" are different things, and they work differently.
But, given that you take enough con damage or drain to lose 1 hp per level, picture it like this: You had 40 max hp, and you had taken 10 damage, so you had 30 hp remaining. Now, you lose 4 from your max hp. You've still taken 10 points of damage. 10 points of damage against 36 max hp means you have 26 hp remaining.
TL;DR: Yes, your current HP go down as well.
Current and Max HP drop at the same time.
As for how visible Con damage/drain is, that's never defined, so it's up to the GM.
Does a character always lose hit points when there con drops
No, not always. It depends on why it "dropped". Ability drain, ability damage, losing a bonus to Constitution...
But say a 4th level character thats already down to 30 hp from 40 hp
Loses 2con points does there currant hp drop by 4 as well as there max
Or does just there max hp go down
Yes, they lose the hit-points and could even die from that.
Amd does con drain show any phiscial signs thst the character is damaged
It should, but there's no rule for it. There's no way having the life drained away from you doesn't leave a mark though, in my opinion.
I think in the case of ability damage/penalty, you would. In fact...
Constitution: Damage to your Constitution score causes you to take penalties on your Fortitude saving throws. In addition, multiply your total Hit Dice by this penalty and subtract that amount from your current and total hit points. Lost hit points are restored when the damage to your Constitution is healed.
The rules explicitly state as much.
However, in the case of Con Drain, the rules are less clear. As a GM, I might rule that they'd have the same percentage of hp as before, rounded up. So in the above example, where the person has 30/40hp, they'd drop to 27/36.
As a GM, I might rule that they'd have the same percentage of hp as before, rounded up.
Why would you suddenly turn the damage they've taken into a percentage of their hit points?
If you take 10 damage in round 1, and then in round 2 your max hit points drop by 4 due to CON drain, there's no reason why the 10 damage you took in round 1 should be retroactively turned into 9 damage just because of percentages.
As a GM, I might rule that they'd have the same percentage of hp as before, rounded up.Why would you suddenly turn the damage they've taken into a percentage of their hit points?
If you take 10 damage in round 1, and then in round 2 your max hit points drop by 4 due to CON drain, there's no reason why the 10 damage you took in round 1 should be retroactively turned into 9 damage just because of percentages.
Damage immediately subtracts from hp. Once that's done, there's no reason to keep track of specific damage, just overall health. And you are still losing some current hp, so it hasn't actually reduced the damage.
On the other hand, if your CON drops due to a buff or rage wearing off, then I think you should keep the same percent of your max hp.
Not necessarily, because those are temporary effects, and don't change the base score. Ability Drain does.
EDIT: Though removing a belt that gives a Con boost would.
Ahh, but that's the risk. You rage, you gain HP from a Higher CON, you take a lot of damage, the rage ends, and you fall below 0 HP. You are now dying. Your gamble. Maybe you get that curing potion down before the rage ends, maybe the cleric gets to you in time, maybe not. To quote the comedians of yore "You're the one who wanted to be a Barbarian".
So I've had this issue recently with a person who was continuing to take con damage after they died. Do they continue to lose hit points once they are in the negative?
So I've had this issue recently with a person who was continuing to take con damage after they died. Do they continue to lose hit points once they are in the negative?
For the other ability scores SKR said it should be tracked so you know how many casting of a spell you need to bring them back to normal for most ability drain, but since con kills instead I would think bringing them back to life would restore the con to normal. <---My opinion with respect to con damage. I am not 100% if that is RAI.
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So then...there's really no benefit to a temporary CON boost at all. So why would I ever, ever what a CON boost? And why should it be a major class feature if you want it to be useless?Ahh, but that's the risk. You rage, you gain HP from a Higher CON, you take a lot of damage, the rage ends, and you fall below 0 HP. You are now dying. Your gamble. Maybe you get that curing potion down before the rage ends, maybe the cleric gets to you in time, maybe not. To quote the comedians of yore "You're the one who wanted to be a Barbarian".
You do have a temporary bonus to Fortitude saving throws. Presumably, if you have a CON bonus in effect while you are unconscious, you would also get the bonus on your CON check to stabilize.
But, yes, the additional hit points from a temporary CON increase are not treated the same as temporary hit points. That is why there is a feat to allow a barbarian to remain in rage when she falls unconscious. When a barbarian rages, she takes a great risk.
I'm not sure you can take Con damage after you die. You are dead. An object. No longer living.
Now, if you mean unconcious then yes, you can continue to take con damage until you die (from either your Con reaching 0 or your hp reaching negative Con).