RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 16, RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32
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This is a rough idea, but I felt like sharing it to see what people thought.
Use the following instead of the normal rules for negative health and death:
At 0 health and below your character is disabled, losing 1 hp for each standard action you take. If you lose enough health in this way to put your negative health equal to your Constitution score you fall unconscious. Each round at negative health you must make a DC 10 Constitution check, taking a penalty equal to your negative health. If you fail your character falls unconscious.
If you take enough damage in one attack to drop you below an amount of negative health equal to your Constitution you fall unconscious.
Once unconscious in any of the ways mentioned above you live for a number of rounds equal to your Constitution score. After that time you die. You can be stabilized with a heal check or with any kind of magically healing. You remain unconscious unless you are brought above 0 hp.
Coup de grace work normally.
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Okay. I know this means less death for the PCs, but it could also mean less death for the NPCs. It also means coup de grace is much more important to perform.
I should probably have an amount of negative hp that means death. Maybe double or triple Con.
I think I get it, but I also think there is another way to write it that is shorter and easier to understand.
I think I get it, but I also think there is another way to write it that is shorter and easier to understand.
I agree, but tell that to the CRB too!
I continously see all these threads about an alternate death mechanic, and all of them are ways to mitigate death. It seems to me that mitigating the death mechanic is a sure way to take the 'heroic' out of roleplay - making it so that dying is difficult to do. I prefer challenges, and the threat of death by over-staying a challenge that turns out to be too tough simply means removing yourself from that combat and coming back later with help (more combatants, better weapons, better magic.) PC death is a definite motivator in many situations. In my opinion removing the death factor mitigates being a hero - it lessens the fun when threats are no longer threatening.
It certainly isn't the direction you're going, but I've published a setting for PF (Kaidan), where the interesting stuff doesn't really happen until after you die. Death is such an important aspect, that raise dead, reincarnation (by spell) and resurrection magic does not work. The entire setting is built around a cursed reincarnation mechanic.
I continously see all these threads about an alternate death mechanic, and all of them are ways to mitigate death. It seems to me that mitigating the death mechanic is a sure way to take the 'heroic' out of roleplay - making it so that dying is difficult to do. I prefer challenges, and the threat of death by over-staying a challenge that turns out to be too tough simply means removing yourself from that combat and coming back later with help (more combatants, better weapons, better magic.) PC death is a definite motivator in many situations. In my opinion removing the death factor mitigates being a hero - it lessens the fun when threats are no longer threatening.
It certainly isn't the direction you're going, but I've published a setting for PF (Kaidan), where the interesting stuff doesn't really happen until after you die. Death is such an important aspect, that raise dead, reincarnation (by spell) and resurrection magic does not work. The entire setting is built around a cursed reincarnation mechanic.
One effect of mitigating death is to make it matter more, rather than cheapening it. No penalties until you are dying on the ground, or one shot from standing to dead; this makes it feel less dramatic. Following this with a magical revivification makes it (eventually) insignificant, annoying, and mechanical.
I like death rules that give at least some kind of death-spiral near the end, and recovery rules that make it less than automatic to return from the other side.
Now, as to the OP's actual proposal, I think that during the disabled phase you should automatically lose hit points. Perhaps more if you take standard actions.
Note also, that the Wounds and Vigor rules from UC, although nearly impenetrably arcane as written, are very similar to this. The Wound points essentially represent twice your negative Con in standard PF. When you're into them, you are staggered, which is similar to disabled. Then it gets worse from there. It's an attractive alternative, but as I said, confusingly written. They need some chart graphics to help navigate it. I have to read the entry three times to get my bearings, and I already understand how it works!
Also all this changes some classes and class features. What if you have a PC that is a Ninja or Assassin with the ability to assassinate. I know that assassination is not HP dependant, which probably puts it outside this discussion. However, can a ninja or assassin assassinate an opponent? Or are they forced to do the deed, then have to do a coup de grace to finish them off? Assassinate is very much like a coup de grace, so there should be no need for extra steps to accomplish the task.
What happens when the opponent is the ninja or assassin? If you're PCs are mitigated from death, can they even be assassinated?
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gamer-printer makes some good points. I'll add to them.
Despite your post saying that CdG works normally, it can't do so on an unconscious creature since the actual damage dealt wouldn't matter - you stop tracking it when a creature becomes unconscious. At that point only the CdG save vs death applies. I don't think this is a huge deal but it does make CdG less effective (if they make the save there's no chance the damage kills them anyway).
You should consider ferocity and orc ferocity (the 1-round version), which become less powerful if any character can potentially remain conscious for several rounds under 0 HP, but are much too powerful if you let a character with ferocity act during the whole [con score] rounds when they're dying and supposed to be unconscious and can't be killed by HP damage.
You've also removed the possibility to self-stabilize - or to stabilize a disabled but conscious character. Among other things this makes it impossible for a lone character left for dead to recover. Unfortunately since you've converted the stabilization roll to a "don't fall unconscious" roll I'm not sure what to do to bring it back in.