When a living creature loses its head (usually to a vorpal sword or something similar), they take 20 points of bleed damage per round and begin to suffocate. Their body falls prone, they are considered helpless, and they can take no actions. Heal checks cannot stop the bleeding or re-attach the head, only magical healing will work. The healer must have at least one free hand to hold the head in place.
Takes the fun out of decapitation and vorpal weapons I think... I have a paladin right now and he'd be able to survive 9 rounds.. without a head?
And he can 'hold his breath' for 36 rounds, so with that bleed damage adding on suffocation just feels redundant.
But really, in a game where death is cheap enough as it is... knowing you have a very serious chance of dropping dead with a lucky shot on a vorpal weapon is one of the few spine tingling moments left.
Yeah, I see no reason to nerf vorpal weapons.
And people already joke about how you can survive falling 100 feet, have someone cut themselves out of your stomach, and taking cannonballs to the face. Now you can survive without a head? Maybe you can still talk if you have the Die Hard feat?
Mechanically, it's highly flawed. With a cure light wounds and a spell that counters suffocation, you could easily survive without a head. Perhaps even for several days or weeks. The rules also spit in the face of the regenerate spell, which is a spell specifically meant for regrowing/reattaching limbs.
Conversion-wise, it doesn't make sense. Decapitation isn't lethal because you bleed out or can't breathe anymore. It's lethal because you aren't attached to your vital organs anymore.
Thematically, it's hard to swallow. Even in epic fantasy, decapitation means death.
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Thematically, it's hard to swallow. Even in epic fantasy, decapitation means death.
Antoine Lavoisier gives one reason to disagree - at least allegedly, when he was condemned to the guillotine, he pledged to go out like a scientist, and perform an experiment to demonstrate how long a severed head could cling to consciousness by having his friends attend his execution and record how long he could keep blinking.
His answer? 15 seconds, AKA 2-and-a-half D&D combat rounds!
His answer? 15 seconds, AKA 2-and-a-half D&D combat rounds!
Will save DC 15 to remain aware of surroundings. DC goes up by 5 every round.
Seriously though, decapitation is death, unless you homebrew some kind of mythic ability to survive it. Think of Gawain and the Green Knight.
How does a headless body hold it's breath?
How does a severed head hold it's breath?
I would think both parts are incapable of holding their breaths, and both parts begin to suffocate.
Thematically, it's hard to swallow. Even in epic fantasy, decapitation means death.Antoine Lavoisier gives one reason to disagree - at least allegedly, when he was condemned to the guillotine, he pledged to go out like a scientist, and perform an experiment to demonstrate how long a severed head could cling to consciousness by having his friends attend his execution and record how long he could keep blinking.
His answer? 15 seconds, AKA 2-and-a-half D&D combat rounds!
Thank you for playing devil's advocate, Hiding! Besides, I just put this together for fun. If players don't consider this a fun rule, they shouldn't use it.
If they're a chicken, I say go for it!
Maybe it can be a commoner feat...Wait oh my god I just got the best idea for a thing.
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I don't understand the people saying "survive without a head". That just doesn't make sense to me. Perhaps they meant "survive without a body"?
"You" is your brain (and even that is in question, getting into "souls")... not the ambulatory sack of meat and organs that is the life support system / environment sensory and interactive tool.
Anyways, if I were to make rules for it, I'd go with "immediately start suffocating".
In the first round, she falls unconscious (0 hit points). In the following round, she drops to –1 hit points and is dying. In the third round, she suffocates.
Soooo at the beginning of the third round (or, 2 and a half rounds later), you die.
Seems eerily accurate. Don't even need to go into bleed damage, since suffocation rules already alter your hitpoints.
Though, the only spell that can help in this situation is Regenerate, which has a 3 round casting time and 1 round to take effect (if you have the head pressed against the neck).
Can't be Quickened (1 round or greater caveat).
So it's all a moot point, really. At best it gives a morbid description of what's happening.
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This thread makes me think of that scene from Ridiculous 6... "Quick Herm do the headless guy!"
For that matter, how does this work with outsiders with the extraplanar subtype? They don't need to breathe but are considered living creatures. Hm.
Ah, well.. That might be where bleeding damage would need to kick in, ha!
If the soul doesn't leave, that's a headless horseman(or woman).
Negate Deathblow immediately is your only chance, and yes, gotta have the head in place. This is why Negate Deathblow has to be second level for most. Sure, It's a time school spell and only does one thing.
Any spell to save the victim must be applied before their initiative because they are going to die then, more or less.
Or you could just use a ring of wishes for a one-time immunity to decapitation (to my players, #sorrynotsorry)
What happens without a head is that you instantly lose blood pressure, a.k.a. go into shock. No blood reaches the brain, and there goes your consciousness, within seconds. You are not technically dead until thebrain starts taking irreversible damage within a minute or so. You die within minutes. Still, it is not inconceivable that magical healing could fix things within that time.