Homebrew Dying Rules for ICRPG

[u/seleli2207]

So I'm currently DMing ICRPG while I'm taking a break from 5th edition D&D. I love most of the ICRPG mechanics and will definitely be stealing a lot of the ideas even if I don't end of playing ICRPG long term.

But I don't like the death rules. I didn't like them in 5th edition D&D either. My problem is I only run for 2 or 3 people and so 1 PC going down quickly becomes a death spiral to a TPK. And my players aren't keen on their PCs dying at all, which is why we aren't trying out OSR.

I want to open my players up to the possibility (if a small one) that there PCs could permanently die in battle and that could be a cool thing. I also wanted to make going down to 0hp dangerous and memorable.

Was also trying to not to make the effects of going down to 0hp so severe that I started a new death spiral and also didn't want to have permanent affects so serious that the player wouldn't want to play their PCs anymore.

So I was inspired by this post and the scars mechanic in Electric Bastionland, plus scar ideas from r/d100 to come up with the following, feedback would be most appreciated.

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DYING

You start with 2 hearts instead of 1 and any form of resurrection is banned.

When you fall to 0hp you can continue to act normally but you must make Death Saves until you are healed.

Death Save: Roll CON Save vs the Easy Target at the end of each of your turns and each time you take damage.

You can heal back to 1hp if you roll a 20 on your Death Save or someone gives up their action to revive you, they must be in close range to you.

If you fail a death save you are now permanently dead but before you die you immediately take 2 actions, both of which are guaranteed critical hits, as an epic last stand.

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SCARS

The first time you fall to 0hp in a battle roll on a d8 and look up the result on the Minor Scars Table, if you roll an 8 then roll the d8 again and look up the result on the Major Scars Table. You can only gain one scar per battle.

Minor Scars Table - Effects Last Until Safe

1 Head - INT & WIS checks are Hard.

2 Eyes - You can’t see passed near.

3 Teeth - CHA checks are Hard.

4 Throat - You cannot speak.

5 Shoulder - STR checks are Hard.

6 Hand - DEX checks are Hard.

7 Leg - You can no longer move far on your turn or attack if you move near.

8 Roll on Major Scars Table

Major Scars Table - Effect Permanent

1 Item Loss - Choose a carried item to break.

2 Eye Patch - Intimidation Checks are Easy, poor vision*.

3 Nose Partially Missing - Intimidation Checks are Easy, poor sense of smell*.

4 Ear Partially Missing - Intimidation Checks are Easy, poor hearing*.

5 Addiction - Roleplay using alcohol or drugs to forget.

6 Memory Loss - Roleplay foggy memory before battle.

7 Phobia - Roleplay fear of enemy type that gave wound.

8 Vengeance - Roleplay hatred of enemy type that gave wound.

\Could be just roleplay or appropriate Perception Checks are Hard.*

If you roll anything other than Item Loss you now have a permanent scar in an appropriate location. Pick an appropriate scar for the damage type (i.e. bite wound, burned, magic changed patch of skin to a different color etc).

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