Dire Survival Rules (5e Variant Rule)
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Dire Survival Rules[edit]
This is a set of new rules and changes to the rules to make survival more dire!
Combat[edit]
Dropping to 0 Hit Points[edit]
- Collapse
Whenever you take damage equal to half your maximum of hit points in a single turn, you are instantly reduced to 0 hit points.
- Knockout
When you take damage on a single attack equal to the maximum number possible on your hit die + your Constitution modifier, you must succeed on a Constitution saving throw against a DC of 15, or you are knocked unconscious until the end of your next turn.
- Hard Recovery
Whenever you fail a death saving throw, you must spend 1 hit die or suffer 1 level of exhaustion.
- Stabilizing a Creature
The DC of the Wisdom (Medicine) check to stabilize a creature increases in 5 for each failed Death Saving Throw.
Rest and Sleep[edit]
Short Rest[edit]
Short rests work as the core rules, with the following changes:
- Rest Limits
After three short rests, a character can't benefit from another one until it completes a long rest.
- Tending to Wounds
A character is only capable of spending hit dice to recover hit points if properly treated. A character can treat another by making a Wisdom (Medicine) check with a DC equal 10 + 1 for each hit die spent by the treated character.
To treat a creature, a character needs to have the healer's kit in hand, and spend 1 use of the kit for each hit die spent by the treated creature.
A creature can tend to its own wounds by making this check, but the check is made with Disadvantage.
Long Rest[edit]
Long rests work as the core rules, with the following changes:
- Full Recovery
A character don't regain hit points after finishing a long rest. Instead, a character that starts a long rest with more than half its maximum of hit points regain all its hit dice at the end of the rest.
- Rough Recovery
A character that start a long rest below its maximum amount of hit points recover half its total number of hit dice (minimum of one die) at the end of the rest.
- Hard Recovery
A character that start a rest with less hit points than its Constitution modifier + 4 regain only 1 hit die after finishing the rest.
Hazards[edit]
Food[edit]
- Food Poisoning
Whenever a character eats food that is not fresh, such as rations or carried food, it must succeed on a Constitution saving throw against a DC of 10. On a failed save, the creature is poisoned.
A creature can be cured from food poisoning by any character with the Healer's kit, after a successful Wisdom (Medicine) check against a DC of 10, that must be done over the course of a short or a long rest. At the end of the rest, the treated character loses 1 hit die. If the character doesn't have a hit die, it suffers 1 level of exhaustion.
If the a character takes poison damage or is fully submerged in water while carrying food, that food is spoiled. Any creature who consumes spoiled food must succeed on a Constitution saving throw against a DC of 15 or be poisoned.
- Starvation
The rules for starvation are the same as the ones presented in the core rules, with the following changes:
- A character can go a number of days without food equal to its Constitution modifier.
- After finishing a long rest, a character loses a number of hit dice equal to the number of days it has passed without food.
- If the character don't have hit dice to lose, it suffers levels of exhaustion equal to the number of days it has passed without food.
- Dehydration
Same as the core rules, with the following changes:
- Each failure in a saving throw to avoid exhaustion due to dehydration increases the DC in 5.
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