Combat

Presented here is an adjustment to the massive damage system presented in the core rules. The original massive damage rules restrict such instances to times when a player would have 100 health or more. For most player characters this will occur around 10th level, but by then the DC 14 save is inconsequential. A 10th level character with a favored fort save and a moderate Con bonus and limited magic can easily have a fortitude save of 10 or higher, making massive damage only an issue for a few levels before the characters have a save that allows them to auto-pass. In this reworked massive damage system, the DC for massive damage scales with HD.

If you ever sustain a single attack that deals an amount of damage equal to half your total hit points (minimum 25 points of damage) or more and it doesn't kill you outright, you must make a Fortitude save with a DC equal to 11 +½ your Hit dice. If this saving throw fails by 5 or less then you immediatly drop to 0 hitpoints, begin Dying and become dismembered (see below). If the save is failed by more than 5, you instead die regardless of your current hit points. If you take half your total hit points or more in damage from multiple attacks, no one of which dealt more than half your total hit points (minimum 25), the massive damage rule does not apply.

Dismemberment When a massive damage roll is failed by 5 or less, the PC attempting the save is instead maimed. Determine a body part by rolling on Table 1: Body Part Maimed. The indicated body part(s) are flavorfully and narratively destroyed by the attack. Mechanically, this is treated as total loss of the body part though the flavor of the loss can impact the methods by which it can be restored or replaced.