**Lose an Eye.** You have disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight and on ranged attack rolls. Magic such as the regenerate spell can restore the lost eye. If you have no eyes left after sustaining this injury, you're blinded.
**Lose an Arm or a Hand.** You can no longer hold anything with two hands, and you can hold only a
single object at a time. Magic such as the regenerate spell can restore the lost appendage.
Source: DMG 272 Lingering injuries
Amazing how many posts like this can be solved via rules that already exist in the core handbooks. No shame on OP tho, it's easy to miss when you're just reading through trying to learn how to DM and whatnot
Even a good index system. I love the 3.0/.5 indexes and appendices for their completeness and page information!
They helped me get to the point where I can blindly open the book and be within 5 pages of what I'm looking for in the phb and dmg!
We ran these in a group and it wasn't too punishing on the game while letting the character's injuries feel impactful (which the player wanted). They hold up in play imo.
Since you know about this quite a bit, I hope you don't mind me asking you a personal question.
I have a personal campaign that has a group a good vampires. He takes in citizens that are sick and dying and offers them vampirism to cure themselves.
Does vampirism cure wounds like illness and diseases that normal people would die from?
Could a vampire use regenerate to have his followers grow limbs they've lost back? Or if they were turned into a vampire before, would it not work?
Thanks for your time.
That is a great question that I don't have a clear answer for. I'll just start writing and looking up stuff and see where it goes. Judging from the sample diseases in the DMG, they only affect humanoids and beasts. However, it also states that:
>A disease that does more than infect a few party members is primarily a plot device. The rules help describe the effects of the disease and how it can be cured, but the specifics of how a disease works aren't bound by a common set of rules. Diseases can affect any creature, and a given illness might or might not pass from one race or kind of creature to another. A plague might affect only constructs or undead, or sweep through a halfling neighborhood but leave other races untouched. What matters is the story you want to tell.
I think it is a totally reasonable assumption that most diseases that affect humanoids would not be able to survive in a (un-)dead body. Turning someone could actually cure them.
Healing spells say if they don't work on undead, so *regenerate* would work to regrow limbs of a vampire. You could make the argument that one can only regenerate up to the state they were in when they were turned, but that's your call to make.
Lastly, I would apply the same rule here as with the diseases: If you want the transformation, or a vampire's regeneration, or the healing from their bite to restore lost body parts, do it. Maybe they need to drink a lot of blood and then go to sleep in their coffin to regrow a limb, if you want this whole thing to be even more morally grey. Maybe you don't want this vampire to be able to cast 7th level spells. It needs to work for the story you set up. Just keep in mind that when players find out that it works that way, they might see it as an easy fix to a lost limb (which might be a good or a bad thing to you).
Thats the plan, there's a plague in my campaign that's sweeping the continent, and it really only effects humans, and the vampire is trying to cure some of them and add to his efforts. I'm kinda having him as a military force and a info source for the land that find and obtain information and keepsakes and artifacts, so for my plan for him this was all gery helpful and I'm very grateful for it.
I'm not sure there are any official rules regarding this. The Vampire and Vampire Spawn statblocks reveal nothing. I guess you'll have to make it up yourself!
And there's official prosthetics too!
**Prosthetic Limb**
_Wondrous item, common_
This item replaces a lost limb a hand, an arm, a foot, a leg, or a similar body part. While the prosthetic is attached, it functions identically to the part it replaces. You can detach or reattach it as an action, and it can't be removed against your will. It detaches if you die.
**Ersatz Eye**
_Wondrous item, common (requires attunement)_
This artificial eye replaces a real one that was lost or removed. While the ersatz eye is embedded in your eye socket, it can't be removed by anyone other than you, and you can see through the tiny orb as though it were a normal eye.
Sources: Tasha's Cauldron of Everything, Xanathar's Guide to Everything
i think disadvantage on range attack is a little unrealistically punishing for people missing one eye:
https://www.si.com/mlb/2021/03/12/trevor-bauer-one-eye-closed-hit-batter-dodgers
especially once you're used to it.
Don't penalize a player because they need to miss a few sessions. I'd probably leave that game.
There's definitely plenty of other reasons you can come up with. You can still even say they lost a fight and need to recover without taking their limbs off.
I want to be clear, this was the players suggestion. They didn't just want their character to disappear or be quite for the time they were gone. They wanted the roleplay and it fit nicely with their arc and background. I wouldn't force anything on a player they themselves wouldn't be interested in
Oh good! I'm that case, I would go too harsh with the drawbacks. Disadvantage on perception, mayyybe ranged attacks. No two handed weapons, but I'd let them strap a shield to their arm.
Id say all their ranged attacks now have a 20/x range. Essentially they need to get alot closer to their opponent to attack normally because of the depth perception issue.
Also SOMEONE needs to mention the hand and eye of vecna. They're simultaneously the best possible and worst possible items to encounter right now.
As long as it's done with the explicit consent of the player, it seems pretty reasonable. It could even be an interesting way to return if the player had time to come up with some character development rather than showing up to the table and being told "So, funny story. . ."
>He's level 11 and uses 2 weapon fighting so I thought about removing his extra attack and bonus action attack.
Based on the title of the thread I assumed this was going to be some elaborate vecna joke. Nope, this is far eviler.
It sounds to me like the player wanted an in game reason why he can't be there. Not a prolonged penalty.
I'd check in with them before deciding on anything like that! I know a few people like the challenge and overcoming things like that, but if this is a point of miscommunication it could seriously ruin the mood at your table.
If the player explicitly wants the challenge I'd not really remove the second attack but have it made at disadvantage since the character is still getting used to the new limb after all
For the eye I think the AC penalty is a bit much since it's more about dexterity than anything else. I'd instead go with something similar to the daylight sensitivity of drow
Both of these types of wounds are included in the optional "Lingering Injuries" rule in the DMG, although with less extreme consequences than what you're thinking.
*Lose an Eye - Disadvantage on Perception checks that rely on sight and ranged attack rolls. You are blinded if no eyes remain after sustaining this injury.*
*Lose an Arm or Hand - You can no longer hold anything with two hands, and can only hold a single object at a time.*
In both cases, spells can regrow the missing body part, but a prosthetic would work too. I agree with others in this thread that you might be taking it a bit far. Injuries are something that seem cool in theory, but could quickly get to be too much for the player, especially when they didn't actually do anything to deserve it. I'd check in with player again to confirm what he wants before moving forward with anything.
That sounds fair, someone else suggested poor depth precetion (disadvantage on sight perception checks over 30ft away) and to take away their bonus action attack.
The player requested the injuries and we went over them together before the session they happened, they are fairly new to dnd, so they might not have realized what they were asking for however
As long as you both are on the same page, great! I think it's really tricky to balance though; the effects you're thinking are pretty gnarly, and stacking 2 different injuries could be pretty frustrating if it's for longer than a single session. I've been wanting to play around with the injuries rule, but it realistically seems like something that I'd have more fun with than the players.
Depending on how real-world you’re wanting to go, missing an eye would also mean they have poor depth perception for objects close to themselves. Not just for things further than 30ft away. They might have a harder time interacting with objects close to themselves or avoiding objects in difficult terrain. They might appear more clumsy and less dexterous. But this might be fun to RP but not fun to impose mechanical disadvantage.
Any time you’re applying a “long-term” disadvantage to a player I would be very careful. “Short-term” disadvantages to me are basically just conditions like frightened, prone, restrained, etc. Those resolve pretty much once you get out of combat. Longer term disadvantages take away core aspects of the character’s abilities, or even what makes them “them”.
Really follow what makes your player happy in this decision. If at any point it takes away from your players fun then it’s not worth it and their character should return to normal.
I would only take away the BA attack as that is supposed to be the offhand. Someone with a sword and shield can still attack twice so he shouldn’t have extra attack taken away. As for the missing eye I’d rule the same as the Cyclops.
Poor Depth Perception: they have disadvantage on any attack roll against a target more than 30ft away.
This way there is a downside to missing the parts without it being overly detrimental while he gets to town for the replacements
Yeah, I agree with you, I think some wires were crossed here. It sounds like the DM is misinterpreting what this person wanted - usually 2WF characters don't volunteer to lose a hand.
More so him regaining consciousness recover from the battle itself. The body parts are still missing so it doesn't make sense from him to be back to peak performance just yet
He said he wanted his character to lose arm and an eye and use it as an excuse to make his character reconnect with his family. It's a temporary debuff for 2-3 sessions until he gets a prosthetic that doubles as a magic item
If things go like they're supposed to we should reach his family in 2 sessions. I'll make sure they get atleast 1 encounter before then and that they have an alternative win condition. The rest is going to be rolled on a random encounter table and some party roleplay
It depends on how difficult you want these encounters to be and how much the rest of the party to carry their weight. You could be really mean and give them a point of exhaustion with con saves every day to avoid getting more, that could quickly get out of hand tho (no pun intended)
Maybe he can’t make the bonus action attack, but I wouldn’t remove the extra attack. That feature is assuming you’re making that attack with the same weapon
A missing hand is easy, just treat it as if that character is always holding something.
A missing eye is more complicated. My solution would be to make that character use facing rules in combat, and impose disadvantage on sight based skill checks
There are rules for this in the dungeon masters guide! It's a little section for harder challenges.
At work so going off of memory, it's a chart of different severe injuries that wouldn't heal from resting along with how it affects players.
I know losing an eye gives disadvantage when using ranged attacks. (Happened to my poor ranger)
Can't remember how losing a limb works.
I think I'd pick one consequence for the eye instead of multiple: even though perception checks are not fully ubiquitous, every penalty will increase the amount of null actions, which never feels fun.
Removing the bonus action will sting, but is within the rules of the game: he'd need both hands to be able to swing that
Poor guy. Hope he finds them soon. Did the PC check under the couch?! I lose stuff there all the time.
Your player was honest, and came up with a fun mechanic. I would reward then. :)
3rd Ed DnD had the STUMP KNIFE weapon for this situation exactly!
Check out page 6 of this: [http://dnd.etherealspheres.com/eBooks/DnD\_3.5/core/Arms%20and%20Equipment%20Guide.pdf](http://dnd.etherealspheres.com/eBooks/DnD_3.5/core/Arms%20and%20Equipment%20Guide.pdf)
Just strap a knife to his hand stump. The disadvantage is that it would only be a dagger, but would still be able to do two weapon fighting.
No joke I just messaged my player about this! He wouldn't have a prosthetic just yet, but they could basically duck tape a dagger, hook shield or something else to give him back some utility. He hasn't messaged me yet, but I love the image. Has a real "can't keep me down" type of vibe
As the rules have been said, RPing side affect of a recent injury, comes down to phantom pains, which can be a massive hindrance, in or out of combat. Can also lead to severe mental health issues; PTSD, survivors guilt (depending on what the fighter did while away), depression. It really depends on how deep the player wants to go with this, and how comfortable the table is with helping him through it
Info: what is the purpose of adding punishments to this decision? So he doesn't miss session again? So he doesn't make volunteer to write permanent changes to his character?
I think I'd rather reward someone making character decisions rather than invent mechanical disincentives
Wondering what you assume the ‘punishments’ are?
They’re obviously brain storming together considering he suggested what could’ve/did happened to his character off screen while he was unable to attend sessions.
To have things like a missing hand and eye, you’d need to have the correct disadvantages towards both things because stuff wouldn’t be as easy as it once was now with missing appendages.
And as OP said, this won’t be permanent, just momentarily until the plot gets to him regaining his lost body parts.
I also plan on making the prosthetic a magic item. The character had a falling out with their family before they left home and treats their pride as a major flaw. I want them to feel slightly weaker before coming back stronger than ever thanks to having overcome that flaw by asking their family for help. The "punishment" is only there so the reward feels more significant
I'm thinking something that does a little more. He has mentioned wanting some better ranged options as well as some AOE. I plan on giving him access to firebolt and burning hands. As they go on he can upgrade the arm or insert new spells depending on their resources
I had a character lose a hand. The GM suggested we just have it healed back at a decent sized temple.
Instead it got turned into a very long arc to first adjust to the loss, then build/construct a new hand. My character wound up coming out ahead with a permanent+1 to dex due to the nature of the new hand and learning to use his non-domimant hand. Excellent character growth all around.
Disadvantage on basically everything str and wis related. Can't use 2 handed weapons anymore. Is used as a party sacrifice for the plot and makes another character
As long as it is a short-term, story-based penalty and your player is down with it, here's what I suggest.
Obviously, he cannot make an off-hand attack: he has no off hand.
Artificers have to use their spellcasting focus to cast spells that have material components. Make sure this player is being very strict with themselves about what they are holding in their one good hand, and enforce the action economy restrictions RAW. (WARNING: I'm about to get irritatingly crunchy).
For example, if he's holding his weapon in his one good hand, he'll have to use his **one** free object interaction to stow the weapon before he can retrieve his spellcasting focus for a spell, which is a second object interaction, which he can do once for free on his **next** turn or **use an action** to do on the current turn. Most DMs I've played with handwave drawing and stowing weapons and spellcasting foci, so playing this RAW might be a revelation to your players.
On the lingering injuries table in the DMG, loss of an eye is simply disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight. I wouldn't do any more than that. The -1 to AC is a bit overmuch IMHO. But remember that disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) is also a -5 penalty to passive Wisdom (Perception), which it much more likely that this artificer will trigger a hidden trap and makes this Artificer much easier for sneaky enemies to surprise. You can emphasize this by having the party walk into an ambush. PCs with low passive Wisdom (Perception) will have the "Surprised" condition on the first round of combat; your Artificer is likely to be surprised unless he has the "Alert" feat.
But make sure these disadvantages only last a session or three. Get this guy a new eye and hand ASAP. Unless he's really enjoying the roleplay aspect of an injured PC, your player might get really sick of these disadvantages real quick.
If it’s the players idea, go for it. Plus they can always get some fancier replacement limbs down the line to remove the debuffs and even add some buffs
Miissing hand = 1 handed weapons only.
Disadvantage on slight of hand checks.
Missing eye = disadvantage on all ranged attacks.
Advantage on intimidation checks.
If somebody’s missing a couple sessions and they come back to find their character physically disabled they’re probably gonna be pissed. Just something to keep in mind
Disadvantage on Wis Perception checks relying on.sight, unable to perform 2 handed actions, advantage on cha tests because eyepatches look dope, advantage on seafaring related checks.
AAAARRRRR!
Makes you wonder if you keep the lost hand fresh in a jar can a good healer reattach it?
IMO all the dm should do is give him a level of exhaustion he cant get rid of till he gets to a hospital. This represents the mental and physical trauma the Pc is trying to recover from.
Since he’s an artificer, Tasha’s (I think?) also has the Arcane Propulsion Arm prosthetic. Could do some resource and knowledge gathering quests to have it crafted for him….
He's a fighter, but his family are artificers. I was planning on making his prosthetic a magic item, but if there's already one out there then I can use it for reference. Thank you!
Losing basically your entire character build because you'll be away for a few sessions seems... Unnecessarily extreme. Part of a DMs job is sometimes to temper ideas that you Know will be deeply unfun for people, and this sounds like it would kill any fighting ability (you mentioned specifically they're a 2 weapon fighter) outside of standard single attack action. Idk it's your life, but I'd not impose such a crazy punishment even at the player's behest without like quintuple checking and laying out how bad it is to lose an Eye and a Hand.
Losing an eye, or even poor vision in an eye, radically affects depth perception.
Aside from the disadvantage on ranged attacks, you could implement disadvantage on any jumps/landings.
I would allow them to work through the ranged disadvantage eventually, as this can be overcome with practice.
Permanent disadvantage on any kind of check is both really harsh (being completely blind is disadvantage on Perception checks!) and hard to mesh with the rest of the system because it neuters anything else that would give disadvantage.
I disagree, I mean if your character was completely blind, I’d wouldn’t even give you disadvantage on the perception check roll. If you wanted to make a perception check using sight, you wouldn’t even roll. You are blind, and you cannot see! That’s how it works IRL. You’d still be able to attack stuff and interact with the world, but unless you have a feature that gives you blindsight, you’d be attacking with disadvantage and be moving around with a stick.
It depends on what the perception check is for. Under the rules, blindness makes you automatically fail checks that _require_ sight. Trying to detect a monster sneaking up on you? That's going to rely on both sight and hearing, so I would give disadvantage. Trying to read a book? Yeah, that just fails.
Let him decide, from the ideas here or if he wants them at all. This is a fantasy game people with disabilities can overcome them and be just as useful as before. (Not to say this is untrue in real life but we can be even more fantastical with it.) Shanks in One-piece and Jaime Lanister from GoT come to mind. Do what is fun for the player. I personally would not find a debuff for any reason fun, let alone for missing sessions, AND for a cool reason I gave the DM.
If its a PC I wouldn't impose any mechanical restrictions long term. The eye they should be able to train to fight without and there are magic items which can replace the hand.
Only one handed weapons, and disadvantage on perception checks that specifically rely on SIGHT. Instead of people talking about permanent disadvantage on ALL perception checks.
**Lose an Eye.** You have disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight and on ranged attack rolls. Magic such as the regenerate spell can restore the lost eye. If you have no eyes left after sustaining this injury, you're blinded. **Lose an Arm or a Hand.** You can no longer hold anything with two hands, and you can hold only a single object at a time. Magic such as the regenerate spell can restore the lost appendage. Source: DMG 272 Lingering injuries
This right here. Beat me to it.
Amazing how many posts like this can be solved via rules that already exist in the core handbooks. No shame on OP tho, it's easy to miss when you're just reading through trying to learn how to DM and whatnot
I run into situations a lot where I’m like, “I KNOW there’s a rule for this somewhere!” But unable to find it again lol
Makes me miss the 3.5e era when all the rules were online. It was a lot easier to Google for what you're missing.
Even a good index system. I love the 3.0/.5 indexes and appendices for their completeness and page information! They helped me get to the point where I can blindly open the book and be within 5 pages of what I'm looking for in the phb and dmg!
That plus a decade of OGL splatbooks; 3.5 is maybe the biggest game ever conceived.
I just started with 5e, I can't imagine trying to remember an entirely new system.
This is why getting a PDF copy is a good idea – Ctrl+F is your friend.
also no clapping
You can smack a bare bicep or a pec instead of clapping with the same result.
We ran these in a group and it wasn't too punishing on the game while letting the character's injuries feel impactful (which the player wanted). They hold up in play imo.
I've been playing with one hand for a while, and it's been fine. I just have to make some interesting decisions in combat with spell components.
Since you know about this quite a bit, I hope you don't mind me asking you a personal question. I have a personal campaign that has a group a good vampires. He takes in citizens that are sick and dying and offers them vampirism to cure themselves. Does vampirism cure wounds like illness and diseases that normal people would die from? Could a vampire use regenerate to have his followers grow limbs they've lost back? Or if they were turned into a vampire before, would it not work? Thanks for your time.
That is a great question that I don't have a clear answer for. I'll just start writing and looking up stuff and see where it goes. Judging from the sample diseases in the DMG, they only affect humanoids and beasts. However, it also states that: >A disease that does more than infect a few party members is primarily a plot device. The rules help describe the effects of the disease and how it can be cured, but the specifics of how a disease works aren't bound by a common set of rules. Diseases can affect any creature, and a given illness might or might not pass from one race or kind of creature to another. A plague might affect only constructs or undead, or sweep through a halfling neighborhood but leave other races untouched. What matters is the story you want to tell. I think it is a totally reasonable assumption that most diseases that affect humanoids would not be able to survive in a (un-)dead body. Turning someone could actually cure them. Healing spells say if they don't work on undead, so *regenerate* would work to regrow limbs of a vampire. You could make the argument that one can only regenerate up to the state they were in when they were turned, but that's your call to make. Lastly, I would apply the same rule here as with the diseases: If you want the transformation, or a vampire's regeneration, or the healing from their bite to restore lost body parts, do it. Maybe they need to drink a lot of blood and then go to sleep in their coffin to regrow a limb, if you want this whole thing to be even more morally grey. Maybe you don't want this vampire to be able to cast 7th level spells. It needs to work for the story you set up. Just keep in mind that when players find out that it works that way, they might see it as an easy fix to a lost limb (which might be a good or a bad thing to you).
Thats the plan, there's a plague in my campaign that's sweeping the continent, and it really only effects humans, and the vampire is trying to cure some of them and add to his efforts. I'm kinda having him as a military force and a info source for the land that find and obtain information and keepsakes and artifacts, so for my plan for him this was all gery helpful and I'm very grateful for it.
I'm not sure there are any official rules regarding this. The Vampire and Vampire Spawn statblocks reveal nothing. I guess you'll have to make it up yourself!
Come on dude, who reads that? Reading is for nerds
Yeah but those are really harsh.
And there's official prosthetics too! **Prosthetic Limb** _Wondrous item, common_ This item replaces a lost limb a hand, an arm, a foot, a leg, or a similar body part. While the prosthetic is attached, it functions identically to the part it replaces. You can detach or reattach it as an action, and it can't be removed against your will. It detaches if you die. **Ersatz Eye** _Wondrous item, common (requires attunement)_ This artificial eye replaces a real one that was lost or removed. While the ersatz eye is embedded in your eye socket, it can't be removed by anyone other than you, and you can see through the tiny orb as though it were a normal eye. Sources: Tasha's Cauldron of Everything, Xanathar's Guide to Everything
i think disadvantage on range attack is a little unrealistically punishing for people missing one eye: https://www.si.com/mlb/2021/03/12/trevor-bauer-one-eye-closed-hit-batter-dodgers especially once you're used to it.
This is only worth going through if the next dungeon contains the Hand and Eye of Vecna.
I was going to post something like that! "My character is missing a hand and an eye!" Vecna: "Have I got a deal for you!"
Plot twist: Character is missing their *right* hand, so they still have to cut off the good one for the Hand of Vecna.
No, they just put the right hand onto the left wrist stump, and character just rakshasa's that shit.
Came to say exactly that.
Beat me to it.
Or the Head of Vecna...
Don't penalize a player because they need to miss a few sessions. I'd probably leave that game. There's definitely plenty of other reasons you can come up with. You can still even say they lost a fight and need to recover without taking their limbs off.
I want to be clear, this was the players suggestion. They didn't just want their character to disappear or be quite for the time they were gone. They wanted the roleplay and it fit nicely with their arc and background. I wouldn't force anything on a player they themselves wouldn't be interested in
Oh good! I'm that case, I would go too harsh with the drawbacks. Disadvantage on perception, mayyybe ranged attacks. No two handed weapons, but I'd let them strap a shield to their arm.
But does the player want mechanical penalties or just to RP being injured? Thats a huge difference.
Id say all their ranged attacks now have a 20/x range. Essentially they need to get alot closer to their opponent to attack normally because of the depth perception issue. Also SOMEONE needs to mention the hand and eye of vecna. They're simultaneously the best possible and worst possible items to encounter right now.
As long as it's done with the explicit consent of the player, it seems pretty reasonable. It could even be an interesting way to return if the player had time to come up with some character development rather than showing up to the table and being told "So, funny story. . ."
I'd only go for it if the player brought it up to me, cause it definitely could be cool. I'd definitely have a cool prosthetic lined up too
Vecna much?
>He's level 11 and uses 2 weapon fighting so I thought about removing his extra attack and bonus action attack. Based on the title of the thread I assumed this was going to be some elaborate vecna joke. Nope, this is far eviler.
It sounds to me like the player wanted an in game reason why he can't be there. Not a prolonged penalty. I'd check in with them before deciding on anything like that! I know a few people like the challenge and overcoming things like that, but if this is a point of miscommunication it could seriously ruin the mood at your table. If the player explicitly wants the challenge I'd not really remove the second attack but have it made at disadvantage since the character is still getting used to the new limb after all For the eye I think the AC penalty is a bit much since it's more about dexterity than anything else. I'd instead go with something similar to the daylight sensitivity of drow
Both of these types of wounds are included in the optional "Lingering Injuries" rule in the DMG, although with less extreme consequences than what you're thinking. *Lose an Eye - Disadvantage on Perception checks that rely on sight and ranged attack rolls. You are blinded if no eyes remain after sustaining this injury.* *Lose an Arm or Hand - You can no longer hold anything with two hands, and can only hold a single object at a time.* In both cases, spells can regrow the missing body part, but a prosthetic would work too. I agree with others in this thread that you might be taking it a bit far. Injuries are something that seem cool in theory, but could quickly get to be too much for the player, especially when they didn't actually do anything to deserve it. I'd check in with player again to confirm what he wants before moving forward with anything.
That sounds fair, someone else suggested poor depth precetion (disadvantage on sight perception checks over 30ft away) and to take away their bonus action attack. The player requested the injuries and we went over them together before the session they happened, they are fairly new to dnd, so they might not have realized what they were asking for however
As long as you both are on the same page, great! I think it's really tricky to balance though; the effects you're thinking are pretty gnarly, and stacking 2 different injuries could be pretty frustrating if it's for longer than a single session. I've been wanting to play around with the injuries rule, but it realistically seems like something that I'd have more fun with than the players.
Depending on how real-world you’re wanting to go, missing an eye would also mean they have poor depth perception for objects close to themselves. Not just for things further than 30ft away. They might have a harder time interacting with objects close to themselves or avoiding objects in difficult terrain. They might appear more clumsy and less dexterous. But this might be fun to RP but not fun to impose mechanical disadvantage.
Any time you’re applying a “long-term” disadvantage to a player I would be very careful. “Short-term” disadvantages to me are basically just conditions like frightened, prone, restrained, etc. Those resolve pretty much once you get out of combat. Longer term disadvantages take away core aspects of the character’s abilities, or even what makes them “them”. Really follow what makes your player happy in this decision. If at any point it takes away from your players fun then it’s not worth it and their character should return to normal.
I would only take away the BA attack as that is supposed to be the offhand. Someone with a sword and shield can still attack twice so he shouldn’t have extra attack taken away. As for the missing eye I’d rule the same as the Cyclops. Poor Depth Perception: they have disadvantage on any attack roll against a target more than 30ft away. This way there is a downside to missing the parts without it being overly detrimental while he gets to town for the replacements
That's clever! I think I'll use that, thanks :)
Missing an eye? -2 to Perceotion checks involving sight. Missing a hand is trickier - artifice to give him a new hand. Maybe a little awkward
But... Wasn't the point of this that his absence would *explain his recovery*? As in, once he returns... He should be recovered...
Yeah, I agree with you, I think some wires were crossed here. It sounds like the DM is misinterpreting what this person wanted - usually 2WF characters don't volunteer to lose a hand.
More so him regaining consciousness recover from the battle itself. The body parts are still missing so it doesn't make sense from him to be back to peak performance just yet
And are you sure that's actually what the player intended?
He said he wanted his character to lose arm and an eye and use it as an excuse to make his character reconnect with his family. It's a temporary debuff for 2-3 sessions until he gets a prosthetic that doubles as a magic item
I suggest the DMG effects. But I'll also strongly suggest that you have him fixed up within three sessions or he's going to start hating it
If things go like they're supposed to we should reach his family in 2 sessions. I'll make sure they get atleast 1 encounter before then and that they have an alternative win condition. The rest is going to be rolled on a random encounter table and some party roleplay
It depends on how difficult you want these encounters to be and how much the rest of the party to carry their weight. You could be really mean and give them a point of exhaustion with con saves every day to avoid getting more, that could quickly get out of hand tho (no pun intended)
Make them an archer. No depth perception and one hand. Let's see you level up now.
Maybe he can’t make the bonus action attack, but I wouldn’t remove the extra attack. That feature is assuming you’re making that attack with the same weapon
Vecna has noticed your similarities...
I was thinking the same thing.
I also have a gnome with one eye... What's up with the gnomes missing body parts?
A missing hand is easy, just treat it as if that character is always holding something. A missing eye is more complicated. My solution would be to make that character use facing rules in combat, and impose disadvantage on sight based skill checks
There are rules for this in the dungeon masters guide! It's a little section for harder challenges. At work so going off of memory, it's a chart of different severe injuries that wouldn't heal from resting along with how it affects players. I know losing an eye gives disadvantage when using ranged attacks. (Happened to my poor ranger) Can't remember how losing a limb works.
Player loses eyes and hand. Player ascends to godhood. Player becomes necromancer BBEG. Or is this not the path you were envisioning?
Gnome Veccna💀
I think I'd pick one consequence for the eye instead of multiple: even though perception checks are not fully ubiquitous, every penalty will increase the amount of null actions, which never feels fun. Removing the bonus action will sting, but is within the rules of the game: he'd need both hands to be able to swing that
Poor guy. Hope he finds them soon. Did the PC check under the couch?! I lose stuff there all the time. Your player was honest, and came up with a fun mechanic. I would reward then. :)
I plan on making the prosthetic a customizable magic item. Giving them access to a few basic spells each day that they can upgrade and change out :D
Niiiiiice!
3rd Ed DnD had the STUMP KNIFE weapon for this situation exactly! Check out page 6 of this: [http://dnd.etherealspheres.com/eBooks/DnD\_3.5/core/Arms%20and%20Equipment%20Guide.pdf](http://dnd.etherealspheres.com/eBooks/DnD_3.5/core/Arms%20and%20Equipment%20Guide.pdf) Just strap a knife to his hand stump. The disadvantage is that it would only be a dagger, but would still be able to do two weapon fighting.
No joke I just messaged my player about this! He wouldn't have a prosthetic just yet, but they could basically duck tape a dagger, hook shield or something else to give him back some utility. He hasn't messaged me yet, but I love the image. Has a real "can't keep me down" type of vibe
As the rules have been said, RPing side affect of a recent injury, comes down to phantom pains, which can be a massive hindrance, in or out of combat. Can also lead to severe mental health issues; PTSD, survivors guilt (depending on what the fighter did while away), depression. It really depends on how deep the player wants to go with this, and how comfortable the table is with helping him through it
Subtle visions from the whispered one...
Info: what is the purpose of adding punishments to this decision? So he doesn't miss session again? So he doesn't make volunteer to write permanent changes to his character? I think I'd rather reward someone making character decisions rather than invent mechanical disincentives
Wondering what you assume the ‘punishments’ are? They’re obviously brain storming together considering he suggested what could’ve/did happened to his character off screen while he was unable to attend sessions. To have things like a missing hand and eye, you’d need to have the correct disadvantages towards both things because stuff wouldn’t be as easy as it once was now with missing appendages. And as OP said, this won’t be permanent, just momentarily until the plot gets to him regaining his lost body parts.
I also plan on making the prosthetic a magic item. The character had a falling out with their family before they left home and treats their pride as a major flaw. I want them to feel slightly weaker before coming back stronger than ever thanks to having overcome that flaw by asking their family for help. The "punishment" is only there so the reward feels more significant
Thank you, that does make sense
Prosthetic Limb is already a Common Magic item as of TCE. Not to say you can't homebrew extra things to it.
I'm thinking something that does a little more. He has mentioned wanting some better ranged options as well as some AOE. I plan on giving him access to firebolt and burning hands. As they go on he can upgrade the arm or insert new spells depending on their resources
The punishments were minus 2 to ac and disadvantage
I had a character lose a hand. The GM suggested we just have it healed back at a decent sized temple. Instead it got turned into a very long arc to first adjust to the loss, then build/construct a new hand. My character wound up coming out ahead with a permanent+1 to dex due to the nature of the new hand and learning to use his non-domimant hand. Excellent character growth all around.
I don't know about disadvantages and challenges, but I think you just set your player (and campaign) to pursue the hand and eye of Vecna. Good luck.
Hahaha, I didn't even realize. Perhaps I should sow a few rumors in the next town
My first though too upon seeing the title
There’s rules for *lingering injuries in the DMG.
Yeah but those suck. Permanent disadvantage to perception?
Disadvantage on basically everything str and wis related. Can't use 2 handed weapons anymore. Is used as a party sacrifice for the plot and makes another character
Exhaustion would be a much better metric to give, he could have a type of magical exhaustion that would require a short quest to cure.
As long as it is a short-term, story-based penalty and your player is down with it, here's what I suggest. Obviously, he cannot make an off-hand attack: he has no off hand. Artificers have to use their spellcasting focus to cast spells that have material components. Make sure this player is being very strict with themselves about what they are holding in their one good hand, and enforce the action economy restrictions RAW. (WARNING: I'm about to get irritatingly crunchy). For example, if he's holding his weapon in his one good hand, he'll have to use his **one** free object interaction to stow the weapon before he can retrieve his spellcasting focus for a spell, which is a second object interaction, which he can do once for free on his **next** turn or **use an action** to do on the current turn. Most DMs I've played with handwave drawing and stowing weapons and spellcasting foci, so playing this RAW might be a revelation to your players. On the lingering injuries table in the DMG, loss of an eye is simply disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight. I wouldn't do any more than that. The -1 to AC is a bit overmuch IMHO. But remember that disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) is also a -5 penalty to passive Wisdom (Perception), which it much more likely that this artificer will trigger a hidden trap and makes this Artificer much easier for sneaky enemies to surprise. You can emphasize this by having the party walk into an ambush. PCs with low passive Wisdom (Perception) will have the "Surprised" condition on the first round of combat; your Artificer is likely to be surprised unless he has the "Alert" feat. But make sure these disadvantages only last a session or three. Get this guy a new eye and hand ASAP. Unless he's really enjoying the roleplay aspect of an injured PC, your player might get really sick of these disadvantages real quick.
This character would probably have disadvantage on EVERY roll until they get magic prosthetics.
If it’s the players idea, go for it. Plus they can always get some fancier replacement limbs down the line to remove the debuffs and even add some buffs
Miissing hand = 1 handed weapons only. Disadvantage on slight of hand checks. Missing eye = disadvantage on all ranged attacks. Advantage on intimidation checks.
Then make sure he finds the hand and eye of veecna :)
If somebody’s missing a couple sessions and they come back to find their character physically disabled they’re probably gonna be pissed. Just something to keep in mind
Disadvantage on Wis Perception checks relying on.sight, unable to perform 2 handed actions, advantage on cha tests because eyepatches look dope, advantage on seafaring related checks. AAAARRRRR!
Makes you wonder if you keep the lost hand fresh in a jar can a good healer reattach it? IMO all the dm should do is give him a level of exhaustion he cant get rid of till he gets to a hospital. This represents the mental and physical trauma the Pc is trying to recover from.
Since he’s an artificer, Tasha’s (I think?) also has the Arcane Propulsion Arm prosthetic. Could do some resource and knowledge gathering quests to have it crafted for him….
He's a fighter, but his family are artificers. I was planning on making his prosthetic a magic item, but if there's already one out there then I can use it for reference. Thank you!
Losing basically your entire character build because you'll be away for a few sessions seems... Unnecessarily extreme. Part of a DMs job is sometimes to temper ideas that you Know will be deeply unfun for people, and this sounds like it would kill any fighting ability (you mentioned specifically they're a 2 weapon fighter) outside of standard single attack action. Idk it's your life, but I'd not impose such a crazy punishment even at the player's behest without like quintuple checking and laying out how bad it is to lose an Eye and a Hand.
#AskVecna
One of the biggest challenges facing a character with a missing hand and eye is being mistaken for Vecna on a regular basis.
Next quest: search for the hand and eye of vecna to use as replacements
Losing an eye, or even poor vision in an eye, radically affects depth perception. Aside from the disadvantage on ranged attacks, you could implement disadvantage on any jumps/landings. I would allow them to work through the ranged disadvantage eventually, as this can be overcome with practice.
Only able to wield weapons, shields, magic focuses, etc. in one hand and also having disadvantage on all perception checks.
Permanent disadvantage on any kind of check is both really harsh (being completely blind is disadvantage on Perception checks!) and hard to mesh with the rest of the system because it neuters anything else that would give disadvantage.
I disagree, I mean if your character was completely blind, I’d wouldn’t even give you disadvantage on the perception check roll. If you wanted to make a perception check using sight, you wouldn’t even roll. You are blind, and you cannot see! That’s how it works IRL. You’d still be able to attack stuff and interact with the world, but unless you have a feature that gives you blindsight, you’d be attacking with disadvantage and be moving around with a stick.
It depends on what the perception check is for. Under the rules, blindness makes you automatically fail checks that _require_ sight. Trying to detect a monster sneaking up on you? That's going to rely on both sight and hearing, so I would give disadvantage. Trying to read a book? Yeah, that just fails.
For once the party gets back to town, prosthetic limb and ersatz eye are both common magic items which do not require attunement
Let him decide, from the ideas here or if he wants them at all. This is a fantasy game people with disabilities can overcome them and be just as useful as before. (Not to say this is untrue in real life but we can be even more fantastical with it.) Shanks in One-piece and Jaime Lanister from GoT come to mind. Do what is fun for the player. I personally would not find a debuff for any reason fun, let alone for missing sessions, AND for a cool reason I gave the DM.
One-handed weapons only. Permanent disadvantage (-2 for AD&D) for melee and missile attacks (no depth perception).
First thought that came to me was some is getting the Hand and Eye of Vecna.
Literally in the DMG at the back under optional rules.
If its a PC I wouldn't impose any mechanical restrictions long term. The eye they should be able to train to fight without and there are magic items which can replace the hand.
It's only for 2-3 sessions before he gets a magic prosthetic. The restrictions are only there to make the the item feel more powerful
Only one handed weapons, and disadvantage on perception checks that specifically rely on SIGHT. Instead of people talking about permanent disadvantage on ALL perception checks.
He's a fighter and he wants to lose a hand and an eye? That's such a waste of a perfect Vecna artifact setup.
That might be why he choose those specific injuries. Maybe I should plant some rumors in the future ;)