To handle these horrific wounds, I put together three categories - detriments, impairments, and injuries. I also kept it vague where possible so you don't (usually) end up with a severed hand from a fireball spell, or the like. I may have backslid here and there, but I tried to draw on either the advantage/disadvantage mechanic, or saving throws where possible. Looking at the Exhaustion table is great inspiration for effects that are generic, leaving it to the imagination what has actually befallen the beloved player character. While Pathfinder or Dungeon Crawl Classics the like have specific wounds, the elegance of D&D is the non-specificity of injuries. For small nicks and cuts, it's great, but for grievous blows that lay heroes low, where are the scars, the peg legs, the hobbled veterans? Where is the hero, bandaged and not at his best, waging back into the fray?Ī lot of systems have critical hit charts, but often they are very specific (lose 1d3 fingers, etc).

In my opinion, 5E is too forgiving for wounds.

Lingering wounds and system shock 5e