In ALFA Neverwinter Nights 2, death is resolved differently from both stock Neverwinter Nights 2 and from Dungeons and Dragons 3.0. At the onset of the creation of this system, the stated purpose was to create a system which tried to reconcile the implications of slow advancement and persistent hosting, as the core ruleset (Dungeons and Dragons) assumes many fewer opportunities to die per character level than a persistent world must to be viable in the long term.
Obvious Disclaimer
If a DM is running an event and something in that event proves to be lethal which the DM didn't mean to be lethal, the DM may (at their discretion) opt to reset the encounter and try again. In this case, there is no ruleset problem even possible; a person with ultimate power over the event at hand attempted to do something and it didn't work right. Resolutions may be, and often are, focused on getting the circumstance that the DM wished to stage to work.
NPCs
If an NPC is reduced to 0 hit points or is the subject of a death effect, it is dead. All creatures in Neverwinter Nights 2 have a concept of death and have code which runs on the death of the creature. It is slain. Some DM events will regard these dead NPCs as "near death," as a PC (see below), but it is at their discretion and requires that the NPC be remade and reduced to an adequately-low number of hit points.
PCs
PC death is handled differently than NPC death. Firstly, PCs have the concept of being "near death," which NPCs do not, and PC death is at -10 hit points.
Bleeding: If a PC is reduced to negative hit points, said PC falls to the ground and is helpless. Immediately, a bleeding check is rolled for that PC; no skill or ability influences this roll. There is a 90% chance of losing 1 hit point and a 10% chance of slowing the bleeding. These checks repeat every round, unless slowed, when they repeat every hour. If two checks are made, the downed PC begins to recover and slowly regains hit points until having 1 again. Receiving magical healing stops these checks, whether or not it increases the PC's hit points to positive numbers again.
The Safety Net: If a PC is attacked by something that would have killed them, but said PC had 1 or more hit points before the attack, that PC is instead dropped to the ground with -6 hit points, prompting a bleeding check.
- Single attacks which hit multiple times are considered one attack for the purposes of this system. A PC who is struck by two blows from an NPC with more than 3 attacks per round, for instance, might receive two hits in the same instant. The second hit is not regarded as a "finishing blow" following up the first hit's trigger of the safety net.
- Spells which attack from multiple damage sources, such as Ice Storm or Flamestrike, are also considered a single attack for the purposes of this system.
- Spells that strike a single target many distinct times, such as Magic Missile, are also considered a single attack for the purposes of this system.
- Spells that function by making an area hazardous for an extended period of time, such as Fire Wall, are NOT covered by this, and will often kill PCs who fall in them.
NPCs are expected to leave a bleeding PC alone until all active threats to them are fought. While they may make a pointed "finishing blow" attack on a PC, this should be done after PCs have stopped fighting back (either from being reduced to bleeding themselves or from having fled/hidden).
Suffucation: There are some regions of ALFA's build which may cause a character to be unable to breathe. For most PCs (exceptions being air genasi and PCs under the effect of spells that stop their metabolism, like Living Undeath or Stone Body), this will eventually kill them. A PC may hold his or her breath for twice as many rounds as his or her constitution score. At the end of this, the PC begins making constitution checks at DC 10, increasing by 1 every time the check is called. If a PC fails any of these checks, he or she falls unconcious and begins inhaling water. In the second round, he or she is dropped to negative hit points. On the third round, he or she dies (provided that no intervention is carried out. Healing magic can make a drowning PC barely survive and move along, but it will need to be repeatedly applied as the drowning continues to happen. Finding a source of air, or acquiring the ability to breathe in the environment, is usually the best solution).
Common Examples
Example 1:
1) PC is reduced below 1 hp
2) PC is healed above 1 hp
3) PC is hit again, and dies instantly from the hit (with no time spent bleeding)
This is a bug. Healing to above 1 hp should have reset the safety net and caused bleeding.
(Please report this in a support ticket directed to the ACR, and get screenshots if possible.)
Example 2:
1) Any order of events sets a PC to below 1 hp
2) Bleeding kills the PC.
This is a legitimate death.
Example 3:
1) PC is reduced to less than 1 hp
2) PC it hit a second time, quickly, but after more than about a second, reducing them to -10 or lower. PC was not directly targeted (but, instead, harmed by an area spell, a trap, or collateral from fighting-- like cleave or attacks of opportunity).
3) PC is healed, resulting in PC in the morgue with more than 1 hp.
This is a legitimate death.
(there are no "ties" in NWN2 to "go to the runner" in NWN2, as all of the combat logic operates on a single thread on the server. Everything is in order and precisely sequenced. The heal only manifested in the morgue because the PC was already dead when the heal arrived [and just hadn't ported away yet].)
Example 4:
1) PC is reduced to less than 1 hp
2) PC is healed, but not enough to bring the PC up to 1 hp
3) PC is hit again, but not by direct targeting (like in example 3) and dies.
This is a legitimate death.
Example 5:
1) PC is reduced to less than 1 hp.
2) Hostiles near the PC don't retarget, and continue to put emphasis on finishing the bleeding PC (provided you didn't order them to-- see my pre-example note that you're running the event, and the NPCs are doing whatever you tell them to do). One of them connects and the PC dies.
This is a bug.
NPCs are supposed to fight things which are active threats to them first, and only return to finish off bleeding NPCs once they're out of things which are trying to kill them (report this as a bug if it happened; get screenshots and spawn types if possible).
Common Mistakes
"Tie Goes to the Runner"
Sometimes a PC will run to the aid of another PC who is bleeding, expecting to deliver a healing spell to said PC before the bleed out. The heal appears to execute, but the PC still dies and arrives in the module's death area with the heal applied. Many claim that the bug was failing to acknowledge the heal, but this is not in fact what happened. The PC's death had already been processed, but we must tell the game engine to raise the dead PC so that we may send the PC to the death area, as Neverwinter Nights' implementation of corpses includes that they may not be moved. This results in a brief time when the PC is able to be targeted by healing but is still unambiguously dead.
"Collateral Damage Shouldn't Happen"
Sometimes a PC will run to the aid of another PC who is bleeding with the expectation of bringing aid, but actually invites more peril with them. Perhaps an enemy spellcaster uses an area spell like Fireball to try to stop the would-be hero, the way is in fact trapped and the dear friend is shredded in the blast, or chasing melee fighters slay a summon and cleave the downed PC. These deaths are legitimate, and the consequence of attempting to solve problems with lethal force (the other people will tend to try to use lethal force right back).
"Healing Always Resets the Safety Net"
This isn't necessarily the case. Note the original definition of the safety net: you can't simply stabilize a downed PC to make the safety net work again. You have to heal them enough to make them stand up and start defending themselves again.
