Lingering Injuries and Wounds, Massive Damage; Variant optional rule D&D 5th Edition

In the DMG, there are rules which you could use if you wish to implement sustained injuries and wounds for your players (pg. 272) and while I like the idea the random table presented there doesn't really fit my ideas about such wounds and injuries. This is a table and rule I made for my home groups, I hope you like it. Feel free to use this in your own games, and if you do, tell me how it went.




Certain effects and events can cause the characters to gain long lasting or permanent injuries, wounds. Whenever a character hitpoints fall below 0, or the character takes massive damage from a single attack (equal or greater than half the maximum hitpoints) roll a d20 on the following table.
Alternatively you can roll on this table when taking damage from non-combat sources. 

1. Horrible disfiguration: Your receive a horrible wound, crippling you for life. Your hitpoint maximum is reduced by half. Your speed is reduced to 5 feet per minute, you can only crawl slowly and painfully. You cannot hold any object heavier than 5 pounds. Maybe you are paralyzed down from the neck, or hip at your GM's discretion. If you do not receive medical attention within 1d6 hours, you die in agonizing pain. The 7th level spell Regenerate can heal you from this condition.

2-3. Maimed: You lose one of your appendages of the GM's choice. If it's a leg, you cannot walk without the help of another creature, a crutch or a peg leg, and your speed is halved. If it's an arm, you cannot use two handed weapons anymore, or hold anything in your both hands. Your maximum hitpoints are decreased by 5. The 7th level spell Regenerate can heal you from this condition.

4-5. Lose an eye: You lose one of your eyes. You gain disadvantage on Wisdom (perception) checks that rely on sight and ranged attack rolls. If you have no eyes left, you are blinded. The 7th level spell Regenerate can heal you from this condition.

6-7. Crippled: You take a serious physical injury, you keep all of your appendages, but something broke inside of you. You lose 2 points from one of your physical abilities. Roll a d6. On a 1-2 it's your Strength, on a 3-4 it's your Dexterity, on a 5-6 it's your Constitution. The 5th level spell Greater Restoration can heal you from this condition.

8-9. Impaired: You take a serious mental injury. You might have hit your head. You lose 2 points from one of your mental abilities. Roll a d6. On a 1-2 it's your Intelligence, on a 3-4 it's your Wisdom, on a 5-6 it's your Charisma. The 5th level spell Greater Restoration can heal you from this condition.

10. Crushed: Many of your bones break from the damage you took. You can barely move, and you gain disadvantage on all your rolls. Whenever you attempt an action in combat, roll a DC 15 Constitution saving throw. On a failed save you lose your action, and take 2 points of bleeding damage (the bleeding might be internal). Your speed is reduced to 5 feet. You can heal naturally. Make a DC 12 Constitution saving throw at the end of every week. If you gather 3 successes, you are healed. On a failure you lose one of your successes. If you have rolled 3 failures without having any success, you die from your injuries. Having medical assistance removes the disadvantage from the roll. The 5th level spell Greater Restoration can heal you from this condition.

11-12. Broken:  A few of your bones break. If the bones are in your arms, you gain disadvantage on your attack rolls and on any physical actions that need your arms to be used. If the bones are in your legs, your speed is halved, and you gain a disadvantage on any physical actions that need your legs to be used. Furthermore, you automatically fall prone if you use the Dash action. You can heal naturally. Make a DC 10 Constitution saving throw at the end of every week. If you gather 3 successes, you are healed. On a failure you lose one of your successes. If you have rolled 3 failures without having any success, your bones healed in a wrong way, and your drawbacks become permanent. The 5th level spell Greater Restoration can heal you from this condition.

13-14. Cracked: A few of your bones crack from the attack. You can still use them but it causes you constant pain. You have disadvantage on any rolls if you use your cracked bones as well. You can heal naturally. Make a DC 8 Constitution saving throw at the end of every second day. If you gather 3 successes, you are healed. On a failure you lose one of your successes. If you have rolled 3 failures without having any success, your bones healed in a wrong way, and must be broken (see above) to be able to heal. The 2nd level spell Lesser Restoration can heal you from this condition.

15-18. Ugly scar: You managed to shrug off most of the attack, and you do not have any permanent injuries, but you have a nasty scar. This gives you a disadvantage on Charisma (Persuasion) checks, and an advantage on Charisma (Intimidation) checks. The 2nd level spell Lesser Restoration can heal you from this condition.

 19-20. Lucky: You survived the attack without having any permanent injuries or scars.

If you liked this but you think it's too soft, please check out the 2D6 Death and Dismemberment Chart of DOOM, by Samwise7RPG.