CHARACTER CREATION
Find a scrap of paper. Write name, class and background at the top. Then roll 1d6 for Poison & Disease, Petrification & Paralysis, Monsters & Traps, Breath Weapon, and Curses. Reroll any 6s.
DEATH SAVING THROWS
Roll 1d6 whenever a PCs life is at risk: they die when they roll over their relevant saving throw.
SKILL CHECKS
Roll 1d20 when an outcome is uncertain but not deadly. Exceed a DC of 10 or 15 (for a hard task) to pass . If a character’s class or background is relevant to an attempted task they roll with advantage. Failing a skill check while doing something risky makes future death saving throws more likely.
PUSH YOUR LUCK
Reroll any skill check and keep the new result. Pushing a failure and getting another failure means everything gets worse. Pushing a success and getting another success results in a critical success.
SPELLS & CONDITIONS
Spells like Hold Person or Entangle can be avoided with a skill check. Same thing for conditions like Wounded or Fatigued (usually gained from failing a roll). Failure makes future death saves more likely.
EXAMPLE SCENARIO 1
The dragon lowers his head for a breath attack. "Everyone make a Death Saving Throw vs Breath Weapon." The thief rolls a 2 and passes. He dives under his legs. A flash of arcane light protects the wizard. The fighter’s shield gives her enough time to scramble behind a stalagmite. The gnome is burnt to a crisp on a 5.
This is bad and the players shouldn't have gotten into this situation but it illustrates how death saving throws are flavored by the character's class.
EXAMPLE SCENARIO 2
The players have a good plan to lure a troll into a pit trap. They successfully trap the troll (no skill checks required) but didn't know that there was a second troll nearby. Things go wrong. The fighter fails a few a checks to fight the second troll and has to save vs monster. The thief tries to grab a bag of jewels from the trapped troll, fails, pushes, fails again and gains the wounded condition from a rusty knife. They'll have to save vs. disease tomorrow.
If the players aren't completely Stupid then Death Saves will only happen from a combination of multiple failed rolls and imperfect knowledge. Scenario 3 is when the players don't have to make rolls of any kind. Also use progress clocks.
I turned it into a a game that fits on a bookmark here.
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