Combat Weariness

The chaos of combat poses countless dangers: the blades and arrows of goblins, the hail of fire from the sorcerer on the hill above, or falling into a cavernous pit trap. These threats are immediate, visible and life-threatening, but they are not the only concerns of a hero. Between the battle-ready soldier and the corpse on the ground exists someone suffering from Combat Weariness.

After taking significant damage during an encounter, a severely injured player or monster may be more vulnerable or desperate, exposing themselves to adverse consequences or secondary effects. Player Characters with less than 1/10th of their maximum hit points and Non-Player Characters with less than 1/4th of their maximum hit points are considered Combat Weary.

A Combat Weary character that rolls a 1 on any attack roll not only fails the attack, but wearily fumbles. In addition, any roll of 20 against a Combat Weary character not only is automatically successful, but is an overwhelming strike.

Overwhelming Strike

If you roll a 20 when attacking a Combat Wearied opponent, roll another d20 and consult the following table to determine the effect of your overwhelming strike:

d20	Overwhelm	Effect
1-6	No Effect	No Effect
7-9	Clothesline	Knocked ’em down! Target falls prone.
10-12	Blindside	What a hit! They’re seeing stars. Target has disadvantage on ranged attacks until the end of their next turn.
13-14	Hamstring	A wound across the back of the legs. Your target’s movement speed is reduced by 10 ft until they regain HP.
15-16	Disarmed	Their parry failed. Your target drops any (1) weapon they are holding.
17-18	Solar Plexus Hit	The wind is knocked out of your target. It’s incapacitated until the end of its next turn.
19	Devastating Hit	That might’ve broken a bone… Your target’s attacks have disadvantage until the end of the encounter.
20	Truly Devastating Hit	You sever (or disable) one of your opponent’s limbs. Roll to determine which limb.

Severed Limb

If you delivered a Truly Devastating Hit (20 on Overwhelming Strike), roll another d20 and consult the following table to determine which limb you severed:

d20	Severed Limb
20-8	Fingers. Target cannot use a two-handed item or wield two items at once.
7-4	Forearm. Same as finger, plus the target is off balance. Its attacks have disadvantage.
3-1	Foot. The target’s speed is reduced by 25 ft and they have disadvantage on ability checks that reasonably require two feet.

Fumble

If you roll a 1 on an attack while Combat Weary, roll another d20 and consult the following table to determine the effect of your fumble:

d20	Fumble	Effect
20-15	No Effect	No Effect
14-12	Blood Loss / Catching Your Breath	This battle has taken a lot out of you. Your next attack has disadvantage.
11-9	Stumble	Your feet don’t want to listen and you stumble. Your speed is reduced by 10 ft until the end of your next turn.
8-7	Weapon Drop	You can’t seem to get a grip on your weapon. You drop your weapon to the ground.
6-5	Charley Horse	Muscle spasm! The first attack against you next round has advantage.
4-3	Slip	Blood, sweat and weariness cause you to lose your feet. Fall prone.
2	Panic	Everything is going wrong. Make a Wisdom save (DC 12) or use your remaining speed to move away from the nearest enemy by the safest possible route.
1	Self-Inflicted Wound	Your weapon has betrayed you! You suffer your attack’s minimum damage.