Stable
A stable creature has stopped losing hit points and is no longer in immediate danger of death — but it remains unconscious and helpless until it recovers.
Effects
- The creature is unconscious and cannot take any actions.
- It is no longer losing hit points each round — the Constitution check to avoid further bleeding has ended.
- A stable creature at negative hit points remains unconscious even after stabilizing until natural healing brings it to 1 or more HP (typically after 1 hour of rest).
- A stable creature at exactly 0 HP becomes disabled after 1 hour of rest.
Natural Recovery
- Each hour of uninterrupted rest, a stable creature at negative HP may attempt a DC 10 Constitution check. On a success, it regains 1 hit point and wakes up (disabled if at 0 HP, conscious if above 0 HP).
- On a failure, it remains stable and unconscious — it simply doesn't recover that hour.
- A stable creature cannot be harmed further by the dying condition, but taking new damage can drop it back to dying.
Magical healing skips the wait.
Any magical healing applied to a stable creature immediately restores the healed HP —
if the result is 1 or more, it wakes up conscious (though possibly
disabled
at exactly 0 HP). No hour of rest required.
The HP Death Chain
Related Conditions
- Dying — the condition that precedes stable; a dying creature is actively losing HP each round.
- Unconscious — a stable creature at negative HP is also unconscious.
- Disabled — the condition the creature enters once it recovers to exactly 0 HP.
Common Sources
A dying creature stabilizes by making a successful DC 10 Constitution check at the start of its turn, by receiving a DC 15 Heal check from an adjacent ally (standard action), or through any magical healing. The Diehard feat causes a creature to automatically stabilize when it would otherwise be dying.