Subduing Damage

Attacks made with the "flat of the blade" for non-lethal damage are made at a -4 attack penalty and do half damage. Most weapons can be used this way; only those with penetration or slashing features on all sides cannot. If a character is reduced to zero hit points who has taken at least some subduing damage, and the total amount of normal (killing) damage the character has suffered is not equal to or greater than their total hit points, the character becomes unconscious rather than dying. (Any further subduing damage is then considered killing damage, allowing the possibility that someone might be beaten to death.) A character knocked out in this way, but not subsequently killed, will wake up with 1 hit point in 1d4 turns, or can be awakened (with 1 hit point) by someone else after 2d10 rounds.