This question has come up in other forums before, some of which are lost to time. From memory, this is an oracle game, in the sense that "some of the rules are intentionally up to the group to interpret", as an intentional nod to how some rules were under-specified in older D&D and other TTRPGs. So the official answer as I recall it is "you tell me!"
When I run the game, if someone rolls worse than their current HP, they keep their current score.
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High fantasy arcade action tabletop roleplaying
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itch.io Community » General » Release Announcements · Created a new topic Shadow of Doom - high fantasy arcade tabletop roleplaying
Shadow of Doom is a pick-up and play, high fantasy arcade action tabletop RPG inspired by Capcom's Dungeons & Dragons Mystara duology of arcade beat 'em up video games, Tower of Doom and Shadow Over Mystara.
I went to Russell Street Arcade and Deli the other day and they had this really neat game – Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow over Mystara. It’s one of those brawler games where you have to fight off all the enemies to proceed to the next screen, but it’s a lot cooler; not only does it involve cool people with swords and shields, they have some special moves like Street Fighter II, and you have a whole inventory of special items and even magic spells! I watched some folks in the arcade play it and tried it myself, and wow, it’s fun. My brother plays D&D Expert with his friends every week and they have a great time, but he never lets me play – “you’re too young, you wouldn’t get it.” He won’t let me borrow the books either because his friend Grant owns them all. Whatever, Tommy, I know how this game works, I played Shadow over Mystara. I’ll just make my own version and play it with my friends. And I bet it’s gonna be better than yours.
Imagine: it's the 1990s. A loquacious preteen watched and played the Mystara duology and, when his brother refused to let him join, tried to reverse engineer Dungeons & Dragons from what he learned. What would be the result?
That's Shadow of Doom.
A labor of love for almost two years, inspired by arcade brawlers. Heroic, powerful PCs that can fight or cast a spell AND maneuver each turn, throwing spells, tossing enemies around, using consumables to stem the tide of reinforcements that the GM can summon every turn, leveraging Drops to keep their momentum going. It's an unstable equilibrium that drives battles toward resolution.
Sound like your jam? Check it out here: https://vagentzero.itch.io/shadow-of-doom