What happens to someone who is under 0 hp when they are already under the effects of numbing tonic? So someone is down to 2hp and have 2 temp hp, then are hit by an attack for 5 damage, leaving them at -1 hp. At the start of their next turn they gain 2 temp hp, so what happens?
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2 Answers
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YMMV, but most likely you remain unconscious with temporary hit points
First, a clarification. Pathfinder 2e does not use negative HP. You either have some amount of HP or 0.
If you fall unconscious from being dealt damage that brings you to 0 HP, you begin dying. Clearly, your concern is with this line from Unconscious,
If you're unconscious because you're dying, you can't wake up as long as you have 0 Hit Points. If you're restored to 1 Hit Point or more via healing, you lose the dying and unconscious conditions and can act normally on your next turn.
It is unclear whether temporary hit points are hit points for the purpose of the condition, however it is definitely a stretch to say that it is healing.
Rulings may vary by table, but this seems like it should not wake you up from unconscious (although it would provide the temp HP still, making you marginally less likely to increase your Dying condition from damage, and making you more robust if you were to be healed).
answered Mar 22 at 0:25
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1\$\begingroup\$ As a point of comparison, D&D 5e has the same floor of 0 HP (and stable vs. dying at 0 HP but either way unconscious). In 5e, temporary HP don't wake you up or even stabilize. 5thsrd.org/combat/damage_and_healing/#temporary-hit-points If nothing else, consistency and ease of remembering is a point in favour of playing pf2e the same way for this normally-rare corner case, for players who sometimes play both systems, since the pf2e lean that way even if they're less explicit about it than 5e. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Mar 22 at 8:41
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You Wake up if You Have More Than 0 HP
Losing the Dying Condition
You lose the dying condition if it ever reaches dying 0. If you're still at 0 Hit Points, you remain unconscious, but you can wake up as described in that condition. You lose the dying condition automatically and wake up if you ever have 1 Hit Point or more.
Emphasis mine above, though the unconscious condition has a slightly different wording:
If you're unconscious because you're dying, you can't wake up while you have 0 Hit Points. If you are restored to 1 Hit Point or more, you lose the dying and unconscious conditions and can act normally on your next turn.
While the character isn't being healed or regaining lost Hit Points from the numbing tonic, they might be considered as "restored to Hit Points" in this scenario. Otherwise these rules would be contradictory and require some GM adjudication as to which applies.
Notably, this was more explicitly contradictory in the original Core Rulebook's rules for the unconscious condition (partial emphasis mine):
If you’re unconscious because you’re dying, you can’t wake up as long as you have 0 Hit Points. If you’re restored to 1 Hit Point or more via healing, you lose the dying and unconscious conditions and can act normally on your next turn.
