Injury can come from all sides. There are two methods of figuring out how hurt a character is. , plus a few sources of damage other than weapons.
Body Points versus Wound Levels
The Body Points system has the advantage of a gradual fall into death and a more rapid healing process. The Wound levels system brings it on faster and is slower to heal. Which the gamemaster chooses to use depends on how deadly he wants the game.
Furthermore, gamemasters should feel free further adjust the deadliness of their games by giving characters more or less Body Points or Wound levels, by adding a modifier to the damage resistance total, or by adjusting the effects of each Wound level.
Damage & Body Points
Once the player or gamemaster has her character’s resistance total, subtract the attacker’s damage total from the target’s damage resistance total and subtract that number from the total Body Points the character has remaining. If the gamemaster chooses, she may compare the number of Body Points the character has remaining to the “Wound Level” table to determine what level of injury the defender sustained and what its effects on the character are.
If the damage resistance total is greater than or equal to the damage total, the defender incurs no injuries (beyond an annoying bruise, a shallow scrape, a light burn, or dinged protective gear).
Damage Resistance Total
The damage resistance total equals a roll of the target character’s die codes from armor or Special Abilities (such as Attack Resistance) minus any modifiers from disease, ingested poisons, or other debilitating circumstances (such as an appropriate Hindrance). A player may improve his character’s resistance total by spending Character Points or a Fate Point on this roll.
If the character has no armor or Special Abilities, then the character has a damage resistance total of zero, and the player makes no roll. However, he can still spend Character Points, using them as a base damage resistance total. Spending a Fate Point allows the player to roll his character’s Physique. Totals determined from spending points are adjusted as normal, including negative and positive damage resistance modifiers.
Stun Damage
For weapons that do stun damage, after the damage total is determined but before applying it, subtract a roll of the target’s Physique or stamina from the damage total. If the victim suffers at least one point of damage, that character goes unconscious for a number of minutes equal to the difference between the resistance total and the original damage total.
Miscellaneous Damage
Here is a small selection of various other harmful things that players may encounter during their adventures. Generally, no attack roll is necessary for any of these to affect a character, though such a roll would be required if a person could somehow attack with it. The gamemaster determines what, if any, benefit armor and similar protection provides. Some equipment may even increase the damage! Damage is otherwise determined as per the combat rules.
Except falling, all damage is done per round of close contact. The gamemaster may decide that certain types in certain situations also affect characters at a distance.
Type Damage Botulism (severe case) 4D Cold (extreme) 1D Nightshade (fatal dose; damage after 1 hour) 8D+2 Falling 1D per (for fall of 3 meters or more) 1.5 meters Fire (torch-size) 1D Strong acid (undiluted, any amount) 2D+1
Damage & Wound Levels
Once the player or gamemaster has her character’s resistance total, compare the damage total to a resistance total on the “Wound Level” table to determine how much injury the defender sustained and what its effects on the character are.
If the damage resistance total is greater than or equal to the damage total, the defender incurs no injuries (beyond an annoying bruise, a shallow scrape, a light burn, or dinged protective gear).
Wound Levels
Effect Wounds: Damage Total >= Resistance Total By: Body Points Left Bruised 0 or less 81% – 99% Stunned 1–3 60% – 80% Wounded 4–8 40% – 59% Severely Wounded 4–8** 20% – 39% Incapacitated 9–12 10% – 19% Mortally Wounded 13–15 1% - 9% Dead 16 or more 0 Wounds: Any additional damage less than the character’s current level moves the character up > by one level.
Severely Wounded A character moves to the Severely Wounded level if the difference is between 4 and 8 and > she already has the Wounded level.
Body Points: This is an optional chart for use with Body Points. The “Body Points Left” column is based on the character’s maximum Body Points. Round up or down so that no overlap exists between levels.
Penalties imposed by each level are not cumulative; do not include them when determining the stun or damage resistance total or any total not involving a skill or attribute.
Bruised: Character’s toughness absorbed most or all of the attack. However, the gamemaster may decide that a result that misses by a few points against a defender with no protection (natural other otherwise) instead inflicts a Stunned level.
Stunned: Character either gets -1D for all remaining actions this round and next round or may only defend or retreat in the next round.
Wounded: Character is at -1D to all actions until healed.
Severely Wounded: Character is at -2D on all actions until healed.
Incapacitated: As a free action before losing consciousness, the character may try to stay up with a Moderate (15) stamina or mettle roll. If he succeeds, he may continue to act, but all actions have a -3D penalty. If he fails, he is knocked out for 10D minutes.
Mortally Wounded: The character is near death and knocked unconscious with no chance to keep up. Roll the character’s Physique each round, the character finally dies if the roll is less than the number of minutes he’s been at this level.
Dead: The character has perished.
Fast Combat Option: Gamemasters who wish to give the players’ characters and their major opponents an edge in battles, make the game more realistic, or simply save themselves trouble should apply the modifiers in the first round of combat and then reassess the levels after combat is complete.
Unconsciousness & Death
If the character’s Body Points reach a few points or he has attained the Mortally Wounded level but the character wasn’t instantly killed by massive damage, he is still gravely injured and falls unconscious. Every round that he is at this level, his player makes a Physique roll against a difficulty equal to the number of minutes the character has been Mortally Wounded.
Sufficient medical aid to bring the character to at least 10% of his maximum Body Points or restore one Wound level can possibly rescue the imperiled character. If suitable medical aid is administered within four minutes, the character recovers without undue harm. If the medical aid is given within four to 10 minutes, the player rolls his character’s Physique or stamina against a difficulty equal to the number of minutes he was Mortally Wounded. If the roll succeeds, the character revives but he loses 1D from all of his skills, though the skill cannot go below the attribute’s die code. If the medical aid is given within 10 to 15 minutes, the player rolls his character’s Physique or stamina against a difficulty equal to the number of minutes he was Mortally Wounded. If the roll succeeds, the character revives but he loses 2D from all of his skills, though no skill can be reduced below the attribute’s die code. In any case, should the roll fail, the character dies.
Characters who receive their total Body Points in additional damage after reaching zero Body Points cannot be revived (by normal means, anyway).
Descriptive Damage
So a character is down by a few Body Points or has a couple of Wound levels — so what? What does that mean in descriptive terms? It depends on what caused the harm. The following list supplies some general guidelines for describing what might have happened to the character’s body when he was hurt. Use the “Wound Levels” chart to decide on the character’s current Wound level.
Stunned: Moderate bruise or minor sprain; laceration; muscle tear; minor dislocation of joint.
Wounded: Severe abrasion or sprain; deep laceration; torn ligaments; major dislocation or minor break.
Severely Wounded: Broken bone; gaping wound; ripped cartilage and muscle; concussion.
Incapacitated: Multiple fracture; laceration in vital area; heavy concussion.
Mortally Wounded: Above options combined with multiple internal injuries.
Dead: Broken neck; punctured lung; eviscerated.
These are just a few examples. Really interested gamemasters can come up with charts, tables, or detailed descriptions of damage for those players who absolutely must know. The gamemaster may also assign different modifiers than the general ones listed in the “Wound Levels” sidebar that more appropriately indicate the type of injury that was suffered.
Adjusting the Deadliness
Changing the Body Points system is fairly obvious: More Body Points lead to longer character life spans, while fewer points bring about the end quicker. Altering the Wound level system is a little more involved and can be handled in a few different ways.
Gamemasters who want to add Wound levels may include additional versions of the same level, similar to the way Wounded and Severely Wounded are handled currently. Alternatively, they may add additional levels between each one by spreading out the points currently needed to reach each level, or even add further point levels between Mortally Wounded and Dead.
Gamemasters who wish to remove Wound levels may include the lower limit of a deleted level in the next level up or the upper limit in the next level down. Or they may simply take levels out of the bottom and shift all remaining levels down.
Negative Damage Resistance Total
It is possible for the damage resistance total to be a negative number. Spell feedback, poisons, sickness, and Disadvantages can all contribute negative modifiers that might take the damage resistance total below zero. In this case, the character’s body is working against him, compounding the additional damage done. Gamemasters have three options for handling this: (1) They may use the negative damage resistance total as a positive bonus to all difficulties until the character is healed. (2) They may have the negative damage resistance total add positively to the amount of injury caused. This is a good method for simulating gritty adventures, as well as a way of getting low-level gamemaster’s characters out of the way. (3) Have the damage resistance total equal zero. This last way works best for less than realistic types of adventures, such as comedic fantasy.
Massive Damage Option
If a character incurs two Wound levels within a single round, not only do the normal modifiers for the greatest level apply, the character also can do nothing but defend or run away on the next two rounds. In either of these rounds, the character may make an Easy stamina or mettle attempt, as an action, to try to recover from the blow and shake off the penalty. If this is declared as a multi-action for the round, then the character takes the multi-action penalty. If not, and the stamina or mettle roll is successful, the character may act as normal in the next round.
Killing Blow Option
An attack or series of attacks can cause enough injury that the target may never recover from the harm except through metaphysical or other extraordinary or supernatural measures. Called a killing blow, targets with Body Points must take a damage total equal to 91% of the character’s maximum Body Points in one blow or 100% of the character’s maximum Body Points in a single round. With Wound Levels, the killing blow entails a Mortally Wounded result with one blow or gaining the Dead level in a single round. In either case, use the damage total after subtracting the damage resistance total to determine whether the attack delivered a killing blow. When the target receives a killing blow, he immediately dies.
Damage & NPCs
To reflect the average nonplayer character’s relative unimportance to the universe, gamemasters may wish to lower the gamemaster character’s Body Points or Wounds. For pure cannon fodder any damage over a roll of their Physique might cause them to keel over, while the main villain and her most important henchwomen should get the full complement.
