If Wounds (W) is reduced to zero or less, the character is dying. At the start of each round, the character makes a BOD check, adding successes or failures to W. If W drops at or below a certain threshold (-BOD), the character is dead. If W gets above zero, the character is no longer dying and stops making checks.
While W is at or below zero, if character wishes to perform actions, they must succeed on a NER check, but they suffer condition penalty (CP) to this check.
Someone with the Heal skill may try to stabilize a dying character in one round – a success of zero or more means that when the character makes BOD checks, they no longer suffer wounds with failures (so ignore negative results), providing they suffer no further injury.
Someone with the Heal skill may also heal one set of injuries, but this takes several minutes or more and must take place outside of combat. Once such a check is made, those injuries cannot be healed again in this manner, and any further injuries must be treated separately (and cannot be healed beyond their value). A failure on this check is ignored, allowing the healer to make additional checks until they receive a success of 1 or more. Each attempt still takes several minutes to perform.
Note that these Heal checks are not contested, so the base target number is 10 (plus or minus any modifiers).
Example: say our barbarian's W drops to -2. With a BOD of 11, at the start of the next round he rolls an 8 on 3d6, a failure of one (target of 10, 8+1=9). So his result is
W = -2 - 1 (failure of one) = -3
During this round an ally with the Heal skill tries to stabilize him and rolls a success of four. As long as he takes no more injuries, he ignores all failures for the following rounds. At the start of the next round he rolls a failure of two. So his result is
W = -3 + 0 (failure of two negated by stabilize) = -3
At the start of the next round he finally gets a lucky break, rolling a success of four, so his result is
W = -3 + 4 (success of four) = 1
and his character no longer makes checks now that his W is above zero, but as he comes to his feet he discovers that combat has ended. The healer now turns to our wounded barbarian and attempts to heal his injuries over the next few minutes, binding his wounds. She scores a success of four, so the barbarian now has
W = 1 + 4 (success of four) = 5
and those set of injuries cannot be treated in this manner again. If he takes further injuries, those too may be healed as a separate set of injuries, but his final W cannot be healed above 5 in this manner - he'll need some long-term healing to fully recover.
Outside of combat, characters make one heal check to recover W using BOD at the start of each day. Successes heal their damage (while failures add to the damage). If someone with the Heal skill tends to them during this time, add the skill check result to their BOD. If the character rests during this time (no strenuous activity), ignore failures on both the BOD check and the Heal check. CP affects this, so the more injured/stressed a person is, the more likely they could die.
In summation (long-term healing), to recover W:
BOD check (versus a base target value of 10) once per day, adding/subtracting results to W with the following modifications:
- Anyone with Heal skill tending to the wounded adds their skill check result to the wounded's BOD check.
- If the wounded is resting, ignore failures from both BOD and Heal checks.
- Any set of injuries cannot be healed beyond their value, i.e. a set of injuries equaling 5W cannot be healed more than 5.
Example: the barbarian pushes himself and continues to adventure, risking further injury, but he does have an ally that continues to treat his wounds. On the next day, the healer flubs her Heal check and gets a failure of three, giving the barbarian a -3 penalty to his BOD check to heal. With W(5), he also is suffering CP of -1. The barbarian rolls an 11 on his BOD check, so the result is
BOD bonus = +1 - 3 (Heal failure of three) -1 (CP) = -3 (to BOD check)
11 (3d6 check) - 3 (final BOD check bonus) = 8 (BOD check versus target 10) = failure of two
causing further injury:
W = 5 - 2 (failure of two) = 3
So the barbarian now has CP of -2. The healer could attempt to heal these 2 points, but no more than that for this set of injuries (i.e. ripped stitching, exacerbated wounds, etc.). She convinces the barbarian to take it easy today, so all failures can be ignored the next day. On the following morning, our healer rolls a success of four and the barbarian rolls a 14, so his result is
BOD check bonus = +1 (BOD base) + 4 (Heal success of four) -2 (CP) = +3 (to BOD check)
14 (3d6 check) + 3 (BOD check bonus) = 17 (BOD check versus target 10) = success of seven
and the barbarian heals:
W = 3 + 7 (success of 7) = 10
As his W is now 10 or more, the barbarian is no longer suffering any condition penalty to his actions and he feels well enough to continue adventuring.
If Stress (S) is reduced to zero or less, the character is struggling to remain standing and is stunned. At the start of each round, the character makes a NER recovery check, adding successes or failures to S. If S drops at or below a certain threshold (-NER), the character collapses, unconscious. At this point, any further S damage beyond -NER becomes W damage. If S gets above zero, the character stops making checks and is no longer stunned.
Outside of combat, characters make a NER check to increase their S value every minute, ignoring failures if resting. Alternatively, a good hour's rest fully recovers S to the full MC value, though in some cases S may persist longer (such as, for example, an impairment drug that lasts for 3 hours).
In summation (outside of combat), to recover S:
NER check once per minute (providing source, such as drugs, have expired), adding/subtracting results to S with the following modifications:
- Ignore failures if resting.
- Alternatively, skip checks and fully heal S after one hour of resting.
Example: with a MC of 10, our barbarian enters a bar where he jumps into a fistfight with a thug he insulted. Since physical damage for brawl is half successes, both foes try to do S damage to quickly drop their opponent. On the first round, the thug hits the barbarian with 4S damage, so the S of the barbarian is now 6,
10 (S = MC when undamaged) - 4 (S damage) = 6
As this is less than 10, the barbarian suffers a condition penalty:
CP = -1 (S less than 10)
Immediately the barbarian is in trouble, as this penalty affects most of his actions. He can attempt a NER check to reduce this penalty (back to 0 with a success of one), but he runs the risk of further penalizing his actions with a failure (and may increase the -1 CP, as failures are added to the condition penalty for that round) . On the next round, the thug hits the barbarian with a big hit for 8S damage, so his S is now
S = 6 - 8 (S damage) = -2
As this is greater than his S (6), the barbarian hits the floor stunned, and the thug gloats over his foe, who now suffers CP of -4. At the start of the next turn, the barbarian attempts a NER check to recover. With his NER bonus = +0, he rolls a 15 on 3d6, scoring a success of one (because of -4 CP), so his MC is now
S = -2 + 1 (NER success of one) = -1
which is still less than 1, so he remains stunned. The following round, the barbarian rolls a critical 16, adding another +1d6 to the result, raising the final to 19. With a -4 CP, this gives him a success of five, so his S rises to 3. He rises off his knees after being stunned for 6 seconds (2 rounds), but his CP is now
CP = -2 (for S at 5 or less)
so he's barely functioning. That was a nasty insult he used on the thug, however, and so the thug knees him hard in the face, catching the barbarian with a surprise attack (he didn't think the fight would continue) so he rolls Superior 1. With a -2 to the barbarian's defenses (due to CP), the thug scores a critical and does 14 damage and the barbarian is now at
S = 3 - 14 (S damage) = -11
-11 is greater than -10 (NER), so 1W damage
As S is now less than -NER, this drops the barbarian like a sack of potatoes: he is now unconscious, and the additional point of S damage beyond -NER becomes wound damage. The thug drags him outside and throws him into the street, followed by the barbarian's healer ally (she didn't want to fight, so she stayed out of it) and she waits helplessly next to her friend as, once per minute, he tries to recover (or lays there for an hour before regaining S).
Combat is generally handled with an opposed check (such as a weapon skill versus the defender's dodge, with the results determining the damage, if any). Dangers beyond combat may wound or stress a creature, such as hazards and traps. Rather than an opposed check, the creature rolls against a target number to determine what damage it takes, if any.
When a creature makes a hazard check, failures on that check become damage, typically either W, S, or both. Some hazards may be countered by stats directly, while others might be countered with a skill (defaulting to a stat if the creature in question has no skill). For a baseline target number for hazards, consider a creature with a stat/skill bonus of +0, with a roll of 10 how much damage would they take? Some guidelines for suggested Target Numbers:
5 or less = generally a safe activity that could be dangerous if a blunder is rolled on the check (working under a heavy object that could fall and crush the character if they are very careless, for example).
8 = slightly more dangerous situation that most can avoid if they are careful.
11 = likely to cause some wounds or stress if the character is not careful.
15 = difficult to avoid wounds or stress, could be life-threatening if the character blunders.
20 = dangerous hazard where escaping damage is very difficult and severe damage is likely.
30+ = deadly hazard that is likely to result in unconsciousness or death.
For determining which stat is used to counter a hazard, use the following guidelines:
FIN = can be avoided with reflexes or dodging, such as a rolling boulder. The Dodge Skill might be appropriate.
ALL = perhaps a supernatural hazard, such as a judgy/temperamental force. The Talk or Con Skill might be appropriate.
BOD = diseases, poisons, and toxins, or anything that attacks/stresses the body itself.
STR = hazards that can be avoided with feats of strength, such as holding open a vice that is straining to crush the character.
INS = hazards that can be avoided by observation or intuitively avoided.
MEN = hazardous puzzles that can be avoided with clever thinking.
NER = hazards that need feats of will or steady nerves to avoid.
Damage: a typical hazard causes wounds, though some hazards may partially or even entirely cause stress instead. Fire, for example, causes equal parts wound and stress damage (and the stress damage is special in that it heals like wound damage). If no value is given for damage, assume it is wound damage, otherwise note the damage type.
Size: a hazard may have a base size for damage (note this is different from the size of the effect itself, i.e. how much of an area or region the hazard covers). As with damage size in combat, each size category larger is x2 damage, while for each category smaller damage is halved. If a hazard has no size category, it normalizes to each creature. An example of this is inhaling a toxin - small characters inhale less, larger more, so each is getting a dose equivalent to their size category.
Size, Hazard, Stat/Skill(Target), Damage per Failure
example:
(S5) Boulder Trap FIN(20) W
example with atypical damage noted:
Toxic Smoke INS(15) 1/4W, 1/2S
(each failure of 2 = 1S and failure of 4 = 1W)
Explosive hazards affect targets depending on distance from the blast point, and have one additional value to reflect this, called the blast range. When making a hazard check against an explosion, targets at point-blank range, the check is made with Inferior +1 (or even +2 or more, like when a person lays down on a grenade to shield others from the blast). Targets within the blast range make a normal hazard check, and for each increment beyond the blast range, they get a cumulative Superior +1, up to a maximum of +2.
So, for example, a bomb with a blast range of 3m will impose Superior +1 at point blank, regular check for those within 3 meters, Superior +1 from 3-6 meters, Superior +2 for 6-9 meters. Explosion hazards are listed as such:
Size, Hazard, Blast Range, Stat/Skill(Target), Damage per Failure
example:
(S4) Frag Grenade 5m FIN(15) W
(S4) WW2 Grenade 3m FIN(15) W
Strenuous activity for extended periods of time can lead to exhaustion, even death. For example, running for hours may be a fast way to travel, but pushing too hard can lead to stress and wound damage over time. With running, each creature has a base move, in meters per round (for humans, that's typically 4m/round - as there are 20 rounds/minute, that comes out to 4.8 km/hr). With a Run Check, creatures can travel faster by applying a multiplier to their base move: x2 for jog, x3 for run, and x4 for sprint. Successes on a Run Check may be added to the base move, and (combined with the multiplier) this can add up to a substantial increase in speed, though the danger comes from exhaustion. Any strenuous activity for extended periods may lead to S or W damage.
Using Run as an example, a BOD Check is needed each hour to determine the amount of W & S damage (if any) is sustained while running. The target number is 10 plus the difficulty, a value determined by the number of successes added to the base speed (runners can choose to use less successes than they rolled) and the multiplier. For example, a character jogging (x2 movement) who took three successes on their roll (+3m/round) travels much faster than their base speed, as they have a movement of 7m/round (x2 jogging), or 16.8km/hr, but they must make a BOD Check for S and one for W with a difficulty of +6 (+3m/round x 2 movement multiplier). Note there are two BOD Checks needed, one for S damage, where failures are equal to S taken, and one for W damage, where 1/2 failures equal W damage. Characters are more likely to drop from exhaustion, but some can run themselves to death (if they roll well on the S BOD Check and poorly on the W BOD Check).
Using the run example as a guide, GMs may assign an Exhaustion Check to any strenuous activity, either on a per-hour basis or whatever time interval feels appropriate. For example, perhaps working a forge requires an Exhaustion Check of 12 (assuming difficulty +2) each hour, while balancing on one leg atop a pillar to prove one's stamina might require an Exhaustion Check of 10 every 15 minutes (probably with a FIN Check too for maintaining balance).
Exhaustion Check (S or W) = BOD Check vs. 10 + difficulty (successes to base move x multiplier)
so
BOD Check vs. 10 + difficulty
S Failure = S damage
W Failure = 1/2W damage
Some types of damage are ongoing or have special properties beyond doing wound or stress damage, such as bleed effects from bladed weapons, burns from fire, poisons and disease. Ongoing damage is applied at the end of each round (3 seconds).
Some weapons, such as bladed or piercing ones, may cause bleed (assuming the target is susceptible to this effect). When a character suffers wound damage from a blade weapon, they have to make a BOD check versus 10 + wounds. A failure means the character has begun to bleed, taking 1W each round unless the bleeding is stopped. A failure of 5 increases this loss to 2W/round, a failure of 10 to 3W/round, and a failure of 15+ to 4W/round, etc.. If this bleed is caused by a piercing weapon that remains lodged, they do not suffer the W/round until it is removed, though it may impose a -1 modifier to physical actions unless its taken care of (for example, an arrow sticking out of the body may be broken off near the wound so it stops catching on movement). This effect stacks, so three failed bleed checks from three different wounds, for example, would cause 3W/round, and each of the three would need to be treated separately.
Bleed Check = BOD Check vs. 10 + W damage
Failure (less than 5) = 1W/round
For each Failure of 5, +1W/round
so, Failure of 5 = 2W/round
Failure of 10 = 3W/round, etc.
During combat, bleeding damage may be stopped by using an action and one hand to put pressure on the wound, reducing the blood loss by up to -2W/round. To stop bleeding, a Heal(T) check and the proper tools (bandages or sewing/binding the wound, etc.) is needed and takes 20 rounds (1 minute). During this work, assume the blood loss is being managed. If in a rush, a healer can attempt this feat in 2 rounds of uninterrupted action (assuming they have the proper tools) by making the Heal(T) Check at Inferior +1.
Example: suppose a character with PC:15 gets hit by a bladed weapon for 6W, reducing their current wounds to W = 9 (giving them CP:-1). Because that weapon may cause bleed, they have to make a BOD Check vs. 16 (10 + 6W). Let's say the character rolls a 10 on their check, which is a failure of 6. This means they now have a bleed of 2W/round. At the end of that round, he takes the bleed damage :
W = 7, CP = -1
Next round, the character does two actions - one to attack his opponent, and one to use a free hand to stem the bleeding (as the character wields a regular weapon that can be used one-handed). As that's two actions, the character suffers a -2 to all actions that round (no check needed to stem the flow). Let's say the character is hit again by the bladed weapon, this time for 3W (dropping his W to 4), triggering another BOD Check vs. 13 (10 + 3W), and he rolls a failure of 1, meaning he now has a second bleed of 1W/round. Let's suppose the character gets lucky and slays their opponent on their go. At the end of the round, he has:
W = 3, CP = -2
and has two bleed effects, one for 2W/round and one for 1W/round. If he wishes to stop both bleeds, he'd need both hands to stem the flow. Let's suppose he has allies fighting other opponents and withdraws from the fight to try and treat the bleeds. He doesn't have heal as a trained skill, but he can attempt it untrained at half successes (double failures), and let's suppose he has some +1 bandages. Even with rank 0, let's say his stat bonus for heal is +3. With the bandages that gives a +4 Heal Check, though he also has a CP: -2 (he could attempt a NER check to avoid this, but let's say the character's NER isn't high enough for the player to be confident he wouldn't make things worse). He could treat one wound for two rounds at Inferior +1 check, but it'd be at a -2 (for two actions each round) if he tried it one-handed while stemming the second bleed (he can only treat one at a time). Say he tries to treat his more serious bleed (2W/round) with both hands, letting the other one bleed 1W/round for two rounds. The treated bleed is considered stemmed during this time, so in two rounds he's dropped to:
W = 1, CP = -2
and his Heal Check is 3d6 + 2 (+4 - 2 CP), but Inferior +1 (4d6, 3 lowest) because he's rushing this treatment. It's a base check (target 10), and even with Inferior 1 that's a 63% chance of success, but an increased risk of a blunder. Suppose he rolls a blunder, a six and three ones, since he has to take the lowest three that's a blunder (-3d6 to the check) and a chaos check (three ones). The -3d6 rolls to 11, subtracting from three (the check itself) plus 2 (his bonus on the check) gives a final check result of -6, versus a target of 10, that's a failure of 16. The GM decides the blunder is not only did he fail to bandage the wound, but he slipped in stemming the flow, so at the end of that round he takes 3W from both bleeds. Now he's at:
W = -2, CP = -2
and is in serious trouble. He now has to make NER checks (with -2 CP) each round to attempt actions, in this case holding the bleeding wounds in an effort to stem the flow, as well as BOD checks (as he is below 0W). If he can hold out, his companions may attempt to bind his wounds and save him.
Fire damage, denoted with an "F," is particularly gruesome for two reasons. First, it does equal amounts of W & S damage, so burn wounds can quickly incapacitate a character. Second, the wounds heal as W damage, so S damage from fire takes much longer to heal than normal. When someone suffers fire damage, they have to make a BOD check versus 10 + fire damage. A failure means they have caught fire and begun to burn.
Burn Check = BOD Check vs. 10 + fire damage
Failure = 1F/round
Failure of 5 = 2F/round
Failure of 10 = 3F/round
Failure of 15+ = 4F/round
Allies can spend an action trying to douse the flames with a FIN check. Ignore failures, but successes reduce the fire damage on subsequent rounds at a rate of -1F/round per two successes. If reduced to 0F, the flames have been extinguished. Victims of ongoing fire damage must make a NER check first, equal to 10 + fire damage per round. Failure results in a panic and they take no actions that round, aside from screaming and flailing around. With a success, they can act normally, including any attempts to douse the fire themselves.
Victim: NER Check vs. 10 + F/round damage
Failure = lose all actions that round
and to put out the flames:
FIN Check vs. 10 + F/round damage
Success = -1F/round damage per two successes
Example: suppose a character with a PC: 17 and MC: 12 gets hit for 3F damage, dropping his wounds to 14 and stress to 9. On that turn, the character rolls a BOD check versus 15 (10 + 5F) to see if they catch fire. Let's suppose he rolled a blunder, resulting in 4F/round burning damage. At the end of the round, he drops to:
W = 10, S = 5, CP = -1
and will continue to take 4F base damage each turn. As his stress has dropped below 10, he now suffers a condition penalty of -1. On the character's go next round, he fails his NER check of 14(10+4F/round), so he panics and flails screaming (losing his action). Let's suppose he's got a buddy who tries to put him out. She spends the turn beating him with a coat, trying to put out the fire. On her FIN check, let's say she rolls a success of 2. Now the fire is reduced to 3F/round. At the end of the round, he's now at:
W = 7, S = 2, CP = -3
and is in big trouble. But on the next round, he makes his NER check and tries to put the flames out himself. Suffer -3 from his CP, however, he fails his FIN check so the base damage is still 3F/round. His friend (who's still trying to help put out the flames), however, gets lucky, and rolls a success of 4 on her FIN check, knocking him to the ground as she smothers more of the flames. The damage is now 1F/round. At the end of the round, he's now at:
W = 6, S = 1, CP = -3
The next round, he makes his NER check again and gets lucky on his FIN check. Despite the -3 CP, he scores a success of 3. This reduces the fire to 0F/round, so it's out, though he groans in pain - he's badly injured. All 11 stress is due to the fire, and is treated as W damage for the purposes of healing. As he recovers W, that S will increase by the same amount. Let's say he's in luck, and his friend has the Heal(T) skill at +2. She also has a good first aid kit which provides another +2. She spends several minutes cleaning the wounds, applying ointments and bandaging his burns. She rolls a success of 5, so his W and S both increase (as this is burn damage) and his condition is now
W = 11, S = 6, CP = -1
He still aches from his injuries (and suffers a CP -1), but he's no longer crippled by them.