Injury and Recovery

GENERAL INJURY: LOST HIT POINTS

Repeated wounding eventually causes anyone or anything to weaken and collapse, even if no single injury is very great. The chart below summarizes the effects of being at low or negative HP. All effects are cumulative. Less than 1/3 your HP left – You are reeling from your wounds. Halve your Move and Dodge (round up).
0 HP or less – You are in immediate danger of collapse. In addition to the above effects, make a HT roll at the start of your next turn, at -1 per full multiple of HP below zero. Failure means you fall unconscious (or simply stop working, if you weren’t truly alive or conscious in the first place see Recovering from Unconsciousness (below). Success means you can act normally, but must roll again every turn to continue functioning. Exception: If you choose Do Nothing on your turn, and do not attempt any defense rolls, you can remain conscious without rolling. Roll only on turns during which you attempt a defense roll or choose a maneuver other than Do Nothing.
-1xHP – In addition to the above effects, make an immediate HT roll or die. (If you fail by only 1 or 2, you’re dying, but not dead – see Mortal Wounds, below). If you succeed, you can still talk, fight, etc., as above (until you fail a HT roll and collapse). Roll again each time you suffer injury equal to a further multiple of your HP, whether as a result of one wound or many. For instance, if you have 11 HP, you must roll to avoid death at -11 HP. If you survive, you must roll again at -22 HP, -33 HP, and so on.
-5xHP – You die immediately. You have lost a total of 6 times your HP! Nobody can survive that much injury.
-10xHP – Total bodily destruction, if this makes sense given the source of the damage – 200 points of arrow wounds leave a messy but recognizable corpse; 200 points of fire injury leaves nothing but an unrecognizable lump of charcoal. The difference can be important in settings where resurrection, reanimation, etc. are possible!

SHOCK

Whenever you suffer injury, reduce your DX and IQ by the number of HP you lost – to a maximum penalty of -4, regardless of your injuries – on your next turn only. This effect, called “shock,” is temporary; your attributes return to normal on the turn after that. Shock affects DX- and IQ-based skills, but not active defenses or other defensive reactions; see Temporary Attribute Penalties (p. below). Therefore, on the turn after you are badly hurt, it is often a good idea to try flight or All Out Defense instead of an immediate counterattack! High HP and Shock: If you have 20 or more Hit Points, your shock penalty is -1 per HP/10 of injury (drop all fractions). Thus, if you have 20-29 HP, it’s -1 per 2 HP lost; if you have 30-39 HP, it’s -1 per 3 HP lost, and so forth. The maximum penalty is still -4

MAJOR WOUNDS

A “major wound” is any single injury of greater than 1/2 your HP. If you are using hit locations, a lesser injury that cripples a body part also counts as a major wound – see Crippling Injury (below). Any major wound requires a HT roll to avoid knockdown and stunning (see below).

KNOCKDOWN AND STUNNING

Whenever you suffer a major wound, and whenever you are struck in the head (skull, face, or eye) or vitals for enough injury to cause a shock penalty (see above), you must make an immediate HT roll to avoid knockdown and stunning. Modifiers: -5 for a major wound to the face or vitals (or to the groin, on a humanoid male -10 for a major wound to the skull or eye; +3 for High Pain Threshold, or -4 for Low Pain Threshold. On a success, you suffer no penalty beyond ordinary shock On a failure, you’re stunned; see Effects of Stun, below. You fall prone (if you weren’t already), and if you were holding anything, you drop it. This effect is called “knockdown,” and isn’t the same as “knockback”. On a failure by 5 or more, or any critical failure, you fall unconscious! See Recovering from Unconsciousness (below). Those with Injury Tolerance suffer reduced effects: No Brain means that skull, face, and eye injuries don’t cause knockdown or stunning unless they are major wounds – and even then, the roll is at no special penalty. No Vitals means that vitals and groin injuries don’t cause knockdown or stunning unless they are major wounds, in which case the roll has no special penalties. Homogenous and Diffuse include No Brain and No Vitals.

Effects of Stun

A failed knockdown roll can cause “stun,” as can certain critical hit results and some afflictions. If you are stunned, you must Do Nothing on your next turn. You may perform any active defense while stunned, but your defense rolls are at -4 and you cannot retreat. At the end of your turn, you may roll against HT. On a success, you recover from stun and can act normally on subsequent turns. On a failure, you remain stunned; your next maneuver must also be Do Nothing, but you get another roll at the end of that turn . . . and so on, until you recover from stun. Mental Stun: If you are surprised, you might be mentally stunned. This sort of stunning works as described above, but you must make an IQ roll, not a HT roll, to snap out of it. You’re not hurt – you’re confused!

CRIPPLING INJURY

When using hit locations, sufficient injury to a limb, extremity, or eye may cripple it. This requires a single injury that exceeds a certain fraction of the target’s HP. For humans and humanoids, these thresholds are Limb (arm, leg, wing, striker, or prehensile tail): Injury over HP/2. Extremity (hand, foot, tail, fin, or extraneous head): Injury over HP/3. Eye: Injury over HP/10. It is sometimes possible to cripple a body part with less damage or no damage at all; e.g., with a specific critical hit result. A blow to a limb or extremity can never cause more injury than the minimum required to cripple that body part. For example, if a man has 10 HP and suffers 9 points of injury to his right arm, he loses only 6 HP – the minimum required to cripple his arm. Exception: No such limit applies to the eyes! Excess damage carries through to the brain (skull) instead. Dismemberment: If injury to a body part before applying the above limit was at least twice what was needed to cripple it, the body part is not just crippled but destroyed. A cutting attack or explosion severs a limb or extremity; otherwise, it’s irrevocably crushed, burned, etc.

Crippling Extra Limbs

If you have more than two of a particular limb (arm, leg, etc.), a crippling blow is injury over HP/(number of limbs of that kind e.g., if you have four arms, injury over HP/4 cripples an arm. If you have more than two of a given extremity (hand, foot, etc.), a crippling blow is injury over HP/(1.5 x number of extremities of that kind e.g., if you have four feet, injury over HP/6 cripples a foot.

Effects of Crippling Injury

Any crippling injury is also a major wound, and requires a HT roll for knockdown and stunning; see Knockdown and Stunning (above). Below are some additional effects specific to particular body parts; all these effects apply to dismemberment as well. These last until the fight is over, and possibly longer – see Duration of Crippling Injuries (below). Hand: You drop anything you were carrying in that hand. If you were using two or more hands to hold an object, roll vs. DX to avoid dropping it. You cannot hold anything (e.g., a weapon) in that hand. You can wear a shield on that arm and use it to block, but you cannot attack with it. Until healed, you have the One Hand Disadvantage. Arm: As for a crippled hand, but while someone with a crippled hand could at least carry something in the crook of the arm, you cannot use a crippled arm to carry anything! You do not drop a shield on that arm (unless the arm is severed), but you cannot use it to block – and since it’s just hanging in front of you, reduce its usual Defense Bonus by one. Until healed, you have the One Arm Disadvantage Foot: You fall down! You cannot stand or walk without a crutch or something to lean on. You can still fight if you brace yourself against a wall. If you have nothing to lean on, you may assume a kneeling or sitting posture. Until healed, you have the Lame (Crippled Legs) Disadvantage. Leg: You fall down! You can still fight if you assume a sitting or lying posture. Until healed, you have the Lame (Missing Legs) Disadvantage. Eye: You are blind in that eye. Until healed, you have the One Eye Disadvantage – or Blindness, if you lose all your eyes – unless you have some substitute for eyes.

Nonhuman Body Parts

Extra Arms: If you have three or more arms, a crippled arm (hand) simply reduces the number of arms (hands) you can use. You only suffer an actual disadvantage if reduced to fewer than two arms (hands). Extra Head: If an extraneous head is crippled, you lose the benefits of that Extra Head; see Extra Head, here. Extra Legs: If you have three or more legs, see Extra Legs here for the effects of a crippled foot or leg. Striker: You cannot use your Striker to attack. If your Striker is also a wing or a tail, see below for additional effects. Tail: Any advantages the tail provides (e.g., Extra Arm or Striker) no longer function. As well, your balance is off: -1 DX, except for close manual tasks. If you’re a swimmer or winged flyer, the DX penalty is -2 and you are at half your usual water or air Move (which will also halve your top speed with Enhanced Move). Wing: If you have Flight (Winged), you cannot fly – and if you were airborne, you fall. If your wing is also a Striker, you cannot use it to attack.

Duration of Crippling Injuries

If you suffer a crippling injury, make a HT roll to see how serious it is. For battlefield injuries, roll at the end of combat. Success means the crippling is temporary, failure means it’s lasting, and critical failure means it’s permanent. Dismemberment is automatically permanent don’t bother rolling!
Temporary Crippling: Until you are back at full HP, you suffer the disadvantages described under Effects of Crippling Injury, above. Once you are fully healed, these effects disappear. Lasting Crippling: You suffered a broken bone, badly torn (or burned) muscle, or other lingering damage. Roll 1d. This is the number of months it will take for the injury to heal fully. (If the injury is treated by a physician, subtract 3 from the roll at medical TL7+, 2 at TL6, or 1 at TL5 – but the period of healing is never less than one month.) Permanent Crippling: You lose the use of that body part. It is either nonfunctional or gone. Either way, you acquire a new disadvantage (One Hand, Lame, etc., as appropriate). You get no extra character points for this! It simply lowers your point value. Thanks to medical advancement, bioronics, and cybernetics, even these aren't necessarily career-ending wounds in the Age of Convergence.

Bleeding

If you are injured, you may continue to lose HP to bleeding. At the end of every minute after being wounded, make a HT roll, at -1 per 5 HP lost. On a failure, you bleed for a loss of 1 HP. On a critical failure, you bleed for 3 HP. On a critical success, the bleeding stops completely. On an ordinary success, you do not bleed this minute, but must continue to roll every minute. If you do not bleed for three consecutive minutes, the bleeding stops for good. Otherwise, you or someone else will need to make a First Aid roll to stop the bleeding. The GM decides which wounds bleed. Cutting, impaling, and piercing wounds usually bleed; crushing wounds generally don’t, but there are always exceptions. Minor burning and corrosion injury does not bleed significantly: the damage sears the flesh, cauterizing the wound and preventing blood loss. However, if such injury causes a major wound, treat it as a bleeding wound, oozing blood plasma until properly treated.

Last Wounds

Once you have less than 1/3 your HP left, you can totally ignore any wound to a limb or extremity unless: (a) it is a critical hit; (b) it is enough to cripple that body part; or (c) it inflicts injury equal to 1/3 your HP or more at once.

MORTAL WOUNDS

If you fail a HT roll to avoid death by 1 or 2, you don’t drop dead, but suffer a “mortal wound.” This is a wound so severe that your internal injuries might kill you even after you stop bleeding. If you are mortally wounded, you are instantly incapacitated. You may or may not be conscious (GM’s decision). If you suffer further injury and must make another HT roll to avoid death, any failure kills you. While mortally wounded, you must make a HT roll every half-hour to avoid death. On any failure, you die. On a success, you linger for another half-hour then roll again.
On a critical success, you pull through miraculously: you are no longer mortally wounded (but you are still incapacitated). If you’re alive but mortally wounded, surgery may be able to stabilize your condition – see Stabilizing a Mortal Wound (below). “Trauma maintenance” can keep you alive while waiting for surgery. This involves CPR, oxygen, transfusions, etc. Instead of rolling vs. HT every half-hour, roll against the higher of your HT or your caregiver’s Physician skill every hour or every day, if you are on a heart-lung machine or similar life support. You do not need to roll at all if you’re put into magical or ultra-tech suspended animation If you recover from a mortal wound, make a HT roll. On a failure, you lose a point of HT permanently. On a critical failure, the GM may apply the Wounded disadvantage (here) or some other effect (e.g., reduced appearance due to scarring).

DEATH

If your character is killed, you may still wish to keep track of further injury. Thanks to sciences like Cloning, Necrotubes, and Clinical Reanimation, the dead can be brought back to life by prompt treatment, as long as the body is mostly intact (not reduced to -10xHP). After this point then the best option is likely Ghost Mind Emulation backups or simply a funeral and a new character sheet.

Instant Death

Decapitation, a cut throat, etc. can kill anyone, regardless of HT and HP. If a helpless or unconscious person is attacked in an obviously lethal way, he’s dead. Don’t bother to roll for damage, calculate remaining HP, etc. Just assume that he drops to -5xHP This does not apply to a merely unaware victim. If you sneak up behind a sentry with a knife, you can’t automatically kill him. Game it out realistically. Target the vitals or neck. Since it’s a surprise attack, he won’t be hitting back: make an All-Out attack! Your attack roll will almost certainly succeed. Your victim gets no active defense at all. You will probably inflict enough injury to incapacitate or kill him. But it isn’t automatic.

Dying Actions

When a PC or important NPC is killed in any but the most sudden and thorough fashion, the GM should allow a “dying action.” If this is a final blow at the enemy, it should take no more than a turn. If it’s a deathbed speech, the GM should stretch time a little bit for dramatic purposes! This has nothing to do with realism, but it’s fun.

Recovery

The Injuries rules may seem harsh, but don’t despair . . . you can get better!

RECOVERING FROM UNCONSCIOUSNESS

Failure by 5 or more on a knockdown roll, a failed HT roll to stay conscious at 0 HP or less, and many other things (e.g., certain critical hits) can leave you unconscious. It is up to the GM to decide whether you are truly unconscious or just totally incapacitated by pain and injury – but either way, you can’t do anything. You recover as follows: • If you have 1 or more HP remaining, you awaken automatically in 15 minutes. • At 0 HP or worse, but above -1xHP, make a HT roll to awaken every hour. Once you succeed, you can act normally. You do not have to roll against HT every second to remain conscious unless you receive new injury. But since you are below 1/3 your HP, you are at half Move and Dodge. • At -1xHP or below, you are in bad shape. You get a single HT roll to awaken after 12 hours. If you succeed, you regain consciousness and can act as described above. But if you fail, you won’t regain consciousness without medical treatment – use the rules given under Stabilizing a Mortal Wound (below). Until you receive help, you must roll vs. HT every 12 hours; if you fail, you die.

NATURAL RECOVERY

Rest lets you recover lost HP, unless the damage is of a type that specifically does not heal naturally. At the end of each day of rest and decent food, make a HT roll. On a success, you recover 1 HP. The GM may give a penalty if conditions are bad, or a bonus if conditions are very good.

FIRST AID

The two main uses for First Aid skill are bandaging and treating shock.

Bandaging

It takes one minute to apply pressure or a tourniquet to stop bleeding. This restores 1 HP. Using the Bleeding rule (above), someone who is wounded but receives a successful First Aid roll within one minute of his injury loses no HP to bleeding. A later roll will prevent further HP loss.

Treating Shock

After bandaging, the aid-giver may take extra time to apply a more elaborate dressing and treat the victim for shock. He must keep the victim warm, comfortable, calm, and still. After ten minutes, he may roll against First Aid skill. On a success, the medic rolls 1d+1 to see how many HP the victim recovers – minimum 1 HP. A critical success restores the maximum possible HP! This roll includes the 1 HP for bandaging; thus, a roll of 1 HP restores no further HP. On a critical failure, the victim loses 2 HP instead of recovering any HP at all.

SURGERY

Surgery can physically repair damage to the body, but it’s risky at low TLs– especially prior to the invention of anesthesia (mid-TL5) and blood typing (TL6). See Surgery skill for general modifiers and for the effects of a failed skill roll. Some additional rules: Equipment: Basic equipment gives-6 at TL1, -5 at TL2-3, -4 at TL4, -2 at TL5, and +(TL-6) at TL6+. Equipment quality further modifies the roll; see Equipment Modifiers. The modifiers for TL5+ surgery assume that anesthetic is available. If it isn’t, apply a -2 penalty to skill. This is instead of the usual -1 for a missing item. Infection: Before TL5 (and, at the GM’s option, even during much of TL5), antiseptic practice is poor. Check for infection (see Infection below) after any surgery.

Stabilizing a Mortal Wound

Each attempt takes one hour. The roll is at -2 if the patient is at -3xHP or worse, or -4 if he’s at -4¥HP or worse. On a failure, repeated attempts are allowed, at a cumulative -2 per attempt. If the victim dies on the table, resuscitation may be possible; see Resuscitation (below).

Repairing Lasting Crippling Injuries

It is possible to fix a lasting crippling injury (see Duration of Crippling Injuries, above) through surgery rather than leaving it to heal on its own. This takes 2 hours. On a success, measure the injury’s remaining recovery time in weeks rather than months. This kind of operation is also tricky: -3 or worse to skill. On a failure, the patient needs 1d months to recover before another attempt is possible.

MEDICAL CARE

Anyone under the care of a competent physician (Physician skill 12+) gets +1 on all rolls for natural recovery. The healer may also make a Physician roll 5xdaily to cure the patient. Only one physician may roll per patient, but a single physician can care for up to 200 patients. On a success, the patient recovers 1 HP; on a critical success, he recovers 2 HP. This is in addition to natural healing. However, a critical failure costs the patient 1 HP! Physicians depend heavily on equipment but still receive good basic training. Therefore, a physician performs as noted even if he has to make do without the gadgetry to which he is accustomed, as long as the surroundings are clean.

RESUSCITATION

Reviving a drowning, asphyxiation, or heart attack victim requires resuscitation. Make a successful Physician/TL7+ roll – or a First Aid/TL7+ roll at -4. Each attempt takes one minute. Repeated attempts are possible, but there is almost always a time limit. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and rescue breathing, widely taught after 1960, are more effective than earlier forms of resuscitation. First Aid rolls (but notdefault rolls) to revive victims of drowning or asphyxiation are at -2 instead of -4. Running long distances, using extra effort, being suffocated, casting magic spells, and many other things can cause “fatigue”: a temporary loss of Fatigue Points. Your Fatigue Points (FP) score starts out equal to your HT, but you can modify this; see Fatigue Points. Just as injury represents physical trauma and comes off of HP, fatigue represents lost energy and reduces FP. When you lose FP, keep track of it on your character sheet.

LOST FATIGUE POINTS

The chart below summarizes the effects of being at low or negative FP. All effects are cumulative.
Less than 1/3 your FP left – You are very tired. Halve your Move, Dodge, and ST (round up). This does not affect ST-based quantities, such as HP and damage.
0 FP or less – You are on the verge of collapse. If you suffer further fatigue, each FP you lose also causes 1 HP of injury. Thus, fatigue from starvation, dehydration, etc. will eventually kill you – and you can work yourself to death! To do anything besides talk or rest, you must make a Will roll; in combat, roll before each maneuver other than Do Nothing. On a success, you can act normally. You can use FP to cast spells, etc., and if you are drowning, you can continue to struggle, but you suffer the usual 1 HP per FP lost. On a failure, you collapse, incapacitated, and can do nothing until you recover to positive FP. On a critical failure, make an immediate HT roll. If you fail, you suffer a heart attack; see Mortal Conditions (below). -1xFP – You fall unconscious. While unconscious, you recover lost FP at the same rate as for normal rest. You awaken when you reach positive FP. Your FP can never fall below this level. After this stage, any FP cost comes off your HP instead.

FATIGUE COSTS

The following activities commonly result in FP loss.

Fighting a Battle

Any battle that lasts more than 10 seconds will cost FP – you expend energy quickly when you fight for your life! Those who make no attack or defense rolls during the fight are exempt from this fatigue, but other actions (e.g., casting magic spells) still have their usual FP cost. Assess the following costs at the end of the battle: No Encumbrance: 1 FP. Light Encumbrance: 2 FP. Medium Encumbrance: 3 FP. Heavy Encumbrance: 4 FP. Extra-Heavy Encumbrance: 5 FP. If the day is hot, add 1 FP to the above – or 2 FP for anyone in plate armor, an overcoat, etc. Combat Armor and Battle Armor are both climate-controlled. This counts as a cooling system, and negates the penalties for hot weather. These costs are per battle, not per 10 seconds of battle. A very long battle may cost more (GM’s decision), but it would have to run for 2 or 3 minutes (120 to 180 turns!) before extra FP costs would be realistic.

Hiking

Use the FP costs for fighting a battle, but assess them per hour of road travel; e.g., one hour of marching with light encumbrance costs 2 FP (3 FP on a hot day). If the party enters combat while on the march, assume they’ve been walking for an hour, unless events dictate otherwise, and assess fatigue accordingly.

Overexertion

Carrying more than extra-heavy encumbrance, or pushing/pulling a very heavy load, costs 1 FP per second. For FP costs for other forms of heavy exertion.

Running or Swimming

Every 15 seconds of sprinting, or minute of paced running or swimming, requires a HT roll to avoid losing 1 FP. Encumbrance has no direct effect on this, but you run or swim more slowly.

Special Abilities

Many special abilities or activation of techniques cost FP to use, as does any trait with the Costs Fatigue limitation.

STARVATION AND DEHYDRATION

When you buy equipment, don’t forget food! The traveler’s rations under Camping and Survival Gear are the minimum necessary to keep you healthy on the road; missing even one meal weakens you. Note to the GM: If keeping up with the party’s meals doesn’t sound like fun, feel free to ignore this whole section. Travel is much more hazardous if you have to keep track of food and water!

Starvation

A human needs three meals per day. For each meal you miss, take 1 FP. You can only recover “starvation” fatigue with a day of rest: no fighting or travel, and three full meals. Each day of rest makes up for three skipped meals.

Dehydration

In temperate areas, where water is easy to come by, assume that you can renew your supplies as needed. But if water is in short supply, watch out! A human (or elf, dwarf, etc.) needs 2 quarts of water a day – 3 in hot climates, 5 in the heat of the desert! If you get less than you need, you lose 1 FP every eight hours. If you drink less than a quart a day, you lose an extra 1 FP and 1 HP per day. You can regain all FP lost to dehydration after a day of rest with ample water supplies. You recover lost HP at the usual rate.

MISSED SLEEP

The average human can function for a 16-hour “day.” He must then rest for an eight-hour “sleep period.” Less Sleep (here) shortens this sleep period, thereby increasing useful day length; Extra Sleep (Disadvantages) and Sleepy (p. 154) do the opposite. Getting less sleep than your sleep period costs FP that you can only recover by sleeping.
Interruptions, noise, and disadvantages such as Chronic Pain, Insomniac, Light Sleeper, and Nightmares can reduce the quality of your sleep. In game terms, your sleep counts as fewer hours – or none at all.
Those who have the Doesn’t Sleep advantage can ignore this entire section!

Staying Up Late

If you’ve been awake for more than your normal day (typically 16 hours), you start to get tired. You lose 1 FP if you fail to go to sleep, and 1 FP per quarter-day (usually four hours) you stay awake after that. If you’ve lost half or more of your FP to lack of sleep, you must make a Will roll every two hours you spend inactive (e.g., standing watch). On a failure, you fall asleep, sleeping until you are awakened or get a full night’s sleep. On a success, you have -2 to DX, IQ, and self-control rolls. Those with the Slow Riser disadvantage get an extra -1. If you’re down to less than 1/3 your FP due to lack of sleep, roll as above once per 30 minutes of inaction or two hours of action. This can be very dangerous! Getting Up Early If you sleep for less than your full sleep period, you’ll still be tired when you wake up. Subtract twice the hours of missed sleep from your day to determine how long you can stay awake. For example, if your sleep period is eight hours and you sleep only six hours, you’ve missed two hours of sleep. You will suffer the effects of staying up late after only 12 hours: your usual 16-hour day, minus four hours (twice your hours of missed sleep).

RECOVERING FROM FATIGUE

You can recover “ordinary” lost FP by resting quietly. Reading, talking, and thinking are all right; walking around, or anything more strenuous, is not. Lost FP return at the rate of 1 FP per 10 minutes of rest. The GM may allow you to regain one extra FP if you eat a decent meal while resting. Certain drugs can restore missing FP. You can only recover from fatigue caused by missed sleep by sleeping for at least one full sleep period. This restores 1 FP. Further uninterrupted sleep restores 1 FP per hour. You need food or water to recover FP lost to starvation or dehydration; see Starvation and Dehydration (above).
Besides the ordinary combat risks of swords, guns, and spells, adventurers commonly face other hazards.