Combat Damage
Contents
Lethal Damage
Lethal damage is damage inflicted in combat by a weapon or similar attack. It directly reduces a character's HP.
The Hit Point (HP) value is a numerical representation of the physical punishment a character can endure.
If a character's HP drops to zero, the character falls Prone (though he may subsequently stand up) and all actions cost double AP as long as his HP remains at 0.
A character with negative HP is Unconscious and Dying.
A character is Dead when his HP reaches (0 - his Endurance score).
You gain back a number of hit points equal to your level when you take a full night of rest (8 hours or more). Less than 8 hours or any significant interruption prevents you from gaining back HP.
A full day and night of bed rest allows you to regain your level + your Endurance in HP.
Determining Hit Points
| Primary Ability |
Hit Dice Worth |
|---|---|
| Strength | d10 |
| Endurance | d12 |
| Agility | d6 |
| Speed | d8 |
| Intellect | d4 |
| Willpower | d6 |
| Intuition | d6 |
| Charisma | d4 |
A character's hit points are determined by adding together the following:
- The best hit die among the character's Primary Abilities.
- One half the character's Endurance (rounded down) multiplied by his level.
For example, a level three character with a 4 Endurance and Speed as a Primary Ability has hit points equal to 3d8 + 6.
Hit dice are not recomputed retroactively. If a character first specializes in Intellect and then in Strength, the character only gains the better hit die granted by Strength for levels gained after Strength becomes a Primary Ability.
On the flipside, the Hit Points a character gains from Endurance are computed retroactively. A character's total Hit Points will always equal the HP he has gained from Hit Dice plus his Endurance score multiplied by his level.
- Hit Dice + (1/2 Endurance • Level)
This means that if a character increases his Endurance through leveling up or through magic, his total Hit Points will increase as well. This also means that if a character's Endurance score is damaged, his health can drop rapidly.
Temporary Health
If your Endurance is temporarily increased through magic, when it returns to normal, any damage you took still sticks. Suppose you have 50 HP, and your endurance is increased so that your HP rise to 70. During this period you take 10 points of damage, so that your HP are now 60. When the magic wears off, the damage sticks, meaning your hit points go to 40.
This means that a damaged character can be killed simply by lowering their endurance far enough. When magically increasing endurance, it is important to get healing before your endurance returns to normal, or you may be killed when it reverts.
Massive Damage
If a character receives more than (15 + one-quarter of his maximum health) in one attack, that character has taken massive damage.
Once a character has taken massive damage, he needs to make a Fortitude Save (DC: 15 + the difference between damage dealt and the character's massive damage threshold) or be reduced to -1 HP immediately.
Damage Types
The different types of damage function differently and determine how effective Armor is against various attacks.
Slashing
Slashing damage is done by any weapon that cuts or slices.
Piercing
Piercing damage is done by weapons that puncture and stab.
Bludgeoning
Bludgeoning damage is done by weapons like clubs, staves, and maces.
Bleeding
Bleeding damage is caused by open and bleeding wounds. Bleeding damage reduces HP every round until dealt with via a Heal check.
Elemental
Elemental damage includes things like cold, fire, and electricity.
Ballistic
Ballistic damage is done by explosives and bullets.
Sublethal Damage
Sublethal damage is a measurement of how much non-lethal damage a character has taken. Sublethal damage can be inflicted through combat attacks, special weapons, fatigue, and other methods.
Characters have Damage Reduction against sublethal damage equal to their Endurance, though many effects, such as Disease, bypass this.
Sublethal damage starts at zero and goes up. If at any time a character's sublethal damage becomes higher than his current HP, or it is so at the beginning of his turn, that character must make a Fortitude Save (DC: 20 + the difference between the sublethal and HP values) or fall Unconscious. All actions the player takes that turn take a penalty equal to the difference between the sublethal and HP values as well.
A character cannot take more sublethal damage than his normal maximum HP. Any sublethal damage taken after this point has been reached is instead lethal damage, though it is reduced by damage reduction, as above, if applicable.
A character's Sublethal Damage total is reduced by the character's Endurance + Character Level at the end of a night (at least 6 hours) of sleep.
Using a Weapon that Deals Lethal
You can use a melee weapon which normally deals lethal damage to deal sublethal by taking a -4 to attack.
In order to actually accrue Sublethal Damage, a character must receive over his Endurance in Sublethal damage. Endurance is effectively Damage Reduction for Sublethal Damage.
Sublethal damage accrued by using too many Action Points bypasses this rule.
Stun
If a character is dealt more than double his Endurance (after taking into account damage reduction), that character is Stunned for one round.
Massive Sublethal Damage
If a character takes more sublethal damage from one attack than his Massive Damage threshold, that character must make a Fortitude Save (DC: 15 + the difference between damage dealt and the character's massive damage threshold) or be knocked Unconscious immediately.
Regaining HP
You regain sublethal damage at a rate of Endurance + Level per night of sleep (6 hours or more).
