Health & Damage
Health and damage
Characters have maximum health equal to their STR. When they suffer damage, they reduce health by an equal amount, at most down to 0.
Characters who lose at once half or more of their remaining health (minimum 1) suffer critical damage. Characters sho suffer critical damage take the incapacitated condition until the end of the stretch. Some sources of harm might cause additional effects on critical damage.
Characters who lose all their remaining health suffer critical damage and additionally take the dying condition.
Characters who suffer at once damage matching or exceeding their STR are killed on the spot.
When STR is reduced, health must also be reduced by an equal amount, but not below 1. Health loss due to STR loss doesn’t cause critical damage.
Lost health can be recovered by resting (see Rest & Recovery) or using healing items.
Example
Incapacitated and dying
Incapacitated characters are unconscious or in terrible pain. They are completely unable to act and defenceless. They recover at the end of the stretch.
Dying characters die at the end of the next round. If they recover at least 1 health before then they are stabilised and out of danger but suffer an injury. They roll on the Injuries table and suffer the indicated effect.
| D6 | Injury |
|---|---|
1 | Scarred. The wound leaves a permanent mark, but there are otherwise no negative consequences. Describe the scar as vividly as you can! |
2 | Painful wound. Your STR is temporarily reduced by d4. |
3 | Concussion. Your WIT is temporarily reduced by d4. |
4 | Injured leg. Your AGI is temporarily reduced by d4. You suffer from the hobbled condition until you take a full rest (see Conditions). |
5 | Injured arm. You suffer from the arm injury condition until you take a full rest (see Conditions). Roll a d2 to determine which arm is affected: 1) your secondary arm, 2) your primary arm. If you get this injury a second time, the other arm is affected. If you get it a third time, nothing happens. |
6 | Blinded eye. You suffer from the eye injury condition until you take a full rest (see Conditions). If you get this injury a second time, you suffer from the _blind condition until you take a full rest. If you get it a third time, nothing happens. |
Rolling for damage
Damage is usually rolled on a d4, d6, d8, d10, or d12. If you roll the maximum possible number, you must reroll the same die and add the new result to the previous roll minus 1. Keep doing this as long as you keep rolling the maximum.
Example
Impaired and enhanced damage
When characters suffer impaired damage, roll twice and keep the lower result. Damage which is impaired multiple times is completely ineffective and ignored.
When characters suffer enhanced damage, roll twice and keep the higher result. Multiple enhancements at once have no effect.
Factors enhancing and impairing damage at the same time cancel each other out.
Example
Sybilla suffers d6 enhanced damage, therefore she must roll a d6 twice. She rolls a 4 and a 6. She must re-roll the second die and add 5: she rolls a 3 for a total of 5+3 = 8 damage. The results of the two rolls are 4 and 8: since 8 is greater roll, she suffers 8 damage.
Balthasar suffers d8 impaired damage, therefore he must roll a d8 twice. He rolls 3 and 7, resulting in only 3 damage.
Armour value
Armour value reduces incoming damage by a matching amount, even down to 0. It is increased by wearing armour and holding shields. Direct damage ignores the armour value and is always applied in full.
Death of the Player characters
Players whose character dies must immediately create a new one, who joins the company as soon as possible under whatever narrative pretext can be devised by the GM. If all Player characters are incapacitated at the same time, the GM decides what happens to the company (they might be killed, captured, rescued, robbed, etc.). If all Player characters die, the Players lose and must create a brand new company.
Even though a dead Player character is promptly replaced, their death has consequences. The other Player characters must pay for their funeral or permanently lose an omen, as described in the Honour the dead section. The GM may also introduce additional penalties, suitable to the scenario or the campaign. For example, he might allow the Players a maximum number of deaths before the scenario or campaign is declared lost for good.