By Brian Penn
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Author’s Note: These
House Rules should be used sparingly to add a flavor of realism to any
campaign. Inflicting the consequences of critical injuries can provide
interesting plot devices as the character seeks to overcome and/or cope with
the disability. Disabilities are a serious matter that may be too serious for
some players.
Minor
Wounds, Major Wounds, and Critical Wounds Definitions:
· A minor wound is due to lacerations, contusions, blood loss, shock, and fatigue. Brief rest, good nutrition, and minor medical attention allow minor wounds to quickly recover.
· A major wound is due to bone fractures, traumatized organs, and severed muscles or tendons. In addition to a lot of extended rest and good nutrition, major medical supervision, surgery, and/ or partial immobilization may be required to recover.
· A critical wounds occurs when damage equal to 50% or more of a character’s Constitution is done in a single attack. A critical wound to any limb will incapacitate and possibly cripple it. A critical wound to the head is especially bad; there are so many delicate organs to damage. A critical wound to the body is not much better than a blow to the head, for similar reasons. As such, each location needs to be treated differently.
Combat runs the same as stated in the T&T rule book. After reducing damage by hits taken for armor, the final amount of damage done to a character is compared to the character’s current Strength. If the amount exceeds the Strength value then a major or possibly a critical wound is delivered. Compare the difference between the damage total and Strength value as damage done to Constitution. Otherwise, all other damage less than or equal to Strength constitute minor inurjies, and the damage is applied directly to Strength instead.
A human warrior, Gregarious Greg, Strength 14 DEX 13 IQ 10
LUK 16 Constitution 15 CHR 18 Adds +7 armed with a magic broad sword (3d+8 SN 0
DN 10) and a buckler shield (3 hits ×2 for warriors) is battling an Ogre MR 40.
First Round: Greg rolls 7 for 7+8+7 = 22 damage. The ogre rolls 15 for 15+20 =
35 damage. The ogre wins the round and does 13 damage to Greg. After the
shield, the warrior takes 7 damage reducing his Strength to 7. Greg’s new Adds
become -2+1+4 = +3.
Second Round: Greg rolls 9 for 9+8+3 = 20 damage. The ogre rolls 20 for 20+20 =
40 damage. The ogre smacks the warrior for 20 damage. After accounting for
Greg’s buckler he takes 14 damage. Comparing the damage to his current Strength
results in 14 - 7 = 7 damage directly to Constitution. His current Constitution
is now 8
Third Round: Greg rolls a 10 for 10+8+3 = 21 damage. The ogre rolls 12 for 12+20 = 32 damage. The ogre delivers 9 damage, and Greg takes 3 damage to his Strength after his shield. Greg’s Strength becomes 4 while his Constitution remains at 8. His new Adds are –5+1+4 = 0.
Fourth Round: Greg rolls 8 for 8+8+0 = 16 damage. The ogre rolls 12 for 12+20 = 32 damage. He hammers the human for 16 points of damage. After accounting for his buckler, Greg takes 10 damage. Greg’s Constitution takes 10-4 (current Strength) = 6 damage, reducing his Constitution from 8 to 2. Greg passes out, and the warrior is at the ogre’s mercy.
Critical injuries need to be treated seriously. Poor attention to treatment or incompetent medical supervision may result in permanent life long injury or even death. When a critical wound occurs, the character must make a Luck saving roll at the highest level possible to determine long term effects:
· Failing even a level 1 saving roll results in life long disability (all penalties are permanent). Organs and limbs are totally destroyed and non-functional (cut off/out, bones smashed beyond repair, or major nerve damage). All penalties are permanent.
· Making a level 1 saving roll results in a permanent life long injury that is slow to heal (severely fracture bones, improper setting of a bone, minor nerve damage, a portion of the organ “dies” or severed tendons). All penalties apply until at least ¾ the damage from the wound has healed. Longer term penalties remain.
· A level 2 saving roll will have long lasting inconvenient effects, but for the most part the injury heals (a clean fracture, a bone set well, critical scarring, or minor nerve damage). All penalties apply until at least ½ the damage from the wound has healed. It is possible to have some small longer term associated penalties.
· A level 3 saving roll or above is always the best possible result; after healing, the wound might leave some scarring. Unless the injury is to a delicate organ there will be virtually no long term effects. All penalties apply until at least ½ the damage from the wound has healed. Long term effects only apply for especially delicate organs.
A critical wound to a limb always incapacitates it. The character loses and additional 4 Strength, Dexterity, and Speed until the wound has completely healed. If a leg is incapacitated, movement will be affected. The effects of long term penalties are relatively minor:
· Make a level 1 saving roll: After healing, the wound will always bother the character, resulting in a permanent loss of 2 point Strength, Dexterity, and Speed.
· Make a level 2 saving roll: The old wound might cause some discomfort when it is unusually cold or wet or later on in old age. When the old injury flares up, there might be a temporary loss of 1 Dexterity and Speed.
A critical wound to the head functionally incapacitates the character. The character must make a level 3 Constitution saving roll each round to do anything useful. The moment the saving roll is failed, the character will lapse into unconsciousness. Regardless, without any treatment the character will continue to take 1 point of damage every combat round due to bleeding.
The character must make at least a level 3 Luck saving roll or roll on the Head Trauma Table to determine long term effects. This Luck saving roll is in addition to the normal saving roll for long term effects. The long term penalties are detailed in the Head Trauma Table.
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Head Trauma Table (1d6) |
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1 |
Lose an Eye |
Lose depth perception. All Ranged Attack saving rolls to be at ×2 difficulty. Visual saving rolls are made at 1 level higher. The character loses 3 Dexterity, 1 Intelligence, and 2 Luck. · Make a level 1 saving roll: Keep the eye, but the eye will not function (all penalties are permanent). · Make a level 2 saving roll: Keep the eye, but sight is greatly impaired. The character still loses 2 Dexterity and 1 Luck, and lose 2 points from all visual saving roll totals. · Make a level 3 or higher saving roll: The level of impairment is less. The character still loses 1 Dexterity, and lose 1 point from all visual saving roll totals. |
|
2 |
Ear Damage |
Hearing saving rolls are made at 1 level higher. The character loses 1 Dexterity, 2 Luck, and 2 Speed. · Make a level 1 saving roll: The ear drum is ruptured, and the character is deaf in that ear (all penalties are permanent). · Make a level 2 saving roll: Hearing is greatly impaired. The character still loses 1 point Luck and Speed, and loses 2 points from all auditory saving roll totals. · Make a level 3 or higher saving roll: The level of impairment is less. The character still loses 1 Speed, and loses 1 point from all auditory saving roll totals. |
|
3 |
Concussion |
The character loses 4 Intelligence and all perception saving rolls are 1 level higher. · Make a level 1 saving roll: When healed the character still loses 2 Intelligence, and all perception rolls are 1 level higher. · Make a level 2 saving roll: The character still loses 1 Intelligence, and loses 2 points from all perception saving roll totals. · Make a level 3 or higher saving roll: The level of impairment is less. The character loses 1 point from all perception saving roll totals. |
|
4 |
Sinus Damage |
Visual and smelling/tasting saving rolls are made at 1 level higher. The character loses 1 Dexterity and 1 Speed. · Make a level 1 saving roll: Sinuses are severely damaged, and all smelling/tasting saving rolls are made at 1 level higher. · Make a level 2 saving roll: Loses 2 points from all smelling/tasting saving roll totals. · Make a level 3 or higher saving roll: Loses 1 point from all smelling/tasting saving roll totals. |
|
5 |
Jaw Damage |
Lose teeth and / or deform jaw. The character loses 2 Charisma to impaired speech. · Make a level 1 saving roll: all penalties are permanent. · Make a level 2 saving roll: The character loses only 1 Charisma to slurred speech. |
|
6 |
Neck Damage |
The character loses 2 Dexterity and 2 Speed. · Make a level 1 saving roll: The character loses 1 Dexterity and 1 Speed permanently. · Make a level 2 saving roll: The character only loses 1 Dexterity. |
A critical wound to the body functionally incapacitates the character. The character must make a level 2 Constitution saving roll each round to do anything useful. Regardless, without any treatment the character will continue to take 1 point of damage every combat round due to bleeding.
The character must make at least a level 2 Luck saving roll or roll on the Body Trauma Table to determine what else happens. This Luck saving roll is in addition to the normal saving roll for long term effects. The long term penalties are detailed in the Body Trauma Table.
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Body Trauma Table (1d6) |
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1-2 |
Internal Organ Damage |
The character loses 5 Constitution. · Make a level 2 saving roll: The character loses 3 Constitution permanently. · Make a level 3 or higher saving roll: The character still loses 1 Constitution permanently. |
|
3 |
Back Damage |
Weight possible is halved, and the character loses 4 Dexterity and Speed · Make a level 1 saving roll: Multiply weight possible by ¾ permanently. The Dexterity and Speed loss are permanent. · Make a level 2 saving roll: The Dexterity and Speed loss are permanent. The character’s back will only provide problems when it is extremely cold and wet, when sitting for hours on end, or later on in old age (during this time weight possible is multiplied by ¾). · Make a level 3 or higher saving roll: Only 2 Dexterity and Speed are permanently lost. |
|
4 |
Ruptured Colon |
The character loses ¼ Strength, 2 Constitution, and suffers from massive internal infection (no saving roll to prevent). The infection will incapacitate the character until cured. · Make a level 1 saving roll: Without treatment, the infection will kill the character within (normal Constitution/3) days. The Constitution loss is permanent. The character loses 1 Strength permanently. Healing any damage from this injury takes one year minimum. · Make a level 2 saving roll: Without treatment, the infection will kill the character within (normal Constitution/2) days. The character still loses 1 Constitution. This injury will heal within 1 year. · Make a level 3 or higher saving roll: The character still loses 1 Constitution. This injury will heal within 6 months. |
|
5-6 |
Broken Ribs/ Punctured Lung |
The character will have ½ the normal Strength and lose 2 Constitution. · Make a level 1 saving roll: The Constitution loss is permanent, and the character loses 2 Strength permanently. · Make a level 2 saving roll: The Constitution loss is permanent. · Make a level 3 or higher saving roll: The character loses 1 Constitution. |
· The referee may require a Constitution saving roll against the major or critical injury damage to avoid the character’s collapse from pain and shock.
· Any character that has taken a major wound will have a penalty applied to all saving roll totals equal to the difference between the character’s normal Constitution and current Constitution. Someone suffering from a critical injury cannot make normal saving rolls.
· A wounded character can only carry his current Strength minus damage to Constitution times 100 as a total weight possible. If this total is zero or below, the character cannot move on his own until he has healed some Constitution.
· Monster rated characters may be assigned half their MR as Constitution or have an alternate attribute of Constitution to reflect the effects of major and critical injuries.
