Damage, Conditions, & Recovery

Red Age > Rules > Damage, Conditions, & Recovery

Damage

Hit Points

• HP represent stamina, poise, morale, luck, and general action-hero resilience to harm.
• To prevent serious harm, absorb damage by spending HP, 1 for 1. Loss of HP represents scrapes, bruises, fatigue, pain, loss of morale, and other cosmetic injury.
• Temporary HP (tHP) represents additional stamina, defensive posture, ablative magical protection, etc.
  • These function the same as normal HP. When you gain tHP, if the amount is greater than your current tHP, replace it (i.e. tHP doesn't stack). By default, unused tHP go away after 10 minutes.
• Reserve HP represents the degree to which you can bounce back from repeated beatdowns over the course of days. Reserve HP is converted to HP through rests and natural healing.

Life

• Loss of Life represents genuine injury; deeper cuts, sprains, concussions, blood loss, etc.
• When you take damage and can't soak it with HP, you lose Life.
• Any time you lose Life, roll d20+(remaining Life) vs DC 18+(2 x number of Wounds).
  • If successful, you've lost the Life but nothing worse. You remain active and on your feet.
  • If you fail, you suffer a Wound; roll to see what it is. This can leave you unconscious, bleeding out, maimed, or instantly dead.
  • On a natural 20, you stay on your feet, and may choose to gain a cool scar and +2 max HP (as long as you keep the scar).
• If reduced to 0 Life, you are mortally wounded and almost certainly die.

Wounds

• A Wound has specific effects, short or long term, and it "ties up" a certain amount of Life, measured in Wound points. Until these are healed (more slowly than mere lost Life), the Wound and its effects persist, and you cannot recover to your full Life total.
• The DM may roll Wounds in private, so when someone falls, their allies may not be certain whether they've just been knocked out or are rapidly bleeding to death.
• In combat, you usually don't lose Life or take Wounds while you still have HP. Traps, attacks against helpless targets, and similar sources often deal damage straight to Life.
• Taking Life while you have HP calls for a Wounds roll, as above, but with different consequences. Some harm may directly target a part of the body, causing a Wound (e.g. sticking your hand into a trap designed to chop off hands).

Damage Types

• Physical (slashing, piercing, crushing)
• Fire (flame, lightning, radiant)
• Frost
• Acid
• Health (poison, necrotic, bleeding, etc)
  • Harms living creatures by disrupting their life processes. Undead and constructs are generally immune to health damage; creatures like oozes might be immune to some forms but not others.
• Spirit
  • Has full effect on supernatural beings who might be immune to non-magic harm, incorporeal, etc. Usually a property of magic which is combined with another form of damage (e.g. fire/spirit). Pure spirit damage doesn't damage inanimate objects, but will harm living creatures or other beings with a spiritual / magical aspect (including magical constructs and undead).

Subduing

• When you attack a target using a fictionally suitable form of attack, you may declare that you are trying to make it non-lethal.
• Lethal area attacks are too indiscriminate to make non-lethal. The DM may require a lethal weapon to used as a club to deal crushing damage to justify being used non-lethally.
• Roll damage with +D. When the target makes Life checks to acquire Wounds, they roll Wound type with +2A, taking the least severe outcome. Dropping to 0 Life is still fatal.

Critical Hits & Massive Damage

• Crit: an attack or effect roll with margin 2+.
  • Deal your maximum normal damage, then roll an extra damage die (without adding fixed modifiers) and add it.
• Massive Damage: taking damage (after Resistance and tHP) equal or higher than your Bloodied value.
  • The DM may apply an extra Inflict Condition rider to the attack, causing Dazed, Stunned, Disarmed, damage to a weapon, armor, or shield, or some similar effect.

State Conditions

• These conditions are evident to onlookers from wear and tear, fatigue, etc. They may also act as keywords for effects.
  • Scratched: at 75% or less of maximum HP.
  • Bloodied: at 50% or less of maximum HP.
  • Battered: at 25% or less of maximum HP.
  • Wounded: has 1 or more Wounds.
  • Mortally Wounded: at 60+ Fatigue, 0 Life, or has taken the Dead Adventurer Walking wound. Soon to die.

Wounds

If you fail a Wound roll...

• While you still have HP, roll 1d6+17 to determine the effect.
• When out of HP, roll 1d20.
• When completely out of Life, roll 1d4.

Wound Effect

• 23+) No Effect
• 21-22) Collapse Roll (roll 1d6+6 for duration)
• 20) Collapse Roll (roll w/ +A for duration)
• 17-19) Mild Break + Collapse Roll (roll w/ +A for duration)
• 13-16) Break + Collapse Roll
• 11-12) Maimed + Collapse Roll (roll w/ +D for duration)
• 9-10) Bleeding Out Slow + Collapse Roll
• 8) Bleeding Out Fast + Collapse Roll
• 7) Bleeding Out Fast + Collapse Roll (roll w/ +D for duration)
• 6) Bleeding Out Fast + Broken + Collapse Roll (roll w/ +D for duration)
• 5) Bleeding Out Fast + Maimed + Collapse Roll (roll w/ +D for duration)
• 4) Dead Adventurer Walking + Broken + Collapse Roll (roll w/ +A for duration)
• 3) Dead Adventurer Walking + Maimed + Collapse Roll (roll w/ +A for duration)
• 1-2) Death

Collapse Roll (d10)

• 1-3) Long Collapse: unconscious for 1d6 x 10 minutes. In addition to its normal effect, healing magic lets you make a fresh collapse roll of 1d10+Power, using the new result if it's shorter.
• 4-6) Brief Collapse: unconscious for 1d6 rounds. Healing provides the same benefit.
• 7-9) Momentary Collapse: you fall prone, drop anything held, and are stunned for 1 round.
• 10) No Collapse

Wound Types

• Mild Break (roll location, 1 Wound point)
• Break (roll location, Wound points = Life lost in the hit that inflicted this Wound)
• Maimed (roll location, Wound points = Life lost in the hit that inflicted this Wound)
  • Once "healed", the wound is no longer raw (it doesn't count as a wound, and non-permanent penalties are removed), but the maiming is permanent.

• Bleeding Out
  • Each interval, roll 2d6 and lose (lower roll)-1 Life. If you roll doubles, you take the damage but also stabilize. Life lost to bleeding doesn't cause additional Wound rolls.
    • If you exert yourself while unstabilized (combat, running, climbing, carrying a Medium or heavier load, etc), use the higher die roll.
  • Bleeding Out can also be stabilized with magic or medicine. Make a bonus roll with Wits (for medicine) or your Casting Stat (for magic) vs DC 16. Add +1 to the roll for every 2 healing produced (from magic or the Healer feat).
    • With medicine, take +5 DC if you don't expend 1 stock from your Healer's Kit, or +10 DC if you don't have a Healer's Kit at all.
  • Reopening Wounds: when stabilized, if you take a new Wound or exert yourself before you have healed any Life, there is a 2-in-6 chance of reopening your wound. A new Bleeding Out Wound always reopens any others.
  • Rate
    • Slow (1 Wound point, 10 min interval)
      • Stabilizing halts further Life loss.
    • Fast (2 Wound points, 1 round interval)
      • Stabilizing reduces the interval to 10 minutes, and a second stabilization halts further Life loss.
      • After this wound heals 1 Wound Point, it becomes Bleeding Out Slow (for purposes of reopening).

• Dead Adventurer Walking
  • Lose Life as if Bleeding Out Fast, but the wound can't be stabilized without extremely powerful magic. On the plus side, exerting yourself doesn't make it any worse.
  • If somehow stabilize, this has Wound points = your entire Life. Until you heal this, you remain at 0 HP, 0 Life, 60 Fatigue, bed-ridden. Once this is healed, each further Wound point healed removes 5 Fatigue and restores 1 Life. Treat yourself as stabilized Bleeding Out Slow, with a chance of reopening your wounds until under 30 Fatigue.

Wound Location (d10)

• 1) Arm / Hand
  • Can't use the hand. +D to tasks that wound normally take 2 hands. If maimed, also permanently lose 1d3 Dex.
  • Roll d6: affects only the hand (1-3) or the whole arm (4-6).
• 2) Leg / Foot
  • Slowed +1x. +D to athletic tasks (running, swimming, climbing, balance, etc) and Dex saves. If maimed, also permanently lose 1d3 Dex and Vigor.
  • Roll d6: affects only the foot (1-3) or the whole leg (4-6).
• 3) Eye
  • +D to vision, attack, Dex effects, and Wits saves. If maimed, also permanently lose 1d3 points between Dex and Wits.
• 4) Ear / Nose
  • Ear: deaf in the ear. +D to hearing checks. If maimed, also permanently lose 1d2 Wits.
  • Nose: can't smell, +D to social checks. If maimed, also permanently lose 1d2 Spirit.
• 5) Mouth / Face
  • Slurred speech, +D to social checks. If maimed, also permanently lose 1d2 Spirit.
• 6-8) Torso
  • Gain 20 Drain (10 Drain if only Mild Broken) and take +D to Vigor saves. Remove half the Drain when the wound is half-healed. If maimed, also permanently lose 1d4 Vigor.
• 9-10) Head
  • +D to all checks except intrinsic things, e.g. Vigor saves against poison. If maimed, also permanently lose 1d4 points between Wits and Spirit.
  • A concentration check DC 13+Power (with +D) is required to cast a any spell, and each round that concentration is maintained.

Recovery

Rests

• Brief Rest
  • Requirements: 10 minutes of no more than light activity (resting, talking, reading, easy searching, routine gear maintenance). Interruption restarts the count.
  • Allows the performance of an average spell as a ritual.
  • Regain use of Brief Rest abilities.

• Short Rest
  • Requirements: 1 hour of no more than light activity. Interruption restarts the count.
  • Includes the benefits of a Brief Rest.
  • Restores all cantrip mana. Allows spell preparation / exchange of spells between vessels.
  • Regain use of Short Rest abilities.
  • Once per Long Rest, a character can convert up to (level+VIG) reserve into HP and (level+SPT) into Mana.

• Long Rest
  • Requirements: 8 hours of mostly light activity (brief exertion is okay), as well as adequate sleep, drink, food, and shelter. Can be taken no more than once per 24 hours.
  • Includes the benefits of a Short Rest.
  • Restore HP and Mana from their respective reserves.
  • Regain use of Long Rest abilities.
  • If you have gained no Fatigue since your last Long Rest, remove 5 Fatigue.
  • Regain 1 Life (+1 if resting in civilized comfort).
  • Serious privation or multiple lesser privations prevent any benefit from a Long Rest (besides preventing sleep deprivation). One Moderate Privation prevents you from restoring HP or Mana above 50%, removes no Fatigue, and heals no Life.
    • Moderate Privations: half Life or lower, squalid Lifestyle, poor accommodations, half water ration, no food ration, poor / short / interrupted sleep
    • Serious Privations: no water ration, no sleep, miserable accommodations, 2+ forms of lesser Privation

• Extended Rest
  • Requirements: 6 consecutive, successful Long Rests, without any adventuring, rough travel, non-Lifestyle privations, or other hardships during the entire period.
    • This usually requires more security and shelter than a normal campsite (good basecamp, settlement, unusually safe / serene wilderness site, etc).
    • You can face a brief mishap or combat encounter, but if you are forced to flee, besieged for hours, or it otherwise becomes a protracted / painful / stressful event (including an unexpected number of such events for a normal week), the count resets.
  • Includes the benefits of a Long Rest.
  • Regain all HP, Mana, Life, and reserves.
  • Regain use of Extended Rest abilities.
  • For each Wound, remove 1 Wound point + 1 if you make a DC 13 Vigor save.
  • Expeditions into wild and dangerous places are stressful. Unless the party has pressing reasons to immediately go back out, they must take an Extended Rest after returning to civilization.

Healing Effects

• Healing effects (spells, medicine) generate points of healing.
  • 1 healing restores 1 HP.
  • Once HP is full, every 2 healing restores +1 Life the next time the recipient regain Life after a Long Rest.
  • Once Life is full, 1 healing restores 1 reserve HP.
    • Alternatively, if 20 healing is delivered within the space of a Brief Rest (from any number of effects and sources), it removes 1 Wound point the next time the recipient regains Life after a Long Rest. A given Wound can't be healed this way more than once per Extended Rest.

Fatigue & Exhaustion

• Fatigue points are accumulated from various sources. There are different types that are summed for their effect, but removed in different ways.
• Every 10 points of Fatigue is a level of Exhaustion, inflicting the following effects:
  • -1 to all checks (attacks, effects, skills, saves, defenses)
  • Reduce Speed by 1/6th
  • Fill 1 encumbrance slot
• At 60+ Fatigue, collapse unconscious and make a Vigor save DC (Fatigue - 60) or die, dropping to 0 hp on a success (on a crit, you don't even collapse).
  • If still gaining Fatigue (collapsed in the wilderness and subject to exposure, still dying of hunger/thirst, etc), repeat the save each time Fatigue is gained.

Types of Fatigue

• Fatigue
  • Loss of stamina from exertion, stamina draining effects, and general hard use.
  • Remove 5 with a Long Rest, if you haven't gained any kind of Fatigue since your last Long Rest.
• Spirit Fatigue
  • Stress on the spirit, usually due to overexertion of magic. Functions the same as Fatigue, but cannot be cleared with magic, only natural rest.
• Hunger & Thirst
  • Gained for going without food and/or water.
  • A normal ration of food removes 5 Hunger, and extra ration removes another 5.
  • A normal ration of water removes 5 Thirst, and drinking up to 3 extra rations removes 5 each.
• Sleep Deprivation
  • Gained from going without sleep.
  • Every full 8 hours of sleep, convert up to 20 Sleep Deprivation into Fatigue (which may be cleared as part of that rest, or on subsequent Long Rests).
• Wind
  • Gained from lack of air or intense, short-term exertion, such as sprinting.
  • Each Brief Rest, convert 10 Wind into 2 Fatigue.
• Heat / Cold
  • Gained from exposure to heat-stroke- or hypothermia-inducing temperatures without suitable protection.
  • Each Short Rest at comfortable temperature (merely "not extreme" temperature only halts the gain), convert 10 Heat/Cold into 5 Fatigue.
• Drain
  • Gained from magical life drain, poison, disease, etc.
  • Removal depends on the nature of the cause (often like Fatigue, Wind, or Heat/Cold; sometimes only through medicine, magic, or Extended Rets).

Afflictions

• Diseases, poisons, creeping curses.
• Contracting: when exposed / bitten / hexed / etc, there is usually a save. This may be the same as the affliction's interval save, or different.
• Affliction Properties
  • Interval: a span of time. Every time an interval passes, the affliction may progress, cause effects, grants a save, etc.
  • Magnitude: represents how hard to treat the affliction is, usually from 0 to 5. Any save DC usually reflects this, but can vary.
• Treatment
  • To make progress against the affliction, apply a curative effect (spell, medicine, etc) and roll (Stat bonus)+(Power/PROF x 5) vs DC 11+(Magnitude x 5).
    • If unsuccessful, further treatment by equal or lower Power / PROF effects can't be tried against until the next interval.
    • The exact effect of success varies with the affliction. It may be fully ended, count as 1 successful save against it, advance a cure track, etc. Higher Margin may grant better results.

Conditions

Most Conditions effects do not stack, but they may be applied by multiple sources, in which case all will have to be removed to remove the Condition.

Blinded

• You fail any check requiring sight.
• You have +D on initiative, attacks, defense, Dex saves, and many skill checks.

Charmed

• You can't act to harm, endanger, or impose upon the charmer.
• The charmer has +A on social checks with you.

Dazed

• You are Unreactive, Slowed, and lose your bonus action.

Deafened

• You fail any check requiring hearing.
• You have +D on checks hindered by your lack of hearing.

Exposed

You have +D on defense, Dex saves, and Vigor saves against forced movement.

Frightened

• You have +D on stat checks and attack rolls while the object of fear is in sight or obviously nearby.
• You can't willingly move closer to the object of fear.
• If you stand and fight against the source of your fear, +D on defense and saves.

Grappled

• Immobilized
• Forced movement of you or the grappler creature can allow a chance to escape the grapple. If the escape fails, either you don't move, or the grappler moves with you.
• Forced movement by the grappler does not risk breaking the Grapple, and can drag you with it.

Helpless

• You automatically fail defense, Dex Saves, and Vigor saves against forced movement.
• Any hit from an attacker within 5' gains +1 margin (making normal hits into crits).

Hindered

• You have +D on initiative, attack, effect, many physical tasks (as appropriate).

Immobilized

• Your Speed is reduced to 0, and can't be increased.
• You have +D on Dex Saves to evade, and automatically fail if you would need to move to avoid the effect.

Immune

• This may apply to all damage, or only certain types, from certain sources, etc. May also apply to conditions.
• Damage from relevant sources is negated, usually along with any rider effects it had. Relevant conditions are not applied.
• If written, Immune (Y), the immunity applies against damage up to Y. If damage exceeds Y, the immunity does not apply and the full damage is taken.

Incapacitated

• You are Unreactive and cannot take actions, but can still move.
• Lose the benefit of shields, DEX, and other active defense bonuses.

Invisible

• If your general location can't be guessed (by the sound of movement, steps in the dust, inference, or other clues), attacks and effects automatically miss.
• Against attacks or effects that are successfully directed in your general location, take +A to defense and saves against, unless they have an area of effect.
• You have +A on attacks and effects that target Dex Save, or Vigor Save for forced movement, against creatures that can't directly perceive you (a general location is not enough).

Marked

• The opponent that marked you does not have to expend an opportunity attack / reaction to make opportunity attacks when you provoke, and they gain +A on these attacks.

Ongoing Damage

• Ongoing damage (being on fire, splashed with acid, etc) inflicts damage each round. It usually has an ending condition (save, X-in-6 chance, etc) of ending or diminishing each turn.
  • Often action can be taken to hasten the end (beating out flames, washing off acid). Depending on the situation and action, it might be automatic or require a roll.
• If multiple instances of the same kind of ongoing damage apply, roll each separately but take only the highest single amount as damage.

Paralyzed

• Incapacitated, Immobilized, Helpless, and can't speak.

Petrified

• Transformed into inanimate material (stone, wood, ice, etc), usually along with worn and carried possessions.
• Weight increases by 10x (assuming stone).
• Resistant to all damage. Gains Hardness and other properties suitable for the material.
• Paralyzed, unaware, and incapable of thought.
• Not alive and doesn't eat, drink, breath, or age. Immune to poison and disease, but preexisting conditions are suspended, not removed.

Poisoned

• Take +D on stat, attack, and effect rolls.

Prone

• You can move by crawling, with +1x movement cost. You can't convert movement into a shift.
• You don't threaten and take +D on attacks (excepting crossbows or other weapons that can be fired prone).
• You do not obstruct movement.
• Melee attacks against you, and ranged attacks from within 10', have +A. Ranged attacks from farther away have +D.
• The DM may grant +A on Dex saves against blasts (more of the force passes over you) and/or Vigor saves against forced movement, if deemed appropriate to the situation.
• You can drop Prone as a free action any time you can move, and can stand at a cost of (Speed / 2) movement (normally 15').
  • Rising provokes and a hit by an OA prevents you from rising, as it halts other forms of movement. You can't turn movement into a shift to get clear, but can Dodge to improve your odds.

Resistant

• May apply to all damage, or damage of certain types, from certain sources, etc. May also apply to conditions.
• Take half damage (rounding down) from relevant sources, and gain +A on Saves or defense against relevant conditions and rider effects.
  • Resistances stack by increasing the damage division: one-half, one-third, one-quarter, etc.

Restrained

• Immobilized
• You have +D on attack, effect, and defense.

Slowed

• +1x movement costs (stacks).

Stunned

• Incapacitated and Immobilized. Can only speak falteringly.
• Automatically fails Dex saves and Vigor saves against forced movement.
• Take +D on defense and Wits saves.

Unconscious

• Paralyzed and unaware.
• Drop anything held and fall Prone.

Unreactive

• You cannot take reactions or make Opportunity Attacks. Lose your reaction and OA for the turn.

Vulnerable

• May apply to all damage, or damage of certain types, from certain sources, etc. May also apply to conditions.
• Double damage taken from relevant sources, or +D to save against effects.
  • Vulnerabilities stack by increasing the damage multiplier: 2x, 3x, 4x, etc.

Weakened

• May be Physically Weakened, Spiritually Weakened, or both.
  • Physical: targets have resistance to your attacks and physical effects.
  • Spiritual: targets have resistance to your magical effects.