Wounds

Wounds (W) represent the amount of damage that can be endured before serious injury or even death is caused.

Some creatures can sustain more damage than others, either because they have more physical stamina or because they have little regard for or feeling of pain. This is represented by the number of W a creature has.

Characters reduced to 0 Wounds are not dead - but have no capacity to absorb additional damage without suffering injury of some kind.

The number of Wounds is expressed as a number of 1 or more. Most human characters start with 6.

W are never used as the basis for a test.

Wounds and Recovery

The W characteristic is a method for checking how long a character can fight before an opponent strikes a telling blow. As outlined above, W represent a 'buffer zone' and only once this buffer zone has been reduced to less than zero is serious damage taken.

However, characters who have taken damage in combat can be assumed to be injured before they have fallen below zero W. This only applies to creatures which have been damaged in combat - smaller animals who start off with 1 or 2 W aren't considered to be permanently limping around in bandages.

Wounds fall into three different categories:

• Light - the character has 2 or more remaining W points
• Heavy - this character has less than 2 remaining W points, but has not suffered any critical hits
• Severe - the character has suffered one or more critical hits

Lightly Wounded Characters will recover naturally - given enough time to rest - but may benefit from the attentions of a character with Heal Wounds or Surgery skill. If the healer makes a successful Int test, the wounded character will immediately recover 1D3 W points. Only one such treatment may be made to treat the effects of any one combat.

Heavily Wounded Characters will not start to recover naturally until they have been treated by a character with either Surgery or Heal Wounds skills. A Surgeon can restore 1D3 W points by making a successful Int test, while a Healer can restore only 1 point. The recovery is immediate and thereafter the character is considered to be only lightly wounded.

Severely Wounded Characters will probably need on the spot attention by a character with the Heal Wounds skill in order to survive long enough to reacha character with Surgery.

Healing Times: Lightly wounded characters recover at the rate of 1 W point per day of complete rest. Characters who rest for a week recover an additional number of W points equal to their T score (i.e., at the end of 1 week, the character will have regained 7+T Wound points).

The attendance of a character with Heal Wounds skill will increase the character's recovery rate. Provided the Healer makes an Int test (with a bonus of +20) and is in attendance for at least half-an-hour each day, the character will recover a number of W points equal to his or her T each day. If the Healer fails the Int test, the number of W recovered is equal to half the character's T (rounded up).

Characters with the Surgery skill who attend wounded patients for a least half-an-hour per day, reduce all recovery times one third, provided that they make a successful Int test. Failure still means that recovery takes only half as long. Thus, for example, lightly wounded characters may regain up to 3 times their T per day of rest, if successfully treated by a surgeon.

Medical Attention

Some injuries resulting from critical hits are stated as requiring successful medical attention. The nature of such attention depends on the type of injury sustained. Broadly speaking, the character will be suffering one or more of the following effects.

Terminal bleeding: The character loses extra W each round until treated either by a Surgeon or a Healer or until dead. By making a successful Int check, characters with either Heal Wounds or Surgery skills can staunch the flow of blow. Repeated attempts may be made at the rate of one perround. However, the character will still die unless a successful operation is performed by a surgeon within 24 hours. Only a character with Surgery skill can save the patient. The operation takes 2 hours. If the character makes a successful Int test, the patient will sleep for 24 hours, after which time he or she is restored to 1 W point and treated as lightly wounded. If the test is failed, the character dies.

Broken or dislocated limbs: The character is in no immediate danger, but unless treated by a surgeon within 1 week, the limb will be permanently incapacitated. Treatment can only be effected by a character with Surgery skill. The surgeon must make a successful Int test - with a bonus of +10 - whereupon the character is considered to have 1 W point and is treated as though only lightly wounded. The limb will remain strapped up and incapacitated for a further D4+1 weeks. If the test is failed, the operation can be repeated - but with a penalty of -10 for each previous failure. If the operation is not performed successfully within 1 week of the injury, the limb will be permanently incapacitated.

Amputated limbs: Under no circumstances can a surgeon replace a severed limb. The victim will first need to be treated for terminal bleeding and then operated on to cauterise the wound and so on. This latter operation takes 2 hours and requires the surgeon to make a successful Int test. If the test is successful, the patient will not recover to a lightly wounded state (with 1 W point) until a further 6+D6 days have passed. This period can be reduced by the further ministrations of a surgeon. If the test is failed, thte character dies.

Medical Treatment

The following optional advanced rules may be used in place of the normal rules for medical treatment and recovery. For each of the three types of wound that result from a critical hit - terminal bleeding, broken limbs, and amputated limbs - the Physician makes a treatment roll on the correct table.

The treatment roll reflects the skill of the Physician, the seriousness of the wound, and the health of the patient. This is a D100 roll with the following modifiers:

Physician's Modifiers

Physician's skill	+(Dex+Int)/2
No Heal Wounds skill	-100
No Surgery skill	-50

Patient's Modifiers

Health of patient	+(current Tx5)
Patient is conscious	-20

Critical Being Treated

Critical Value +1	-5
Critical Value +2	-10
Critical Value +3	-15
Critical Value +4	-25
Critical Value +5	-40

Hygiene of 'Operating Theatre'

Well-cleaned room	+5
Average room	+0
Poorly-cleaned room	-5
Street/open air	-10
Sewer (or similar)	-15

Further modifiers are at the GM's discretion.

Each of the tables has a list of additional modifiers, which are used only when rolling on that table.

For example, Erich (Dex 61, Int 55, so modifier +58) is treating a beggar who has been stabbed. The knife used in the attack has inflicted a +3 critical (-15) and the beggar has T 5 (+25). The net modifier to the D100 roll on the Terminal Bleeding Table, then, is 58+25-15 = +68.

Terminal Bleeding Table

D100	Result
55 or less	The treatment appears to succeed, but after D4+1 hours internal bleeding causes massive haemorrhaging and the patient dies.
56-70	Patient falls into a coma for 10-T weeks. There is a cumulative 10% chance that the patient will die each week. The attendance of a Physician during this time will lower this to a cumulative 5% chance per week. During the period the patient is in a coma, he is on zero W; if he regains consciousness, he is restored to 1 W immediately and will thereafter be treated as heavily wounded.
71-85	The bleeding is stopped successfully and the patient falls asleep for 24 hours. However, the patient is now prone to migraine attacks. Whenever a test is made against Ld, Int, Cl, WP, or Fel (successful or not), all percentage characteristics drop by -5 for a period of D10 hours.
86-95	The bleeding is stopped successfully and the patient falls asleep for 24 hours. Unfortunately, the patient now has low blood pressure. Each time the patient takes a Cl test and fails by more than 30%, he will faint for D4 turns, after which he will be groggy (-1/-10 on all characteristics) for another D10 turns.
96-105	The bleeding is stopped successfully and the patient falls asleep for 24 hours, after which he is restored to 1 W and is considered to be lightly wounded. But. over a period of D4 hours, it becomes clear the wound is infected.
106-130	The bleeding is stopped successfully and the patient fall asleep for 24 hours, after which he is restored to 1 W and is considered to be only lightly wounded. However, during treatment, a blood clot formed on one of the patient's lungs, causing his breathing to become loud and laboured. Permanently reduce the patient's I by 10 points.
131-155	The bleeding is stopped successfully and the patient falls asleep for 24 hours, after which he is restored to 1 W and is considered to be lightly wounded.
156-165	As above. In addition, if the Physician can make a successful Int test, then a further D3 W may be restored to the patient immediately.
166-175	As 131-155 above, but the patient immediately regains D3 W.
176+	As 166-175 above, but the patient is only asleep for 12 hours and regains D3+1 W.

Broken & Dislocated Limb Table

Modifiers for Broken/Dislocated Limb Table

+10	If successful use of Heal Wounds skill was made in the field, when the injury was sustained.
-10	For each day that has passed since the injury was sustained.
-20	If the same limb has been broken before.

D100	Result
45 or less	The treatment appears to succeed, but after D4+1 hours it becomes clear that severe damage has been done. The limb must be amputated. Roll on the Amputated Limb Table, using the same modifier as you used on this table (with a further +10 modifier, as the amputation is being carried out deliberately).
46-60	The treatment fails. The limb is permanently useless. Leg: M x½, must use crutch; Arm: Dex x½, BS x½, no shields, bows, or two-handed weapons, may have to use hand weapons wrong-handed.
61-70	The treatment is almost successful. The patient is restored to 1 W and is considered to be lightly wounded. The limb is strapped up and incapacitated for a further D4+1 weeks. There is, however, a permanent disability in the limb. Leg: M -2 (min. 1), I -20; Arm: Dex -20, BS -20. If sword arm, WS -20.
71-80	The treatment is mostly successful. The patient is restored to 1 W and is considered to be lightly wounded. The limb is strapped up and incapacitated for a further D4+1 weeks. However, the joint will always be a little stiff. Leg: M -1 (min. 2), I -10; Arm: Dex -10, BS -10. If sword arm, WS -10.
81-95	The treatment is almost successful. The patient is restorted to 1 W and is considered to be lightly wounded. The limb is strapped up and incapacitated for a further D4+1 weeks. However, the limb is much weaker than it once was and is prone to occasional locking. Leg: if any I test failed by 30 or more, M -1 and I -10 for D4 hours; Arm: if any Dex test faled by 30 or more, Dex -10 and BS -10 for D4 hours. If sword arm was injured, WS -10 also.
96-145	The limb is treated successfully. The patient is restorted to 1 W and is considered to be lightly wounded. The limb is strapped up and incapacitated for a further D4+1 weeks, after which time it can be used as normal.
146-155	As 96-145 above, but the limb is only strapped up and incapacitated for D3 weeks.
156-165	As 146-155 above, but patient gains D3 W after treatment.
166+	As 146-155 above, but patient gains D3+1 W after treatment.

Amputated Limb Table

Note: Once the limb is removed, either by the surgeon or by a wound received in combat, a roll should first be made on the Terminal Bleeding Table. A result of 131 or better indicates the bleeding has stopped and the wound may be cauterised normally - a roll may now be taken on this table, applying the effects of this table only. A roll of less than 131 indicates that, though the wound may still be cauterised (a roll on this table), the result rolled on the Terminal Bleeding Table is also applied.

In addition, if the patient is conscious when the treatment is applied, he gains D6 Insanity Points and passes out.

Modifiers to Amputated Limb Table

+10	If the amputation is being carried out deliberately by a Physician (this modifier applies to the roll on the Terminal Bleeding Table as well as the Amputated Limb Table.

D100	Result
45 or less	The patient has lost too much blood. He dies without regaining consciousness.
46-60	Patient falls into a coma for 10-T weeks. There is a cumulative 10% chance that the patient will die each week. The attendance of a Physcian during this time will lower this to a cumulative 5% chance per week. During the period the patient is in a coma, he is on zero W. If he then regains consciousness, he will be restored to 1 W immediately and will thereafter be treated as heavily wounded.
61-105	The wound is cauterised successfully and the patient falls asleep for 24 hours. However, over a period of D4 hours, it becomes clear the wound is infected and further treatment is required to cure this condition.
106-155	The wound is cauterised successfully and the patient falls asleep for 24 hours. After a further D6+6 days, the patient is restored to 1 W and is considered to be lightly wounded.
156-165	As 106-155 above, but the patient only takes D6+4 days to reach a lightly wounded state.
166-175	As 106-155 above, but the patient only takes D4+4 days to reach a lightly wounded state.
176+	As 106-155 above, but the patient only takes D4+4 days to become lightly wounded. In addition, the patient gains a further D3 W points when he reaches such a state.

Effects of Missing Limbs

One leg	M x½, I -20
Both legs	M = 1, I -50
One arm	Dex x½, BS x½, no shields, bows, or two-handed weapons, may have to use wrong hand
Both arms	Dex = 0, BS = 0, WS = 0