Combat

Health & Healing

Adventures are by definition dangerous, and characters are bound to get hurt. Heroes will have to deal with wounds, bleeding, injuries, poison, and — ultimately — even the death of their companions.

Hit Points

Hit Points (HPs) are an abstract measure of the punishment a character can endure before passing out. Each character's Total Hit Points equals their Body Skill Bonus. If this Skill Bonus changes for any reason, the character's Total HPs change accordingly.

A character's Current HPs equal their Total HPs minus any damage received. Lost HPs can be recovered through rest and healing, but Current HPs can never exceed Total HPs except in specific circumstances.

If Current HPs drop to 0 or below, the character passes out and becomes Incapacitated. If Current HPs fall to -50 or below, the character becomes Dying and will die in 6 Rounds unless healed.

Bruised Value

A character's Bruised Value equals half their Total HPs. If Current HPs fall below this value, the character suffers a -20 penalty to all their actions.

Resting

Characters recover one tenth of their Total HPs (rounded down) for every full hour of rest in a safe environment. Herbs or magical healing can increase the amount recovered.

Characters resting in a Safe Haven recover double the normal amount of HPs and halve their recovery time for Injuries and Conditions. Whether a location counts as "safe" for resting is ultimately up to the GM — making safe places rare forces characters to spend resources carefully, while making them common allows a more relaxed approach to pacing.

Bleeding

Bleeding represents a gradual weakening from blood loss, pain, and weariness. A Bleeding character loses a certain number of HPs at the start of the Assessment Phase each Round, until the Bleeding is stopped. HP losses from different wounds are cumulative.

There are three severities of Bleeding:

• Light Bleeding: losing 1 to 4 HPs each Round.
• Severe Bleeding: losing 5 to 10 HPs each Round.
• Exsanguination: losing more than 10 HPs each Round. Characters suffering from Exsanguination are considered Dying in a number of Rounds equal to 20 minus their Bleeding value (minimum 1 Round).

Bleeding characters cannot recover HPs until their wound is treated. Outside combat, Bleeding can be temporarily stopped by applying bandages or a tourniquet. Unless successfully treated, however, the Bleeding Condition remains (preventing HP recovery), and HP loss resumes as soon as the character enters combat or performs any strenuous activity.

Treating Bleeding

Bleeding can be treated in a safe environment with a Healer Skill Roll and the right tools.

Light Bleeding can be treated with a Standard (+0) Healer Roll and some bandages. It is healed immediately once treated, leaving the patient free to continue adventuring.

Severe Bleeding requires a Healer's Kit and a Challenging (-10) Healer Roll. Treated characters must rest for a full day to recover completely. Their wounds will not reopen during activity, but they cannot regain lost HPs until fully healed.

Exsanguination requires a Very Hard (-30) Healer Roll using a Healer's Kit. Like Severe Bleeding, it requires a full day of rest after treatment.

A Partial Success means healing proceeds as described, but the GM may have the character spend an additional bandage or Healer's Kit use, become Weary, or have their Current HPs drop to their Bruised Value. A Failure temporarily stops the blood loss, but the wound is not healed. A Critical Failure does not heal the wound, and the GM may apply one Partial Success complication.

Injuries

Injuries are long-lasting wounds — broken bones, torn muscles — that severely impede a character's activity. They impose a penalty to all of the injured character's Skill Rolls and CMB.

Three severities of Injury:

• Minor Injuries: up to a -20 penalty.
• Serious Injuries: a penalty from -21 to -50.
• Crippling Injuries: a penalty above -50.

Each Injury is recorded and healed separately, but their penalties stack. Characters whose total penalties from Injuries exceed -100 become Incapacitated until their total is reduced to -100 or less.

Treating Injuries

Injured characters can travel at a slow pace or engage in light activities, but fighting or exerting themselves prevents any recovery for that day.

Minor Injuries heal on their own in three days of rest. No roll is required, but a Challenging (-10) Healer Skill Roll and a Healer's Kit will halve the recovery time.

Other Injuries require a Healer Skill Roll and a Healer's Kit to start healing. Once treatment begins and the patient continues to rest, Injuries slowly improve:

• Serious Injuries require a Hard (-20) Healer Skill Roll and turn into a Minor Injury (imposing a -20 penalty) after 10 days of rest.
• Crippling Injuries require an Extremely Hard (-40) Healer Skill Roll and become a Serious Injury (imposing a -50 penalty) after 20 days of rest. Once reduced to Serious, they continue to heal without further treatment as long as the character rests.

A Partial Success on the Healer Skill Roll means the Injury becomes Lingering. A Failure means the doctor cannot treat that specific Injury. A Critical Failure means the healer fails and the Injury also becomes Lingering.

Treating Multiple Injuries: to speed up play, start with the most severe Injury. If the roll succeeds, the player may apply the same result to any lesser untreated Injuries their character is suffering from.

Lingering Injuries

Lingering Injuries are particularly nasty wounds caused by poisoned weapons, infection, or medical blunders. They take one and a half times the normal healing time, rounded down:

• Lingering Minor Injury: 4 days.
• Lingering Serious Injury: 15 days.
• Lingering Crippling Injury: 30 days.

Certain Spells and healing herbs can convert a Lingering Injury into a normal one of the same severity.

Death and Dismemberment

Characters die when their Dying Condition is not removed in time, or when a Critical Strike result causes instant death. Dead characters cannot be healed by normal means — only a miracle or the most powerful magic can bring them back. Magical healing is also the only way to repair destroyed organs or severed limbs.

• Characters missing an eye suffer a -20 penalty to all Perception Rolls relying on sight, and a -20 penalty to all ranged Attack Rolls.
• Characters without a hand or arm cannot wield two-handed weapons and suffer a -20 penalty to tasks requiring both hands.
• Characters missing a foot or leg move at half their normal Move Rate, cannot add their Swiftness Stat to their Defense, and suffer a -20 penalty to all Movement Actions.
• Characters losing both eyes or more than one limb cannot adventure except in the most extraordinary circumstances.

Poison and Disease

The adventuring life is tough, and characters face dangers beyond enemy blades. Poisons and diseases are described individually, each with its own Effects, Attack Level (against which a Toughness Save Roll must be made), and form of Transmission.

Curing Poisons and Diseases

A Hard (-20) Healer Skill Roll using a Healer's Kit allows a poisoned or diseased character to make a new Save Roll to recover. If this additional Save Roll fails, the effects persist, but the patient may make another SR the next day — and so on, until healed or dead.

A Partial Success on the curing roll still allows a new Save Roll, but at a -10 penalty. Antidotes, Spells, and some healing herbs can also counteract effects or heal the patient.

Sample Poisons

Deathly Adder Venom

The venom of a poisonous snake, commonly found in many temperate regions. Attack Level: 3. Transmission: Wound. Victims must make a Save Roll when bitten, or the first time a venom-coated weapon scores a Critical Strike against them. Effects: Characters failing their Save Roll become Weary and start Dying in 1d10 minutes.

Deepwood Mandrake

A bitter yellowish-green juice extracted from the roots of a plant. Attack Level: 8. Transmission: Ingestion. The victim must swallow the extract for the poison to take effect. Effects: Those drinking the poison suffer intense hallucinations for 3d10 minutes. During this period, they suffer a -50 penalty to all Skill and Attack Rolls. Whenever they miss a foe or score a Partial Success, Failure, or Critical Failure, the GM may make them see, hear, or feel something that is not there, or perceive an object or creature as something entirely different.

Doomspores

Certain rare subterranean fungi emit clouds of poisonous spores when disturbed. Some creatures harvest these spores in sealed ceramic pots and use them in traps. Attack Level: 4. Transmission: Inhalation. Anyone breathing the spores must pass a Save Roll or suffer their effects. Effects: Those failing their Save Roll become Stunned for one Round, then fall asleep and become Incapacitated for 1d5 hours.

Giant Spider Poison

A potent paralytic poison produced by Giant Spiders to immobilize prey. Attack Level: Equal to the level of the spider producing it. Transmission: Wound. Characters who suffer a Critical Strike from a Giant Spider's Stinger attack must pass a Save Roll or be affected. Effects: Characters failing the Save Roll become Held for 1d10 minutes. If they fail a Save Roll against another dose of the same poison before the first wears off, they become paralyzed (Incapacitated) for 2d10 minutes.

Sample Diseases

Barrow Rot

A vicious disease that plagues looters and tomb-robbers. Attack Level: 4. Transmission: Direct contact. Characters bitten or scratched by undead, or injured in undead-infested places, must pass a Save Roll or suffer its effects. Effects: Sick characters cannot recover lost HPs and take 1d10 damage at the end of every day until healed. All their Injuries become Lingering Injuries while afflicted.

Bog Fever

A debilitating fever feared by explorers of putrid swamps and marshy areas. Attack Level: 3. Transmission: Airborne. Simply traveling through an infected area triggers a Save Roll. Effects: Characters contracting the disease become Weary and cannot remove this Condition until healed. At the end of each subsequent day, they must make another Toughness Save Roll. On a success, they recover from Bog Fever. On a failure, they suffer a -20 Exhaustion penalty to all actions, as if they had gone without eating or drinking. Should this penalty reach -100, the character dies.

Dark Plague

A terrible plague said to have been created by the Darkmaster during the long war against the High Man empire. Believed to have been eradicated, outbreaks occasionally resurface in isolated settlements. Attack Level: 7. Transmission: Contamination. Characters touching a sick creature or something recently used by one must pass a TSR or suffer its effects. Effects: Sick characters become Weary and cannot recover from this Condition or heal any Injuries until cured. At the end of each day, they must pass a TSR or become Incapacitated and Dying in 1d10 days.

Creating New Poisons and Diseases

The GM is free to create other poisonous substances or diseases. As a rule of thumb: if the poison is produced by a creature, its Attack Level equals the creature's level (though small but very poisonous animals may carry a poison with a much higher Attack Level). The easier it is for a disease or poison to trigger a Save Roll, the lower its Attack Level should generally be.

Keep in mind that death by poison or disease, while dramatic, is rarely heroic. These threats are best used to make a situation more dangerous or difficult, or as plot devices to trigger an adventure, rather than as sudden character killers.

Soul Damage

The darkest of magic and the touch of accursed undead can scar a character's soul, draining the life out of them. Heroes dealt Soul Damage suffer a permanent penalty to their Body Skill equal to the amount of Soul Damage taken, thus lowering their Total HPs.

Characters whose Total HPs are reduced to zero or below by Soul Damage become Incapacitated and start Dying in 6 Rounds. Those who die from Soul Damage rise as undead 1d10 days later, unless proper precautions are taken.

Soul Damage cannot be healed by normal means — only magic or special herbs can reverse its effects.

Healing Herbs

Skilled healers use herbs and poultices to treat wounds and speed recovery. Healing herbs are grouped into five categories.

Clotting Herbs

Clotting herbs help staunch wounds and stop blood loss. They can substitute a bandage, tourniquet, or Healer's Kit when treating Bleeding wounds. Fresh clotting herbs can also be applied to a treated Bleeding wound to cause immediate recovery. Conservable clotting herbs can be used to create a Healing Salve.

Mending Herbs

Mending herbs quicken the recovery of Injuries. A dose of mending herbs applied to a treated Injury allows a day of activity to count as a day of rest, or doubles the effects of a day of rest. A mending herb can also be spent to attempt to convert a Lingering Injury into a normal one of the same severity, requiring a Challenging (-10) Healer Skill Roll.

Rejuvenating Herbs

Rejuvenating herbs remove certain Conditions or cure diseases and afflictions. A decoction of conservable rejuvenating herbs can be used to craft a Reviving Cordial or to instantly heal the Incapacitated Condition. Alternatively, a bundle of rejuvenating herbs can be prepared to cure an illness, granting the patient a second Save Roll with a special +30 bonus.

Antitoxins

Antitoxins counteract the effects of a specific poison. They can be administered to characters suffering from poisoning to grant them a second Save Roll with a special +30 bonus.

Special Herbs

Special herbs are incredibly rare plants with unique effects, used as plot devices or to solve extraordinary situations. A special herb might allow a hero to breathe underwater, or be the only thing capable of harming an otherwise invincible guardian. Special herbs are never found by searching the wilderness — each grows only in a specific place under very particular conditions. Finding one should be the focus of an adventure, perhaps even an entire campaign arc.

Searching for Herbs

A character can scout an area for a specific kind of healing herb. Doing so requires a Nature Skill Roll, modified by the vegetation in the area and several other factors.

A Success finds enough herbs of the chosen type to treat one ailment or prepare one dose. A Partial Success still finds the herb, but with a complication — perhaps it grows in a difficult or dangerous location, or the characters are surprised by enemies. A Failure finds nothing and the area counts as "already searched" for future attempts. A Critical Failure finds nothing and adds some kind of further complication.

Characters looking for herbs while traveling are considered to be Foraging and must halve their movement for the day. A character cannot forage for food and search for herbs simultaneously — they must declare one or the other before rolling.

Foraging Herbs Table

Herbs are prepared for use when harvested — no further roll is required. Conserved herbs last indefinitely, though the GM may have them lose their properties if more than a year of game time passes since their harvesting.

Creating a Herbarium

When characters find a healing herb, they may name it and add it to the Herbarium — a list of known healing herbs in their game world. Each Herbarium entry records the herb's name, type, and the environment and season in which it was found.

When looking for an herb already in the Herbarium, characters gain a special +10 bonus to their Nature Skill Roll, and can ignore vegetation and seasonal modifiers — as long as the search is conducted in the same environment and the same season recorded. In other environments, the entry counts as "barren" for that herb; in other seasons, as "unfavorable."