Injuries and Lingering Wounds

[Ocule]

So I couldn't find this anywhere in the book but i was thinking when a character is brought into Agony or recieves a critical hit to make a luck roll to avoid serious injury such as losing the use of a limb or other potential hazard. Infected wounds, internal damage or lasting scars. Maybe 5 or 1. I figure in game this would give a legit reason to want a regeneration ogham or miracle plus reinforce the idea of a dangerous battle and add a bit more to immersion. Then have a little table to roll on should the luck die frown upon them. No auto deaths from it just circumstance changes like lose an eye, scarring or cripple a limb. I found the game seems to address the injuries but I cant find if it explains how to get them without starting with it. Most of them would be disadvantage, i figure the hit points system as is represents your recoverable amount of injuries. Given enough time you can be back on your feet like nothing ever happened. This without the use of magical healing could be pretty brutal.

[Clovis]

That'd be a perfectly valid addition to the game. It's not featured in the Core Book because it would have been one of these things that, added up, end up filling tons of pages for something that's not crucial to the game. If you want to make such a mechanic part of your game, feel free to come up with one, making it as simple or complex as you want it to be!

[Ocule]

True i suppose i can write something up for it. Going to try to stay in the spirit of SoE and stick to d10s for it. Any suggestions on the luck die for such an event? I mean i dont want a party of quadriplegics a few sessions in but... the threat should definitely be there.

Compiling a bit of a list right now of possible outcomes that should be there. I figure at least 1 option for each limb, dont know what chance it should have on the luck die yet.

From the D&D DMG they came up with this so probably something like it would work for esteren. Id probably use something similar, limbs can be made semi functional again with prosthetics from the magientists or magic. Accompanied or a hit to stamina could work too i imagine.

1. Lose use of an Eye (Gain near sighted disadvantage)
2. Lose use of an Arm or hand (Cannot wield anything in that hand)
3. Lose use of a Leg or foot (Crutches)
4. Limp (Slow speed)
5. Internal Damage (Penalties to all actions)
6. Broken Ribs (Less severe than internal damage)
7. Horrible Scar (Penalty to relations rolls)
8. Festering Wound (disease onset)
9-10. Minor Scar (purely cosmetic, or simply a lower penalty)

Originally made for a d20, and a 5 or less on the luck die to roll for it. Or maybe guaranteed roll on a critical hit or being brought to agony. All options for 5 or less come with enough trauma to give a -1 penalty to stamina which is cumulative. Being reduced to 0 stamina means character retirement. Spend the rest of your days under supervised care or you simply succumb to your wounds. The regeneration ogham or Miraculous healing miracle restores lost stamina as well as function.

[Clovis]

As far as I'm concerned, I would actually involve no Luck roll; I would simply leave the Player the option of making it out alive instead of dying, but at the cost of a special Disadvantage like the ones you've listed... as well as the loss of a Stamina point. And it would be impossible to heal such wounds short of high-level healing magic or surgery.


So for example, let's say that during a fight against a warhammer-wielding brute, a PC gets in Agony. As the Game Leader, I narrate that the Character just got a nasty blow to the head that sends them sprawling to the ground. They are now in Agony. They have no Survival points left, and none of their comrades proves able to save them. Is it the end for them?

That's where the option comes in: the PC may make it out alive, but they will lose one Stamina point, as well as suffer permanent brain damage which, I decide, will have them occasionally go through the same hallucinations as someone suffering from a Syndrome of False Perceptions (Syndrome state of Hallucination, see p.276 of Book 1 - Universe). However, their Ways are not affected, and they do not get the Special aptitude, as this is purely a Disadvantage.

Also, the brain damage is so subtle that completely healing it will require the work of a genius surgeon, a very powerful Demorthèn, a miracle-working Elect, or a team of Magientists with state-of-the-art equipment.


I think it's a good way to be creative and give the PCs a longer life duration without making overcomplicated rules.

[Ocule]

I like it. As a way out of death you can accept a severe injury, its simple and wont slow things down. So simply choosing the most appropriate option obviously instead of having it be random

[Clovis]

Yup! Of course, the Player can always choose to have the Character die instead and start with another one. And obviously, as the Character looses Stamina points, they'll get closer and closer to their eventual death. Finally, this option does not apply for overwhelming damage: if a PC suffers a critical hit from a knight armed with a lance and charging on a galloping steed, resulting in 24 Damage points, then there's no way they can recover from that.

Also, feel free to let the Player mention their opinion regarding the type of Disadvantage they'd keep. For example, if the Player would find it cool to play a Character with an eyepatch, their eye may have been pierced by a dagger, resulting in a Disadvantage similar to Near-sighted.

[warwolf1969]

Surely this idea weakens the deadliness of the combat system. Which I believe is there to guide players into more roleplaying solutions rather than simply pulling out their swords and hacking away.

[StripelessTiger]

Surely this idea weakens the deadliness of the combat system. Which I believe is there to guide players into more roleplaying solutions rather than simply pulling out their swords and hacking away.

I was thinking the same thing, which is why I would suggest it costing a Survival Point to un-check the Agony box but still apply a persistent Wound, or using 2 Survival Points to prevent any lasting effect from the near death experience.

In any case, you could just do a static -1 Stamina from coming so close to death, since the book already states it adds Trauma/Hardening as well.

I would also suggest instead of Luck/Randomness, or even Player/GM choice being taken into account for a Wound location, using a die roll to determine where the actual blow was applied to a character.

For example, your other wounds are shallow/debilitating, but aren't really that deadly, they just impede your ability to defend from a fatal hit. Once you are placed in the Agony condition, the die roll could determine the location of the fatal Wound.

For d10 it could look something like this:
1-2 - legs/feet (odd = left, even = right)
3-4 - arms/hands (odd = left, even = right)
5-9 - torso (lower = lower body, higher = upper body)
10 - head

Better yet, you could rank it based on Survival Point use. Only using 1 point means its a Major penalty. But that means that even after using 2 Survival Points, the lingering wound wouldn't penalize you physically, but rather a Minor quirk in the way you play the character.

Thoughts?

[Ocule]

Yeah but for some, getting maimed is worse than char death. A warrior that loses use of a hand for example. Or a varigal that loses his legs.

[StripelessTiger]

Yeah but for some, getting maimed is worse than char death. A warrior that loses use of a hand for example. Or a varigal that loses his legs.

True, but in that case they could just choose to die or spend the extra Survival Point. A fatal wound doesn't necessarily mean dismemberment. I personally wouldn't place anyone into the Agony condition with a maimed body part if they had the chance of being rescued or coming back from the dead.

It could be a secret roll, or it could be known to the player to better aide him in the decision. If he doesn't have any Survival Points though, I wouldn't even give him the option. Just kill the character.

Anyone that has been to death's door and come back to the land of the living would have serious issues with any sort of maiming, which in my opinion only serves the roleplaying aspect even more.

A Varigal with a leg injury that prevents him from doing his job? If that was his aspiration in life, he could become suicidal, or lash out at people. It could be a very interesting plot point, making the PC choose how the character decides to go on with life. Change in profession, a new calling, sucking it up and moving forward despite people'e protests, defying the odds.

I'd personally love to play a wounded character such as that. So much material to draw from.