The Endurance of Destructive Intent

# Huge Work in Progress!

This page details how to determine the impact on the wellbeing of the target of a successful Attack. For information on how to determine if an attack is successful in the first place, please see the **Combat System** page.

Keep in mind that the following system only applies to major character, such as important NPCs and Player Characters. Information on resolving damage to nameless foes can also be found in the Combat System page.

# Process Outline

* A successful Attack deals a weapon's base Damage, increased by excess Advances on the Attack Test
* Determine the hit location (if applicable) and increase or decrease Damage depending on the body part hit
* Reduce the Damage based on Armor that has not been canceled by Piercing (and change Damage Type to Impact if reduction is 2 or more)
* Make a Resilience Test to attempt to reduce the Damage with a Difficulty set by the weapon's Lethality
* Use the total modified Damage to determine the Wound Severity
* Use the Luck Die result from the Resilience Test along with the Damage Type and body part to determine the Complication suffered
* Complications reducing an Attribute to 0 results in being Incapacitated
* Complications reducing an Attribute below 0 pushes a character into Dying

# Attacks and Injuries

## Weapon Lethality and Victory Points

A normal **Success** on an Attack Test inflicts Damage equal to the weapon’s Lethality.

Victory Points on the Attack Test can be spent to increase the Damage at a rate of **+1 Damage per Victory Point**, repeatable.

## Hit Location

The body part of the target that has been hit effects the Damage of the attack.

### Determine Hit Location

Any Attack that has been Augmented by the **Focus Action** is automatically targeted at the Chest. Any Attack that has been Augmented by the **Aim Action** can be targeted at a chosen body part.

An Attack that was not targeted at a specific body part, or one that was yet only achieved a **Dilemma** on the Attack Test results in rolling on the **Hit Location Table** below. The specifics of the dice roll depend on if the target is:

* behind Cover, roll 12+d8.
* lying Prone or being attacked from directly above, roll two d20s and take the highest result.
* being attacked from directly below, roll two d20s and take the lowest result.
* not behind Cover or lying Prone, roll d20.

 **Below/Trip** | Lowest of 2d20

### Hit Location Effect

The body part hit can change the Damage of the Attack as well as potentially giving the target a small amount of **Armor** due to natural protection such as bones, scales, or other forms of physiological defense.

* **Fragile Area**: Usually only includes the Head but other volatile parts may be included. A hit to a Fragile Area inflicts +2 Damage, but Fragile Areas have 1 Armor from natural protection. In the Head this is the Skull, but it can be glass, scales, or other bones depending on the nature of the target.
* **Critical Area**: The Chest is the most common Critical Area. A hit to a Critical Area inflicts +1 Damage, but Critical Areas have 1 Armor from natural protection (such as the rib cage).
* Vulnerable Area: Vulnerable Areas cover everything that is not a Fragile, Critical, or Noncritical Area, such as the Abdomen and Groin. A hit to a Vulnerable Area inflicts normal (+0) Damage.
* Noncritical Area: Includes arms, legs, and other limbs including tails and wings. A hit to a Noncritical Area inflicts -1 Damage.

### Hit Location Table

(Ignore the hyperlinks in this table, they are for color-coding purposes for easier readability)

### Determining Which Limb

For Arms, Wings, or Legs, roll a d2: 1. Right, 2. Left.

For Half-Horse/Cavalry Legs, roll a d4: 1. Right Foreleg, 2. Left Foreleg, 3. Right Hindleg, 4. Left Hindleg. For Cavalry, use the second body part if two are listed.

For Half-Horse Barrel/Flank hits, use the body part in parentheses when determining Wound Complication.

For Humanoids with tails (such as Fey Cats, Wolfen in Hybrid forms, Dragon Daughters, etc.) and Night Ravens, any result with two entries separated by a slash (such as "Groin/Tail", “Chest/Wing”, etc.) are treated as a result of the first body part if attacked from in front, or the second body part if attacked from behind with a weapon without Piercing. A weapon with Piercing hits the first body part regardless of direction of attack.

# Armor Protection and Weapon Penetration

If the target is wearing any protective gear, that gear might reduce the severity of Wounds suffered due to the Protection that it provides. Conversely, the Attack might be able to bypass that Protection by using its Penetration.

## Weapon Penetration

There are three types of Penetration: Pierce, Crush, and Engulf.

### Pierce Penetration

Pierce Penetration is used by Attacks that attempt to bypass Armor through sharpness, by punching a very tiny hole in the Armor and then driving through it to reach the target behind.

Weapons with Pierce Penetration include sharp crossbow bolts, narrow dagger or spear tips, or pointed bullets such as rifle ammunition.

### Crush Penetration

Crush Penetration is the method of ripping through Armor by kinetic force transfer, to cause a deformation or tearing of the armor that allows the Attack to reach the target underneath it.

Weapons with Crush Penetration include hammers or clubs, pistol bullets or musket balls, and broadhead arrows.

### Engulf Penetration

Engulf Penetration involves any weapon that tries to bypass Armor by surrounding the target in its damaging ability, afflicting the target through openings or weak points in the Armor.

Weapons with Engulf Penetration include fires, corrosive chemicals, poisonous gasses, electric bursts, and shockwaves.

Unlike Pierce and Crush Penetration weapons, Engulf weapons do not target a specific Body Part, and they are resisted by the lowest Engulf Protection of all Armor worn, or by nothing if there is a Body Part that is not protected. And there are a variety of Engulf Protection types which only protect from a specific Damage Type using the Engulf Penetration.

Additionally, Engulf Penetration weapons do not have their Damage Type downgraded to Impact if they are reduced enough. They keep their normal Damage Type regardless of the amount of Damage reduction.

### Engulf Protection

* Insulating: Cold and Fire
* Nonconductive: Electricity
* Padding: Shockwave
* Sealed: Poison gas and acid and corrosive fumes

x

Compare the Armor of the protection covering the hit body part to the total Piercing of the attack, potentially decreased by the range to the target. The modified Piercing of the attack cancels out the Armor 1 for 1, but if there is some Armor left over, then the Damage is reduced by 1 for each point of Armor remaining.

Keep in mind that depending on **hit location**, hits to Fragile Areas and Critical Areas add +1 Armor.

### Failure to Penetrate Armor

If the Damage is reduced by 3 or more, Puncture or Slashing attacks have their Damage Type switched to Impact.

 Armor is entirelycanceled by Piercing
 Armor is higherthan Piercing
 2
 3 or higher

## Damage Resistance Test

When hit by an attack, the Target makes a Fitness (Resilience) Test reflecting his natural hardiness mitigating the impact of the trauma. The Difficulty of the Resilience Test is determined by the Weapon's Lethality, with a potential to add or subtract Advances based upon the target's Weakness or Resistance to the Damage Type, if applicable.

### Lethality

A weapon's Lethality is a measure of its ability to inflict trauma regardless of how tough a target is. If the frailty or durability of the target has a significant impact on the effect of an attack with it, that weapon has a lower Lethality. Whereas a higher Lethality weapon will inflict a more consistent severity of injury no matter what caliber of target it strikes.

 2
 4
 6
 8

### Weakness/Resistance

If the target is Weak to the Damage Type being suffered, subtract 2 Advances from the Resilience Test results. If the target is Resistant to the Damage Type being suffered, add 2 Advances to the Resilience Test results.

### Resilience Test Results

The Damage is then reduced based on the results of the Resilience Test, with Difficulty set by the Attack's Lethality:

* **Victory**: Reduce the Damage by 1 for every two excess Advances.
* **Success**: Reduce the Damage by 1.
* **Dilemma**:
	+ Reduce the Damage by 1 but lose one immediate upcoming Action (if available).
	+ Full (-0) Damage.
* **Failure**: Full (-0) Damage.
* **Disaster**: Increase the Damage by 1.

## Wound Severity

After everything has been taken into account, the remaining Damage determines the Wound's Severity. Wound Severity also sets the harshness of Complications, the level of **Pain** suffered, and the Wound’s recovery time:

## Wound Effects

After determining the Wound Severity take this and the Damage Type and body part affected, and consult the **page on Complications** to see what the ramifications of the Wound are.

## Pain

Every Wound, no matter what form it takes, causes the ones who suffers it bodily harm that impairs function in some way. The catchall term for this phenomenon is Pain, and the most severe injury taken determines what the sufferer’s current level of Pain is.

 **Major Wound** | Agonizing
 **Severe Wound** | Excruciating
 **Mortal Wound** | Disabling

The Pain Penalty applies to every **Test** undertaken (except for Fitness (Resilience) Tests to resist additional Damage), increasing the Difficulty on any Tests taken.

There are several methods to diminish the Pain Penalty:

* The use of Painkillers [ADD HYPERLINK]
* When a Wound has been Treated, the Pain Penalty is reduced by 1 [ADD HYPERLINK].
* When the Wound is halfway healed, the Pain Penalty is reduced by 1
* When the Wound is fully healed, the Pain Penalty goes with it [ADD HYPERLINK].
* Pain Resistance Test (see below).

### Pain Resistance Test

At the start of each day, the character can make a Willpower (Resolve) Test to resist the distracting influence of his Pain. The Starting Difficulty is 4 as usual, but the character's current Pain Penalty does apply to this Test.

* **Victory**: Reduce the Pain Penalty by 1 for the day, and:
	+ ✠ (1 VP, repeatable) **Tough**: Reduce the Pain Penalty by an additional 1 for the day
	+ ✠ (2 VP) **Adapted**: Permanently reduce this Pain Penalty by 1
* **Success**: **Recovering**: Reduce the Pain Penalty by 1 for the day
* **Dilemma**: Choose one:
	1. **Unsure**: Roll another Pain Resistance Test and accept the second result, even if worse
	2. **Ignore**: No change to the Pain Penalty
* **Failure**: **Aching**: Increase Pain Penalty by 1 for the day
* **Disaster**: Something goes terribly wrong. Options include:
	+ **Infection**: The injury is becoming infected
	+ **Reopened**: Lose 1 Blood
	+ **Tender**: Permanently increase this Pain Penalty by 1 until healed

## Multiple Wounds

Usually, only a Mortal or Fatal Wound is severe enough to kill someone, though lesser Wounds can cause detrimental effects that may prove deadly. But the situation becomes far greater when a person is suffering from more than one injury. The results of all Complications stack with each other, so if two or more Wounds are applying a penalty to the same Attribute, that Attribute is reduced by the full amount of all penalties.

## Incapacitated

If the combined Attribute penalties ever **exactly equal** a character's full **Attribute** (that is, if the total penalty reduces an Attribute to 0 for even a single Skill within that Attribute), that character is Incapacitated. The exact nature of the incapacitation reflects the Attribute depleted. For example, if Fitness or Intellect drop to 0, the sufferer passes out from physical or mental collapse. Coordination or Intuition dropping to 0 would result in succumbing to paralyzing trauma. And Willpower falling to 0 would reflect debilitating nervous breakdown.

An incapacitated person can be revived back to some semblance of consciousness, but can no longer make any Tests with the reduced Attribute, even if awoken. See Resuscitation in the Medical Guide for more information.

Additionally, any further injuries which affect the depleted Attribute will push the character into **Dying** or **Dead**, as below.

## Dying

A character who is Dying has been pushed into a moribund condition which will see him **Dead** in short order.

There are two ways to reach Dying status:

* Suffering a Mortal Wound
* Suffering combined Attribute penalties from multiple Wound Complications such that the total **exceeds** the character's Attribute for any one Skill within an Attribute

Upon reaching Dying status, the character must roll a d3 and multiply the result by 5. Unless swiftly treated with emergency triage, the character will expire after that many minutes have passed.

A Dying patient must be Stabilized to avoid certain Death when this duration has passed. Even if Stabilized, the character remains unconscious and cannot move or act until Resuscitated.

If a Dying or Stabilized patient suffers any additional Wound Complications which reduce the already depleted Attribute even further, he is killed instantly.

## Dead

Death is the end of a character and is final, barring a miracle.

There are multiple ways to meet Death:

* A character suffers a Fatal Wound
* A Dying character is not Stabilized in time
* A Dying but Stabilized character suffers another Wound which lowers his depleted Attribute further
* A character runs out of his Blood Vitality