[Dragon Warriors] Fate Points & Permanent Injuries

[jason.richardson]

For my campaign, I use the optional rules for Fate Points and also require anyone that uses a Fate Point to roll on the Permanent Injuries table.

My question: If a character's characteristic is lowered below the minimum required for his chosen Profession, what happens?

Let's say a Sorcerer has his Intelligence reduced to 8. Is he no longer a Sorcerer? If so, what is he? A Hotblood?

 

[kintire]

This is purely my opinion, but I suspect that the stat minimums for professions reflect the fact that the person who trained the PC in that profession would not have bothered to do so had they been lower than that. I don't think someone who later became lower than that would mystically forget his abilities.

 

[jason.richardson]

This is purely my opinion, but I suspect that the stat minimums for professions reflect the fact that the person who trained the PC in that profession would not have bothered to do so had they been lower than that. I don't think someone who later became lower than that would mystically forget his abilities.

That's a logical assumption and I'll most likely rule in that direction if this happens. I'm curious to see how other GMs will rule on this. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Jiminy]

I agree that the PC would still be the same profession. The big effect would surely come into effect in roleplay; a befuddled, absent-minded Sorceror whose Int has been frazzled is still a Sorceror of great power - when he can actually remember his own name, that is!

 

[jason.richardson]

After reading over the book again, I see a footnote on page 21 that says, "Characters with Psychic Talent of 8 or less cannot use magic."

So, with this in mind, I will just rule that a magic using character that rolls a loss of Psychic Talent on the Permanent Injuries chart that will render them unable to use magic, to reroll.

Interesting though; I wonder if that means all magic, or just spells?

 

[Jiminy]

Wait a second. Isn't that only for character generation?

<starts searching around for the Rulebook>

 

[Jiminy]

OK. The stat modifiers (page 27) and minimum requirements (page 30) are only used when a PC Sorceror is created. They are not used afterwards.

 

[jason.richardson]

Hey guys - I have a situation and I'd like to see how you'd adjudicate.

Last night one of the player's characters, an assassin, lost his right foot in a battle with an orc.

How, game-wise, would you adjudicate the effects of that?

 

[Jiminy]

Ouch - is the Assassin now looking for a different career?

Did you make the PC tie a tourniquet around his calf immediately in order to avoid a constant loss of Health Points?

Wayne Imlach has written an excellent Surviving Extreme Environments article on the Dragwars Yahoo Group. His Frostbite section implies that amputation of one foot inflicts a permanent 50% reduction in Evasion. Wayne's rules also state that if the wound is not healed/cauterised within one day it becomes infected and requires another (calf?) amputation. Amputations can only be reversed by Miracle Cure, or a similar uber-spell.

Personally, I would have thought that an amputation would also reduce Attack, Defence & Stealth as well, but perhaps one of the DW veterans could help us on that?

 

[jason.richardson]

Hey,

I reduced his Evasion and Stealth by 2 points, he can no longer run, and he'll subtract 1d6m from his walking movement.

But, I'm thinking that's a little generous. I'm also thinking that the permanent injuries optional rule is making my game too complex.

The game session ended right after this battle. We'll pick back up this coming Wednesday night and I'll take into account what - if anything - the other players' characters do to stop blood loss.

I've yet to toy around with infection rules. I really like them, especially in a gritty, medieval game. HarnMaster has a really nice system for handling infections. I was surprised to see that Dragon Warriors doesn't have standard infection rules.

 

[jason.richardson]

Here's what I'm thinking of ruling for my campaign.

Note that all penalties assume the use of some device: peg-leg, crutch, cane, etc. If such assistance isn't used, all numbers are doubled (but minimum of 1 in all cases).

Lost Foot
- no longer run
- walking reduced by 20%
- Evasion, Stealth, Attack, and Defense reduced by 2 points

Lost Leg Below Knee
- no longer run
- walking reduced by 40%
- Evasion, Stealth, Attack, and Defense reduced by 4 points

Lost Entire Leg
- no longer run
- walking reduced by 80%
- Evasion, Stealth, Attack, and Defense reduced by 8 points

In cases where bloodloss would be severe, such as a wound left by a battleaxe, I'll use the same rules for resisting diseases on page 127 to reflect the possibility of infection setting in. I'll rule that Health Point and Characteristic Loss per Day will be -2 HP and Strength per day.

 

[Jiminy]

The penalty for not using a crutch/prosthesis (a cane is almost worthless for an amputee) is a good idea.

Personally I would be tempted to keep things simple. A lost foot or calf would surely require the use of a medieval crutch/prosthesis, both of which were of a very poor quality. I would apply a single reduction for both cases.

Also, if a PC lost a whole leg then their first priority would be simply to survive more than few seconds, due to massive shock and arterial blood loss; we're talking an immobile game-over in a just a few rounds without magic intervention. If they got a low-level wounds-only heal then they would still need a crutch/prosthesis, so could be dealt with as above.

Of course, this is only my opinion - I'm not a DW expert.

 

[jason.richardson]

The penalty for not using a crutch/prosthesis (a cane is almost worthless for an amputee) is a good idea.

Personally I would be tempted to keep things simple. A lost foot or calf would surely require the use of a medieval crutch/prosthesis, both of which were of a very poor quality. I would apply a single reduction for both cases.

Also, if a PC lost a whole leg then their first priority would be simply to survive more than few seconds, due to massive shock and arterial blood loss; we're talking an immobile game-over in a just a few rounds without magic intervention. If they got a low-level wounds-only heal then they would still need a crutch/prosthesis, so could be dealt with as above.

Of course, this is only my opinion - I'm not a DW expert.

Ha, me either!

I agree, having your whole leg chopped off will most likely be a show stopper. I can't see anyone surviving for more than a few seconds, maybe 10 rounds, before they'll die unless some sort of magic is applied. Just applying pressure to the stump after an entire leg loss will only get you messy and waste your time.