Quick query on Injuries/Death

[sword'n'buckler]

RQ was my very first RPG, way back in '87. Haven't played it for years but just found out about MRQ and ordered a copy via mail order. Seems to be lost in the void somewhere (taking far longer than I expected). Can somebody please clarify for me...

There are NO total hit points anymore... so... can someone fill me in on how you know when a character/NPC or monster dies or is close to death? How does it work now? I have been playing D&D and Conan recently and have not played ANY version of RQ for at least 15 years now. I have a vague recollection of the game mechanics but can't remember how hit locations worked or linked in to death. Without a concept of total HP, I confess I am a bit lost and would like to know what to expect when my rulebooks eventually arrive...

Thanks in advance.

 

[Tabularasa]

Very simply. If any of your locations fall below a certain number of negative HP, you die after a given amount of time if no ones magically heals you or provide first aid.

 

[sword'n'buckler]

Thanks.

Further questions...

1) How is the negative HP threshold for a location calculated? E.g. if a character has 6HP for Right Arm, how many negative points could they take to that location before death?

2) What happens when a location reaches ZERO HP? Unconsciousness? Simple lack of use (which, for head would be unconsciousness anyway)? Anything else?

3) Are injuries to head/chest/abdomen treated any differently to injuries to limbs?

Thanks again in advance.

 

[Deleriad]

Thanks.

Further questions...

1) How is the negative HP threshold for a location calculated? E.g. if a character has 6HP for Right Arm, how many negative points could they take to that location before death?

When a location receives double its normal HPs in damage it has received a major wound (so -6HP in your example).
If a non-vital location receives a major wound (e.g. an arm) then you'll probably survive if you get first aid or some sort of healing in time. If a vital location takes that much damage you have at most a few rounds before dying.

2) What happens when a location reaches ZERO HP? Unconsciousness? Simple lack of use (which, for head would be unconsciousness anyway)? Anything else?

Depends on location. Generally it means that you can't use the location. (Technically, MRQ has some sort of quirky rule about 0 HPs in a location which I have long since forgotten due to throwing it out.)

3) Are injuries to head/chest/abdomen treated any differently to injuries to limbs?

Yes, far more likely to die when you reach 2*HP in damage.

It's basically very similar to the old RQ except you don't track total HPs which means that you can no longer die from being nibbled to death in different locations. Probably works better 2 times out of 3, and worse the rest of time.

Somewhere around there is an updated clean-up of MRQ damage rules which works far more smoothly than MRQ RAW.

 

[sword'n'buckler]

Thanks guys.

 

[Rurik]

HP's are basically wound thresholds. You never die from losing HP.

A location reduced to 0 is a Minor Wound. Lose 1 action and gain one impressive scar.

A location at negative is a Serious Wound. Lose 1d4 actions. If it is a limb it is useless. If it is a Vital, make a Resilience(see below) roll every round or fall unconcious.

A location at a negative number more than it's satrting HP is a Major Wound (note that if the location had 6 HP this threshold is at -7). Lose 1d4 Actions. Limbs are useless and require a resilience roll every round to stay concious. Either way the character will die in CON+POW rounds unless first aid is applied or the location is healed.

A major wound to a vital requires 2 resilience rolls every round, if the first is failed the character dies, if the second is failed they pass out. Either way the character dies in CON+POW/2 rounds unless healed.

Resilience is a skill (and learned as such) and is capped at CONx5.

That is the wound system in a nutshell. RQ is an open system and the rules are in the freely available SRD. An excellent copy can be found here:

http://mrqwiki.com/wiki/images/a/ac/RuneQuestSRDLuxury.pdf

I hope that helps.

 

[sword'n'buckler]

Excellent! Thanks again guys! My Deluxe rulebook arrived this morning so I'm going to have a good read tonight. I already feel much clearer on the whole subject and am getting a feel for how the mechanics work. Might be fiftenn+ years since I've last played RQ, but it is all starting to come back to me now. Wasn't sure about how the new system would accomodate the loss of total HP but this seems relatively clear.