Speaker-to-Dreamworlds
Mongoose
This is not intended as a replacement for the main Conan OGL damage system. It is, instead, a kind of "anti-mook" rule, intended to give PCs and important NPCs both a little more durability, and a more interesting pallette of responses to taking serious damage than "I fall down, go Boom!".
I should emphasize that these rules are intended only to be used in the case of Characters where you care whether they took a nasty cut on the leg, taking weeks to heal, lost an eye, got their hand cut in two and crippled or got their head bashed in. If you aren't planning to bring the character back after the fight, you should just use HP and Massive Damage as normal and leave these rules alone.
The core rules are adapted from Bastion Press' Torn Asunder, which is an excellent resource for anyone thinking of using this system.
The basic concept is that: for Important characters, Hit Points are not any reflection of the "true physical reflection of a creature's health." Instead, they are solely and only the ability of a heroic fighter, by luck or skill, to turn what would be notable damage into an ingnorable bruise, slight cut, nick or near miss. As a consequence, characters using this system who fall to 0 hp or below, or who fail a Massive Damage save, are not Disabled or Dying, but instead take a Wound.
Character's intended to use this system have a base Massive Damage number of 20 + their base Hit Dice over 1, and a new statistic - Wound Tolerance, which is equal to their CON score + their base Fortitude Save + their base Hit Dice over 1. Additionally, 2 subscores are calculated: a Moderate Wound Score of 1/3 their Wound Tolerance (FRU), and a Serious Wound Score of 2/3 their Wound Tolerance (FRU).
For example a human Barbarian 6, with Con 16 would have:
Hit Dice - 6d10+18, Fort Save +8, base Fort Save +5, Average HP 56, Massive Damage 20, and Wound Tolerance 21. His Moderate Wound would be 7, and his Serious Wound 14.
Another Example: a 5th level Werehyena Nomad with Con in human form 14, and in Hyena form 18, would have.
Hit Dice 5d10+10+3d8+12, Fort Save +11/+13, Base Fort save +9, Average HP 67, Massive Damage 20/22, and Wound Tolerance 23/27. In Human Form, his Moderate Wound is 8, and his Serious Wound 16. In Hyena form his Moderate Wound is 9, and his Serious Wound is 18.
Using these rules a character suffers a Wound whenever his HP are reduced below 0, or whenever he fails a Massive Damage save. He then compares the amount of damage that exceeded his HP, if he went below 0 HP, or the base weapon damage plus strength bonus minus DR normally applied, if any to his Wound Tolerance score.
If the amount of damage taken is Zero or less (perhaps due to Armor or other DR), then no Wound is taken. The Character lucked out.
If the amount of damage taken is Greater Than Zero, but Less Than his Moderate Wound Score, then the character takes a Mild Wound. He rolls on the Hit Location Chart, below, or located in Torn Asunder, and applies the "Mild Wound" result.
If the amount of damage taken is Equal to or Greater Than his Moderate Wound Score, but Less Than his Serious Wound Score, then the character takes a Moderate Wound. He rolls on the Hit Location Chart, below, or located in Torn Asunder, and applies the "Moderate Wound" result.
If the amount of damage taken is Equal to or Greater Than his Serious Wound Score, but Less Than his Wound Tolerance, then the character takes a Serious Wound. He rolls on the Hit Location Chart, below, or located in Torn Asunder, and applies the "Serious Wound" result.
If the amount of damage taken is Equal to or Greater Than his Wound Tolerance, then the character takes a Serious Wound, and in addition is Disabled, and must roll for Stabilisation or become Dying. He rolls on the Hit Location Chart, below, or located in Torn Asunder, and applies the "Serious Wound" result, he also immediately loses any HP he had remaining, and drops and falls semi-conscious unless he has a feat or ability that overrides this result. If the character does have such an abilty, such as Ferocity or Unconquerable he may act as the abilty allows, but must roll for stabilisation after each further loss of HP, no matter how great, and becomes Dying whenever he fails his save.
The Hit Location Table for Basic Humanoids:
(On 1d8)
1 = Right Leg
2 = Left Leg
3 = Right Arm
4 = Left Arm
5 = Torso
6 = Torso
7 = Head
8 = GM's Choice or Roll again, or Two Locations.
(Note that the GM may and must overrule the chart if an impossible result occurs.)
Wound Results: (The results tables in Torn Asunder are far more complete.)
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For Arms and Legs, a Mild wound levies a penalty of -2 to Certain skills: Balance, Climb, Jump, Tumble and Move Silently for Legs; Climb, Craft, Disable Device, Escape Artist, Forgery, Open Lock, Sleight of Hand and Use Rope for arms.
A Moderate Wound levies a penalty of -8 to the above skills, and in addition reduces speed by one half if to a leg, and the wounded character must make a DC17 Fort Save or fall down every round he attempts to move without a crutch or other brace; or, if to an arm, must a make a DC17 Fort Save every round he attempts to manipulate something with the arm, or take any strenuous action involving the arm or fail the action, and drop anything that hand was holding.
A Serious wound levies penalties of -8 to the above skills, and in addition renders the limb useless for all purposes, requiring a DC 20 Fort Save to avoid going into Shock and becoming Disabled, with the requisite stability roll involved.
A Mild wound caused by Bludgeoning damage implies deep bruising and cracked bones, a Moderate wound implies at least one clean fracture, and a Serious wound implies multiple broken or crushed bones.
A Mild wound caused by Piercing damage implies a deep stab, a Moderate wound implies full impalement and some muscle, nerve or ligament damage, and a Serious wound implies both impalement and significant damage done while the weapon was in the wound.
A Mild wound caused by Slashing damage implies injured muscle, a Moderate wound implies damage to a joint or ligament, or total severance of a muscle, and a Serious wound implies a severed limb.
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For the Torso, a Mild wound levies a penalty of -1 to Attacks and certain skills: Balance, Climb, Jump, Tumble, Escape Artist, Ride, Swim and Move Silently.
A Moderate Wound levies a penalty of -5 to Attacks and the above skills, and in addition reduces speed by one half, and requires a DC 20 Fort Save to avoid going into Shock and becoming Disabled, with the requisite stability roll involved.
A Serious wound to the Torso renders the wounded character Disabled immediately, without a Save.
A Mild wound caused by Bludgeoning damage implies deep bruising and cracked ribs, a Moderate wound implies several broken ribs, or damage to the spine, and a Serious wound implies a crushed ribcage or broken vertebra.
A Mild wound caused by Piercing damage implies a stab to the chest or gut, a Moderate wound implies full impalement and some organ damage, and a Serious wound implies both impalement and significant damage done to vital organs.
A Mild wound caused by Slashing damage implies injured muscle, a Moderate wound implies a deep slash that leaves open ribs visible, and a Serious wound implies disembowlment, or similar damage.
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For the Head, a Mild wound levies a penalty of -2 to certain skills: Balance and Listen.
A Moderate Wound caused by Bludgeoning Damage crushes the victim's Jaw, rendering him mute. A Moderate Piercing or Slashing wound causes Eye damage, levying a penalty of -4 to all ranged Attacks, Search checks and Spot checks. Any Moderate wound requires, in addition, a DC 20 Fort Save to avoid going into Shock and becoming Disabled, with the requisite stability roll involved.
A Serious wound to the Head renders the wounded character Disabled immediately, without a Save.
A Mild wound caused by Bludgeoning damage implies deep bruising and possibly concussion, a Moderate wound implies a broken jaw, and a Serious wound implies a crushed skull or broken neck.
A Mild wound caused by Piercing damage implies a stab to the scalp or cheek, a Moderate wound implies a punctured eye cavity, and a Serious wound implies both impalement and significant damage done to vital organs.
A Mild wound caused by Slashing damage implies injured muscle in the cheek or jaw, or a bleeding scalp wound, a Moderate wound implies a deep slash across eye and cheek, and a Serious wound implies a deep wound to the skull, or a severed throat.
(Bleah. That was alot of typing. Seriously, folks, Torn Asunder is kind of a must if you're contemplating this kind of thing.)
Here endeth the post. Next Prog: healing the Wounds you just took.
I should emphasize that these rules are intended only to be used in the case of Characters where you care whether they took a nasty cut on the leg, taking weeks to heal, lost an eye, got their hand cut in two and crippled or got their head bashed in. If you aren't planning to bring the character back after the fight, you should just use HP and Massive Damage as normal and leave these rules alone.
The core rules are adapted from Bastion Press' Torn Asunder, which is an excellent resource for anyone thinking of using this system.
The basic concept is that: for Important characters, Hit Points are not any reflection of the "true physical reflection of a creature's health." Instead, they are solely and only the ability of a heroic fighter, by luck or skill, to turn what would be notable damage into an ingnorable bruise, slight cut, nick or near miss. As a consequence, characters using this system who fall to 0 hp or below, or who fail a Massive Damage save, are not Disabled or Dying, but instead take a Wound.
Character's intended to use this system have a base Massive Damage number of 20 + their base Hit Dice over 1, and a new statistic - Wound Tolerance, which is equal to their CON score + their base Fortitude Save + their base Hit Dice over 1. Additionally, 2 subscores are calculated: a Moderate Wound Score of 1/3 their Wound Tolerance (FRU), and a Serious Wound Score of 2/3 their Wound Tolerance (FRU).
For example a human Barbarian 6, with Con 16 would have:
Hit Dice - 6d10+18, Fort Save +8, base Fort Save +5, Average HP 56, Massive Damage 20, and Wound Tolerance 21. His Moderate Wound would be 7, and his Serious Wound 14.
Another Example: a 5th level Werehyena Nomad with Con in human form 14, and in Hyena form 18, would have.
Hit Dice 5d10+10+3d8+12, Fort Save +11/+13, Base Fort save +9, Average HP 67, Massive Damage 20/22, and Wound Tolerance 23/27. In Human Form, his Moderate Wound is 8, and his Serious Wound 16. In Hyena form his Moderate Wound is 9, and his Serious Wound is 18.
Using these rules a character suffers a Wound whenever his HP are reduced below 0, or whenever he fails a Massive Damage save. He then compares the amount of damage that exceeded his HP, if he went below 0 HP, or the base weapon damage plus strength bonus minus DR normally applied, if any to his Wound Tolerance score.
If the amount of damage taken is Zero or less (perhaps due to Armor or other DR), then no Wound is taken. The Character lucked out.
If the amount of damage taken is Greater Than Zero, but Less Than his Moderate Wound Score, then the character takes a Mild Wound. He rolls on the Hit Location Chart, below, or located in Torn Asunder, and applies the "Mild Wound" result.
If the amount of damage taken is Equal to or Greater Than his Moderate Wound Score, but Less Than his Serious Wound Score, then the character takes a Moderate Wound. He rolls on the Hit Location Chart, below, or located in Torn Asunder, and applies the "Moderate Wound" result.
If the amount of damage taken is Equal to or Greater Than his Serious Wound Score, but Less Than his Wound Tolerance, then the character takes a Serious Wound. He rolls on the Hit Location Chart, below, or located in Torn Asunder, and applies the "Serious Wound" result.
If the amount of damage taken is Equal to or Greater Than his Wound Tolerance, then the character takes a Serious Wound, and in addition is Disabled, and must roll for Stabilisation or become Dying. He rolls on the Hit Location Chart, below, or located in Torn Asunder, and applies the "Serious Wound" result, he also immediately loses any HP he had remaining, and drops and falls semi-conscious unless he has a feat or ability that overrides this result. If the character does have such an abilty, such as Ferocity or Unconquerable he may act as the abilty allows, but must roll for stabilisation after each further loss of HP, no matter how great, and becomes Dying whenever he fails his save.
The Hit Location Table for Basic Humanoids:
(On 1d8)
1 = Right Leg
2 = Left Leg
3 = Right Arm
4 = Left Arm
5 = Torso
6 = Torso
7 = Head
8 = GM's Choice or Roll again, or Two Locations.
(Note that the GM may and must overrule the chart if an impossible result occurs.)
Wound Results: (The results tables in Torn Asunder are far more complete.)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For Arms and Legs, a Mild wound levies a penalty of -2 to Certain skills: Balance, Climb, Jump, Tumble and Move Silently for Legs; Climb, Craft, Disable Device, Escape Artist, Forgery, Open Lock, Sleight of Hand and Use Rope for arms.
A Moderate Wound levies a penalty of -8 to the above skills, and in addition reduces speed by one half if to a leg, and the wounded character must make a DC17 Fort Save or fall down every round he attempts to move without a crutch or other brace; or, if to an arm, must a make a DC17 Fort Save every round he attempts to manipulate something with the arm, or take any strenuous action involving the arm or fail the action, and drop anything that hand was holding.
A Serious wound levies penalties of -8 to the above skills, and in addition renders the limb useless for all purposes, requiring a DC 20 Fort Save to avoid going into Shock and becoming Disabled, with the requisite stability roll involved.
A Mild wound caused by Bludgeoning damage implies deep bruising and cracked bones, a Moderate wound implies at least one clean fracture, and a Serious wound implies multiple broken or crushed bones.
A Mild wound caused by Piercing damage implies a deep stab, a Moderate wound implies full impalement and some muscle, nerve or ligament damage, and a Serious wound implies both impalement and significant damage done while the weapon was in the wound.
A Mild wound caused by Slashing damage implies injured muscle, a Moderate wound implies damage to a joint or ligament, or total severance of a muscle, and a Serious wound implies a severed limb.
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For the Torso, a Mild wound levies a penalty of -1 to Attacks and certain skills: Balance, Climb, Jump, Tumble, Escape Artist, Ride, Swim and Move Silently.
A Moderate Wound levies a penalty of -5 to Attacks and the above skills, and in addition reduces speed by one half, and requires a DC 20 Fort Save to avoid going into Shock and becoming Disabled, with the requisite stability roll involved.
A Serious wound to the Torso renders the wounded character Disabled immediately, without a Save.
A Mild wound caused by Bludgeoning damage implies deep bruising and cracked ribs, a Moderate wound implies several broken ribs, or damage to the spine, and a Serious wound implies a crushed ribcage or broken vertebra.
A Mild wound caused by Piercing damage implies a stab to the chest or gut, a Moderate wound implies full impalement and some organ damage, and a Serious wound implies both impalement and significant damage done to vital organs.
A Mild wound caused by Slashing damage implies injured muscle, a Moderate wound implies a deep slash that leaves open ribs visible, and a Serious wound implies disembowlment, or similar damage.
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For the Head, a Mild wound levies a penalty of -2 to certain skills: Balance and Listen.
A Moderate Wound caused by Bludgeoning Damage crushes the victim's Jaw, rendering him mute. A Moderate Piercing or Slashing wound causes Eye damage, levying a penalty of -4 to all ranged Attacks, Search checks and Spot checks. Any Moderate wound requires, in addition, a DC 20 Fort Save to avoid going into Shock and becoming Disabled, with the requisite stability roll involved.
A Serious wound to the Head renders the wounded character Disabled immediately, without a Save.
A Mild wound caused by Bludgeoning damage implies deep bruising and possibly concussion, a Moderate wound implies a broken jaw, and a Serious wound implies a crushed skull or broken neck.
A Mild wound caused by Piercing damage implies a stab to the scalp or cheek, a Moderate wound implies a punctured eye cavity, and a Serious wound implies both impalement and significant damage done to vital organs.
A Mild wound caused by Slashing damage implies injured muscle in the cheek or jaw, or a bleeding scalp wound, a Moderate wound implies a deep slash across eye and cheek, and a Serious wound implies a deep wound to the skull, or a severed throat.
(Bleah. That was alot of typing. Seriously, folks, Torn Asunder is kind of a must if you're contemplating this kind of thing.)
Here endeth the post. Next Prog: healing the Wounds you just took.
