[File FUDGE4b, #5 of 10.] FUDGE: Freeform, Universal, Do-it-yourself Gaming Engine A Free Role-playing Game (RPG). Copyright 1992, 1995 by Steffan O'Sullivan Version: June, 1995 ========= 4 Combat (Continued) ========= 4 Combat, Wounds & Healing 4.5 Wounds 4.51 Wound Levels 4.52 Damage Capacity 4.53 Wound Factors 4.54 Sample Wound Factors List 4.55 Determining Wound Level 4.56 Grazing 4.57 Recording Wounds 4.58 Non-human Scale in Combat 4.6 Wound Options 4.61 Damage Die Roll 4.62 Stun, Knockout, and Pulling Punches 4.63 Min-Mid-Max Die Roll 4.64 PC Death 4.65 Technological Levels as Scale 4.7 Combat and Wounding Example 4.8 Healing ----------- 4.5 Wounds ----------- FUDGE offers various methods of tracking wounds, with many options. It is impossible to be 100% accurate when simulating damage to such an intricate mechanism as a living being. This is true even for detailed simulations - for an abstract role-playing game, it is hard to get close to reality at all. Consequently, many GMs don't try to be very accurate, and want a simple system that works and lets the story flow. Others want as much accuracy as they can get. FUDGE presents a simple freeform system that works, and suggests some options to make it more mechanical, and encourages each GM to add as much detail as she is happy with. - - - - - - - - - - 4.51 Wound Levels - - - - - - - - - - Combat damage to a character can be described as being at one of seven stages of severity. The stages are: Undamaged: no wounds at all. The character is not necessarily healthy - he may be sick, for example. But he doesn't have a combat wound that's recent enough to be bothering him. Just A Scratch: no real game effect, except to create tension. This may eventually lead to being Hurt if the character is hit again. This term comes from the famous movie line, "I'm okay, it's only a scratch." The actual wound itself may be a graze, bruise, cut, abrasion, etc., and the GM whose game is more serious in tone may choose to use one of these terms instead. Hurt: the character is wounded significantly, enough to slow him down: -1 to all traits which would logically be affected. A Hurt result in combat can also be called a Light Wound. Very Hurt: the character is seriously hurt, possibly stumbling: -2 to all traits which would logically be affected. A Very Hurt result can also be called a Severe Wound. Incapacitated: the character is so badly wounded as to be incapable of any actions, except possibly dragging himself a few feet every now and then or gasping out an important message. A lenient GM can allow an Incapacitated character to perform such elaborate actions as opening a door or grabbing a gem . . . Near Death: the character is not only unconscious, he'll die in less than an hour - maybe a *lot* less - without medical help. No one recovers from Near Death on their own unless very lucky. Dead: he has no more use for his possessions, unless he belongs to a culture that believes he'll need them in the afterlife . . . The GM may expand or contract these stages. For example, expand Hurt and Very Hurt to Light Wound, Moderate Wound and Severe Wound. In this case, a Severe Wound might be -3 to all actions - or the GM might leave it at -2, make Moderate Wound = -1, and make Light Wound something in between a Scratch and Moderate Wound. That is, maybe a Light Wound causes no penalty during combat (you don't notice such a slight wound in the heat of battle), but after combat the character will be at -1 to all skills until it's healed (such wounds can be annoying later). The GM may allow a high Difficulty Level Willpower roll to reduce or even nullify penalties listed at Hurt, Very Hurt, and possibly Incapacitated. A gift of a High Pain Threshold will reduce the penalties by one level, while a fault of a Low Pain Threshold will increase penalties by one. Some players delight in describing their characters' wounds in detail, even writing resulting scars into the character story. Automatic Death: sometimes you don't have to roll the dice. Holding a knife to a helpless character's throat is a good example - no roll needed to kill such a character, but the killer's karma suffers. - - - - - - - - - - - 4.52 Damage Capacity - - - - - - - - - - - In FUDGE, Damage Capacity determines how wounds affect a character. Damage Capacity may be called Hit Points, if desired. It may be tied to a character trait such as Constitution (or Hardiness, Fitness, Health, Body, Strength, etc.), or it may be a separate trait - see Section 6.3, Character Examples. It can also be treated as a gift/fault. The GM decides how to handle the differing abilities of humans to take damage. It really does vary, but how much is open to debate. As an extreme example, take the death of the Russian monk Rasputin, the adviser to Czarina Alexandra, in 1916. He was fed enough cyanide to kill three normal people, but showed no signs of it. He was then shot in the chest and pronounced dead by a physician. A minute later he opened his eyes and attacked his assassins! They shot him twice more, including in the head, and beat him severely with a knuckle-duster. He was again pronounced dead, tied in curtains and ropes, and tossed into a river. When his body was retrieved three days later, it was found he had freed an arm from his bindings before finally dying of drowning! Clearly, the man could soak up damage well beyond most peoples' abilities. He is not unique, however: there are many cases in history of people being hard to kill. On the other hand, the phrase "glass jaw" is familiar to most English speakers, referring to those who are hurt from the slightest blow. So there is undoubtedly some room for variation in damage capacity in characters. If the GM is handling wounds in a freeform matter, make Damage Capacity an attribute and let players rate their characters in it like any other attribute. Or have a gift (Damage Resistant, perhaps) and a fault (Fragile, maybe), and let everyone without either the gift or the fault be normal in this regard. The GM can assess the character's ability to take damage based on that information and the situation at hand. If the GM wants a more numerical approach to wound determination, it requires some forethought. If Damage Capacity is an attribute, the easiest way to rate it numerically in FUDGE is the standard: +3 for Superb Damage Capacity +2 for Great Damage Capacity +1 for Good Damage Capacity +0 for Fair Damage Capacity -1 for Mediocre Damage Capacity -2 for Poor Damage Capacity -3 for Terrible Damage Capacity However, since light metal armor, as listed in Section 4.54, Sample Wound Factors List, only grants a +2 to defense against being wounded, it is easily seen that a Great Damage Capacity is equal to light metal armor. Some GMs will find this absurd: a naked person of Great Damage Capacity can turn a sword as well as an armored person of Fair Damage Capacity. Others will remember Rasputin, and consider it within the bounds of reason - it could be part body size (vital organs harder to reach) and part healthiness (muscle tissue more resistant to being cut). For simplicity, any equation-driven approach to wounds in FUDGE assumes the GM will use a Damage Capacity attribute, and it is rated from +3 to -3, as listed above. If you are not happy with this, please make the necessary mental substitution. Here are some other possible ways to handle Damage Capacity numerically: 1) Make Damage Capacity an attribute, as above, but instead of automatically granting a bonus, require a Damage Capacity die roll every time a character is hit for at least a Light Wound (Hurt result). On a result of: Great or better: reduce the severity of the wound by one. Mediocre to Good: no adjustment to the severity of the wound. Poor or worse: increase the severity of the wound by one. This adjustment can either be one wound *level*, or simply one damage point, as the GM sees fit. For certain types of damage - perhaps from a stun ray or a quarterstaff across the ribs - the GM can use the values from +3 to -3 without requiring a roll. 2) Do not use a Damage Capacity attribute; instead allow the players to take a gift of Damage Resistant (reduces wound severity by one) or a fault of Fragile (increases wound severity by one). Again, this adjustment can be one wound level, or one damage point. 3) Use a Damage Capacity attribute, as outlined as the first suggestion under Section 4.57, Recording Wounds. Each hit temporarily reduces your Damage Capacity attribute one or more levels. 4) Use a Willpower attribute instead of Damage Capacity. GMs who believe that Rasputin was able to overcome so much damage because his will was focused on overcoming his enemies may use this method. Grant an adjustment to the wound level based on the result of a Willpower die roll. This can be temporary - until the battle is over - or actually have a permanent affect on reducing wound severity. - - - - - - - - - - 4.53 Wound Factors - - - - - - - - - - When determining how wounded a character is when hit in combat, take into consideration all of the following factors: 1) The relative degree the attack succeeded by - the better the hit, the greater likelihood of damage. Winning a combat round with a relative degree of +1 means you probably hit where the opponent is most heavily armored. Scoring a hit with a +3 finds a chink in the armor. 2) The strength of the blow. For muscle-powered weapons, such as melee weapons, unarmed attacks, bows, slings, etc., this is determined by the attacker's Strength attribute: stronger folks tend to hit harder. The relative Scale modifier is also figured in here. For things like guns, beam weapons, etc., it is relative to the nature of the weapon: a .38 usually does more damage than a .22. The technological level of the weapon can be important. 3) The deadliness of the attacker's weapon. Big weapons tend to do more damage than little weapons; sharp weapons rip tissue more than dull ones, but blunt weapons can cause concussive damage through armor thick enough to stop a sharp weapon. People trained in Karate tend to do more damage than those untrained in any martial art. 4) The defender's armor. People wearing thicker armor, and more of it, tend to get hurt less than those wearing no armor. Armor can be finely differentiated, or simply said to be Light, Medium, or Heavy armor. Science fiction scenarios will have Extra-Heavy armor, and even further levels. Fantasy campaigns may include magic armor that offers even greater protection, sometimes specific against certain types of damage. 5) The amount of damage the victim can soak up (Robustness, Damage Capacity, or Mass). Big, healthy guys can take more damage before collapsing than little, sickly guys. But it's your call if it's a big, sickly fighter against a little, healthy fellow. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 4.54 Sample Wound Factors List - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - For those who prefer numerical values, here are some suggested numbers to attach to the factors listed in the previous section. These may be customized to taste, of course, and are only offered as a starting point. If used, they should be written down on the character sheet at character creation (probably with the weapons and armor), so as to be readily available during combat. Offensive factors: For Character's Strength (muscle-powered weapons only): +3 for Superb Strength +2 for Great Strength +1 for Good Strength +0 for Fair Strength -1 for Mediocre Strength -2 for Poor Strength -3 for Terrible Strength For Attacker's Scale: Add the attacker's Strength Scale (see Section 4.68, Non-human Scale in Combat). Note: the attacker's Strength Scale is relevant only for muscle- powered weapons and for those projectile weapons scaled to the attacker's size, such as miniature bazookas or giant-sized handguns. A superhero of Scale 10 using an ordinary pistol would *not* figure his Scale into the Offensive Damage Modifier. For Weapon's Strength (Guns, Crossbows, Beam weapons, etc.,): +/- Strength of weapon (see Section 4.4, Ranged Combat). For Muscle-Powered Weapon: -1 for no weapon, not using a Martial Art skill. +0 Martial Art skill, or for small weapons (blackjack, knife, brass knuckles, sling, thick boots if kicking, etc.). +1 for medium-weight one-handed weapons (billy club, machete, shortsword, epee, hatchet, rock, etc.). +2 for large one-handed weapons (broadsword, axe, large club, etc.), or for light two-handed weapons (spear, bow, etc.). +3 for most two-handed weapons (polearm, two-handed sword, battleaxe, etc.). +1 for sharpness (add to other weapon damage: knife becomes +1, shortsword +2, broadsword +3, greatsword +4, etc.). Note: For a less lethal game, subtract 1 from each type of weapon except sharpness. (This will lengthen combats.) Note: the value of a shield may be subtracted from the opponent's skill - see Section 4.31, Melee Modifiers. Optional note, as an example of the detail you can achieve in FUDGE: for heavy blunt metal weapons, such as maces and flails, halve any protection from the defender's armor, round down. The concussive damage from such weapons is slowed, but not totally stopped, by most armor. Example: if using a large mace (+2 weapon) against plate armor (+4 armor), the armor only counts as +2 armor. Defensive factors: For Character's Damage Capacity Attribute: Note: this is optional - see Section 4.52, Damage Capacity, for a complete discussion. +3 for Superb Damage Capacity +2 for Great Damage Capacity +1 for Good Damage Capacity +0 for Fair Damage Capacity -1 for Mediocre Damage Capacity -2 for Poor Damage Capacity -3 for Terrible Damage Capacity For Armor: +1 for light, pliable non-metal armor. +2 for heavy, rigid non-metal armor +2 for light metal armor. +3 for medium metal armor. +4 for heavy metal armor. +5 or more for science fiction advanced armor. Note: magical armor may add anywhere from +1 to whatever the GM will allow to any given armor type above. For Defender's Mass Scale: Plus the defender's Mass Scale (see Section 4.68, Non-human Scale in Combat). (If the defender has Mass other than Fair, or a gift of Tough Hide, it should also be figured in.) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 4.55 Determining Wound Level - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - A given blow will cause a certain level of wounding. In the simplest wound determination system, the GM assesses all of the Wound Factors (Section 4.53) and announces how bad the wound is. (In some cases, however, the PCs won't know the precise degree of damage. In those cases, the GM can simply say, "You think you wounded her, but she's still on her feet," or, "You don't notice any effect.") As an example, the GM thinks to herself, "Okay, the fighter with Good Strength just scored a Great hit with a broadsword. The loser rolled a Fair combat roll, has Good Damage Capacity and heavy leather armor. Hmm - I'll say the Strength and Damage Capacity cancel each other, while the sharp sword should be able to penetrate the leather armor if the blow is good enough. A Great hit against a Fair defense is enough, but not really massive: I'd say the loser is Hurt." This result would then be announced to the loser of the combat round. The GM can also use a Situational roll to help her. Roll the dice behind a GM screen, and let the result guide you. A roll of -1 to +1 isn't significant - no change from what you decided. But a roll of +3 or +4 adds a wound level or two to the damage. See Section 4.57, Recording Wounds, for details on how to keep track of wounds received. That system, while simple and satisfying to a certain type of GM, doesn't do much for those who prefer the system detailed in Section 4.54, Sample Wound Factors List. There's no point in figuring out the offensive and defensive factors if you don't do something with the numbers. One system that uses the offensive and defensive factors requires finding the *total damage factor*. This is derived by adding up all the attacker's offensive factors and then subtracting all the defender's factors. Example, Leroy vs. Theodora: Leroy: Good Strength (+1) Scale 0 Broadsword (+2 for size, +1 for sharpness = +3 weapon). Offensive damage factors = 1+0+3 = 4 Good Damage Capacity (+1) Scale mail armor (+3) Defensive damage factors = 1+0+3 = 4. Theodora: Superb Strength (+3) Scale 0 Poleaxe (+4) Offensive damage factors = 3+0+4 = 7 Fair Damage Capacity (+0) Boiled leather armor (+2) Defensive damage factors = 0+0+2 = 2. Leroy's total damage factor against Theodora is 4-2 = 2. Theodora's total damage factor against Leroy is 7-4 = 3. Since Theodora's damage factor is larger, if she hits him, she'll do more damage to him than he would to her for an equally well- placed blow. Once these numbers are determined, jot them down so you don't have to refigure them each combat round. This system requires each character sheet to have a wound record track which looks like: [TABLE] 1,2 3,4 5,6 7,8 9+ Wounds: Scratch Hurt Very Hurt Incapac. Nr. Death [END TABLE] The numbers above the wound levels represent the amount of damage needed in a single blow to inflict the wound listed under the number. For example, a blow of three or four points Hurts the character, while a blow of five or six points inflicts a Very Hurt wound. These numbers can be customized by the GM to fit her conception of how damage affects people. Raising the numbers makes it harder to wound someone, while lowering them makes combat more deadly. Note that there is no number given for Dead. This is left up to the GM, and deliberately not included to prevent accidental PC death. However, you can't simply use the damage factor you determined above - relative degree is also important. A relative degree of +1 is treated as a *graze* - see Section 4.56, Grazing. Otherwise, simply add the relative degree to the damage factor. (You may also wish to include a damage roll - see Section 4.61, Damage Die Roll.) The result is a number that may or may not be a positive number. If it's 0 or less, no damage is scored. If the number is positive, look up the result across the top of the wound levels, and figure the wound as described above. If Leroy hits Theodora with a relative degree of +2, he adds that to his damage potential of +2 to produce a damage number of four. Looking down, we see that a result of four is a Hurt result (Light Wound). Theodora is Hurt, and at -1 until she is healed. For more detail, see Section 4.7, Combat and Wounding Example. There are other ways to figure damage. A GM who believes the relative degree is more important than the damage factor would double it before adding it to the damage factor. The numbers above the wound levels should be adjusted in this case: [TABLE] 1-3 4-6 7-9 10-12 13+ Wounds: Scratch Hurt Very Hurt Incapac. Nr. Death [END TABLE] This is a satisfying system that is recommended for those who don't mind doubling relative degree. Others feel Strength is more important, and so on. A totally different wounding system is given in Section 4.63, Min-Mid-Max Die Roll. Many others have been proposed for FUDGE over the years, and it would be easy to import one from another game system. Use what you feel comfortable with. - - - - - - - 4.56 Grazing - - - - - - - Any relative degree of +1 can do at most a GM-set Wound level (plus any Scale difference). It may do no damage at all, depending on the opponent's defensive factors: a fist hitting plate mail won't hurt the armored knight in the slightest - unless it's a giant's fist. Sample graze severity table: [TABLE] Damage Factor Result ------ ------ <0 Undamaged 0-4 Scratch 5+ Hurt [END TABLE] A GM may or may not allow a damage die roll on a graze, even if using the die rolls for other hits. If allowed, a damage roll shouldn't change the result of a graze by more than one level. Scale difference is a little trickier to figure, but it should be minimized for such a narrow victory: a giant's club could give a human a glancing blow that might inflict a Very Hurt result, but not necessarily Incapacitate. On the other hand, a tiger biting a mouse with a relative degree of +1 grazes the mouse as a cow grazes grass . . . - - - - - - - - - - - - 4.57 Recording Wounds - - - - - - - - - - - - Once the final damage is determined, it is recorded on the wounded fighter's character sheet. Each individual wound is described as a Scratch, Hurt (Light Wound), etc., as introduced in Section 4.51, Wound Levels. Use a Damage Capacity attribute as an easy way to record wounds. (In this case, Damage Capacity is not figured into determining wound severity.) Each hit that is greater than a Scratch reduces a character's Damage Capacity attribute one level - or more, if the GM deems the hit to be severe enough. (Scratches can accumulate as the GM desires - perhaps three Scratches equal one hit.) When someone is reduced to Mediocre Damage Capacity, he is Hurt: -1 to all actions. When he is at Poor Damage Capacity, he is Very Hurt: -2 to all actions. When he drops to Terrible, he is at -3 to all actions - or Incapacitated, if a GM wishes to play it that way. Damage Capacity below Terrible is Incapacitated, at least - possibly worse. (For characters of Mediocre or worse Damage Capacity, these levels only affect them when damaged. That is, an undamaged character of Mediocre Damage Capacity is *not* at -1 to all actions. However, if he takes even one hit, he drops to Poor Damage Capacity, and is at -2 to all actions.) Healing in such a system cannot raise Damage Capacity above a character's undamaged level - that can only be raised through Character Development (Chapter 5). A more detailed method requires a space on the character sheet to record wounds. This would look like: [TABLE] 1,2 3,4 5,6 7,8 9+ Wounds: Scratch Hurt Very Hurt Incapac. Nr. Death O O O O O O O [END TABLE] The numbers above the wound levels are discussed in Section 4.55, Determining Wound Level. The boxes below the wound levels represent how many of each wound type a fighter can take. When a wound is received, mark off the appropriate box. Example: A character takes a Very Hurt result in the first round of combat. The character sheet would then look like: [TABLE] 1,2 3,4 5,6 7,8 9+ Wounds: Scratch Hurt Very Hurt Incapac. Nr. Death O O O O X O O [END TABLE] This character is at -2 to all skills since he's Very Hurt. If he then received a Hurt result, he would check it off like so: [TABLE] 1,2 3,4 5,6 7,8 9+ Wounds: Scratch Hurt Very Hurt Incapac. Nr. Death O O O X X O O [END TABLE] This character is still at -2 to all skills. The Hurt result is not cumulative with the Very Hurt result; only the penalty for the highest recorded wound level counts. If there is no open box for a given wound result, the character takes the next highest wound for which there *is* an open box. If the character above, for example, takes another Hurt result, we see that there is no open box in either Hurt or Very Hurt, so we have to go to Incapacitated: the character is now incapacitated, and the sheet would look like: [TABLE] 1,2 3,4 5,6 7,8 9+ Wounds: Scratch Hurt Very Hurt Incapac. Nr. Death O O O X X H O [END TABLE] Note that an "H" is recorded under the Incapacitated label. The character is indeed Incapacitated - he can't fight any more - but for healing (and scarring) purposes, he has only received two Hurt wounds and one Very Hurt wound - never an Incapacitating wound in one blow. Since Incapacitating blows are harder to heal from, this is important. As another example, a character that takes two Very Hurt results without taking any other hits is Incapacitated, since that is the next highest wound level. Note that three boxes are provided under Scratch. This can be customized by each GM, of course. A Scratch wound will not make a fighter Hurt until he receives his fourth Scratch. Optionally, a Scratch will never raise a character's wound level beyond Very Hurt, no matter how many he takes. The GM should not to use this rule when the PCs fight a monster of huge Scale. Otherwise, they'd never be able to kill such a creature when the worst wound they can inflict is a Scratch. The wound progression above makes for a fairly realistic campaign. For a more cinematic campaign (especially those without magic or science fiction healing), add an extra box for Scratch, Hurt, and possibly Very Hurt: lesser blows won't accumulate so quickly to hinder the character. A moderately cinematic character sheet looks like: [TABLE] 1,2 3,4 5,6 7,8 9+ Wounds: Scratch Hurt Very Hurt Incapac. Nr. Death O O O O O O O O O [END TABLE] It wouldn't be out of line, for an epic scale game, to add up to two more boxes to Hurt and Very Hurt. Be warned that adding boxes can lengthen combat significantly. Never add boxes for cannon-fodder NPCs, though you may wish to do so for major NPCs. In fact, NPC pawns don't even need the system above. A simple three-stage system of Undamaged, Hurt, Out of the Battle is good enough for most of them. Simply make a mark under an NPC's name for Hurt, and cross out the name for Out of the Battle. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 4.58 Non-human Scale in Combat - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The attacker's Strength Scale is added to his offensive damage factors, and the defender's Mass Scale is added to her defensive damage factors. If you have combat with beings weaker than humans, remember what you learned in school about adding and subtracting negative numbers . . . Armor and weapons affect the damage done normally, since they are scaled to the folks using them. Hits become Scratches, Hurt, etc., as usual - see Section 4.55, Determining Wound Level. However, an extremely small character is not likely to be able to wound a large one in the numerical value wounding system. The GM may allow a point or two of damage to penetrate if the small character gets a critical success. Poison-tipped arrows and lances are also a possibility: the small character can aim for joints in the armor and merely has to break the skin to inject the poison. Also, this system treats Mass Scale like armor, which isn't quite accurate. In reality, a small opponent may be slowly carving the larger fighter up, but each wound is too petty, relative to the large scale, to do much damage by itself. To reflect a lot of small wounds gradually inflicting a hit on a large-scale foe, allow a damage roll when Scale prevents a hit from doing any damage - that is, when Scale is the only difference between getting a Scratch and no damage at all. See Section 4.61, Damage Die Roll. There are also "scale piercing" weapons, such as whale harpoons and elephant guns. These don't have massive damage numbers: instead, if they hit well, simply halve the Scale value, or ignore it all together. Of course, if such a weapon is used on a human, it would indeed have a massive damage modifier . . . Combat Examples: In the following examples, each fighter's Strength Scale equals his own Mass Scale, but not his opponent's. (E.g., Wilbur's Strength is Scale 0 and his Mass is Scale 0.) Also, it is assumed the GM is not using the optional damage roll, which could vary damage in all three combats discussed. First example: Wilbur, a human knight with a sword, is attacking a dragon. Wilbur's offensive damage factor is a respectable +6: Great Strength: +2 Two-handed sword: +4 (+3 for size, +1 for sharpness) Scale: +0 The dragon's defensive damage factor is +8: Fair Damage Capacity: +0 Tough hide: +2 Scale: +6 Wilbur's damage factor against the dragon is therefore 6-8 = -2. If Wilbur hits the dragon with a relative degree of +3, he does 3-2 = one point of damage. Given his Strength, weapon, and the amount he won by, this would be a severe blow to a human, even one wearing armor. But this is no human opponent. Only one point get through the dragon's Scale and tough hide. The GM checks off a Scratch for the dragon, and the fight continues. Since there are three Scratch boxes for a major NPC, Wilbur will have to do this thrice more before he finally Hurts the dragon. He may need help, or have to go back for his magic sword. Second example: Sheba, a human warrior, has just kicked McMurtree, a wee leprechaun. Sheba's offensive damage factor = +1: Fair Strength: +0 Unarmed Combat Skill, with thick boots: +1 Scale: +0 (Sheba's martial art skill normally earns her a +0 to damage, and boots normally earns a +0. The GM rules that using both together allows a +1, however.) McMurtree's defensive damage factor is -3: Light Leather Armor: +1 Fair Damage Capacity: +0 Scale: -4. Sheba's damage factor against McMurtree is 1-(-3) = +4. (Subtracting a negative number means you add an equal but positive amount.) If Sheba wins the first combat round with a relative degree of +2 she scores a total of 4+2 = six points. McMurtree's player looks up six on the wound table on his character sheet: Very Hurt - he's at -2 for the next combat round, and in grave danger if she hits again. Third example: McMurtree's friend, Fionn, now swings his shillelagh (oak root club) at Sheba's knee. Fionn's offensive damage factor is -1: Good Strength: +1 Shillelagh: +2 (medium sized relative to Fionn, not sharp) Scale: -4 Sheba's defensive damage factor is +2: Heavy Leather Armor: +2 Scale: +0 Fionn's damage factor against Sheba is -1-2 = -3. If Fionn wins by +3, a solid blow, he adds -3+3 = 0. Unfortunately for Fionn, she takes no damage from an excellently placed hit. Fionn had better think of some other strategy, quickly. Fortunately for Fionn, he knows some magic, and if he can dodge just one kick from Sheba, she'll learn the hard way why it's best not to antagonize the Wee folk . . . ------------------ 4.6 Wound Options ------------------ This section introduces some of the simpler options for determining wounds. Many others are possible in FUDGE, and this list should not be considered official or exhaustive. They are included for possible use, but also to inspire the GM to create her own. - - - - - - - - - - - 4.61 Damage Die Roll - - - - - - - - - - - Although the damage roll is optional, it is recommended if you are using numerical damage factors. This is because the damage factors are generally fixed for the entire fight, and things tend to get stagnant. It also allows a tiny fighter to have a chance against a larger foe - a satisfying result. There are many possible ways to use a damage die roll. One could roll a single FUDGE die for a result of -1, 0, or +1. This can be added to the damage factor, or, more broadly, to the actual wound level. For example, if a fighter inflicts 4 points of damage, that is normally a Hurt result. If a +1 on 1dF is rolled, however, that can make the result +5 (if adding to the damage factor), which brings it up to Very Hurt result. However, a -1 wouldn't change the wound: it would lower the result to 3, which is still a Hurt result. But if the GM is using 1dF to alter the wound *level*, then a -1 changes the result to a Scratch, since that's one wound level below Hurt. Instead of a separate damage roll, one could simply use the die rolls used to resolve the Opposed action. If the attacker wins with an even roll (-4, -2, 0, +2, +4), add one to his offensive factor. If he wins with an odd result (-3, -1, +1, +3), his offensive factor is unchanged. Do the same for the defender, except it affects his defensive factor. This system will help the defender 25% of the time, the attacker 25% of the time, and won't affect the damage results at all 50% of the time. Example: the defender loses the combat round, but rolls his trait level exactly (die roll of 0): he adds one to his defensive damage factor. The attacker wins with a die roll of +3: his offensive damage factor is unchanged. The final damage number is reduced by one - the defender, although losing the round, managed to dodge left as the attacker thrust a bit to the right, perhaps. He may still be wounded, but he got his vital organs out of the way of the blow. This system could also be applied to the wound *level* instead of the damage factor. A more complicated system uses a Situational roll (result from -4 to +4, not based on any trait), and adds it to the calculated damage number (the number over the wound level), as found in Section 4.55, Determining Wound Level. Negative final damage is treated as 0 damage. The GM may wish to apply some limitations to the damage roll, to restrict too wild a result. For example: 1) If the calculated damage is positive, the damage roll cannot exceed the calculated damage. That is, if the calculated damage is +2, any damage roll of +3 or +4 is treated as +2, for a total of four points of damage. 2) If the calculated damage is positive, the final damage cannot be less than +1. 3) If the calculated damage is negative or 0, the final damage may be raised to a maximum of +1 by a damage roll. First Example: The calculated damage is found to be -2 due to armor and Scale. It would take a +3 or +4 die roll to inflict a wound on the defender in this case, and then only one point of calculated damage: a Scratch. Second Example: The calculated damage is +2 (a Scratch). A damage roll of +2 to +4 results in final damage of four points, since calculated damage cannot be more than doubled by a damage roll. A damage roll of +1 results in final damage of three points, while a damage roll of 0 results in two points of final damage. Any negative die roll results in one point of final damage, since a positive calculated damage cannot be reduced below one by a damage roll. For simplicity, of course, the GM can simply ignore the limitations, and allow the damage roll to be anywhere from -4 to +4, let the chips fall where they may . . . Many other damage die rolls are possible - these are only given as examples to the GM. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 4.62 Stun, Knockout, and Pulling Punches - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - A player can announce that his character is trying to stun or knock his opponent out rather than damage her. Using the flat of a blade instead of the edge, for example, can accomplish this. Damage is figured normally, but any damage inflicted doesn't wound the opponent: it stuns her instead. In this case, a Hurt result is called a "Stun" - a stunned character cannot attack or all-out defend, and is at -1 to defend *for one combat turn only.* However, the Stun result stays on the character sheet: that is, a second Stun result, even if delivered more than one combat round after the first, will cause the character to become Very Stunned. (Stun results heal like Scratches: *after* combat is over.) A Very Hurt result in a stunning attack is called a Very Stunned result instead: no attacks and -2 to all actions for *two* combat rounds. A result of Incapacitated or worse when going for stun damage results in a knockout. A knocked-out character doesn't need healing to recuperate to full health - just time. (Only a harsh GM would roll for the possibility of brain damage - this is fiction, not reality.) The GM may simply decide that a successful Good blow (or better) to the head knocks someone out automatically. In an Opposed action, the Good blow would also have to win the combat, of course. Likewise, a player may choose to have his character do reduced damage in any given attack. This is known as "pulling your punch," even if you are using a sword. This commonly occurs in duels of honor, where it is only necessary to draw "first blood" to win, and killing your opponent can get you charged with murder. A Scratch will win a "first blood" duel - it is not necessary to Hurt someone. To pull your punch, simply announce the maximum wound level you will do if you are successful. A fencer can say he is going for a Scratch, for example. In this case, even if he wins the Opposed action by +8, and adds in +3 for his sword, the worst he can do is nick his foe. He was just trying for a Scratch - but the Scratch is probably in the shape of the letter "Z" with such a result! - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 4.63 Min-Mid-Max Die Roll - - - - - - - - - - - - - - This system of wound determination does not pretend to be a realistic method, and can produce some wildly varying results. But it's quick, easy, and lots of fun, and so works well in a certain style of gaming. This system requires 3d6 for a damage roll, even if using 4dF for action resolution. Overview: roll 3d6 when a damage roll is called for. You will probably only read one of the dice, however: either the lowest value (Min), median value (Mid) or highest value (Max), depending on damage factor and relative degree. The greater the damage factor and/or relative degree, the greater the d6 you read for result. If using the Min-Mid-Max system, use the wound track on the character sheet listed in Section 4.57, Recording Wounds: [TABLE] 1,2 3,4 5,6 7,8 9+ Wounds: Scratch Hurt Very Hurt Incapac. Nr. Death O O O O O O O [END TABLE] The offensive and defensive damage factors listed in Section 4.54, Sample Wound Factors List, are used. However, they are not added to the relative degree. Instead, simply derive the total damage factor as normal: (attacker's Strength + Scale + weapon) minus (defender's Damage Capacity + Scale + armor). Each player should jot down this number once it is known for the combat. Before the game begins, the GM decides how important the damage factor and relative degree are in determining wound severity. The following table is recommended as a starting point; the GM can adjust it as she sees fit: [TABLE] Damage Factor Bonus Rel. Degree ------------- ----- ----------- < 0 ....... -1 - 0,1,2 ....... 0 ....... 2,3 3,4,5 ....... +1 ....... 4,5 6+ ....... +2 ....... 6+ [END TABLE] A damage factor of three, for example, has a die-reading bonus of +1, while a relative degree of three has a die-reading bonus of 0. The GM may charge a -2 penalty if the damage factor is well below 0 (-5 or worse). Since the graze rules are used unchanged with this system, there is no listing for relative degree less than two. Add the bonus for damage factor with the bonus for relative degree to get a final bonus. Example: a character has a damage factor of +3 (bonus: +1) and a relative degree of +5 (bonus: +1). His total bonus for that round of combat is +2. What do these bonuses represent? A total "bonus" of less than 0 means no damage is possible - don't even roll the dice. Otherwise, locate the total bonus on the following table: [TABLE] Total Bonus Die to Read ----- ----------- 0 Min 1 Mid 2 Max 3 Add Max + Min 4 Add all three [END TABLE] Min = lowest die. Mid = median die. Max = highest die. The median is the value in the middle. This may be the same as the highest or lowest, as in a roll of 2, 4, 4: the Min = 2, the Mid = 4, and the Max = 4. A roll of triples means Min = Mid = Max. (Please read the median *value* - not necessarily the die that is physically between the other two on the table.) Once you have determined which die to read, compare it with the numbers above the wound levels. With a roll of 1, 3, 5, for example, the Min die = 1 (a Scratch result), the Mid die = 3 (a Hurt result), and the Max die = 5 (a Very Hurt result). You would only read one of these results, however - not all three. With three or more bonuses, add the appropriate dice as listed on the table. For results beyond nine, the GM is free to kill the recipient outright, or merely keep it as a Near Death result, as called for by the situation. The tables are not meant to be intrusive, merely guidelines. The basic intent is to read the Mid if the attacker has *either* a decent damage factor *or* a decent relative degree; to read the Min if he has neither; and to read the Max if he has both. All other values are derived from that simple idea. So the GM can ignore all the tables, and with that idea in mind, just fudge which die to read. For example, a GM might say, "Whoa! You just hit him across the forehead as he backed into a bucket left by the hastily fleeing janitor. Nice shot - he topples over onto his back. For damage, roll 3d6 and read the Max!" This would have come out of a descriptive game, in which the players describe their characters' actions in great detail. Example of the Min-Mid-Max system: Valorous Rachel is fighting the villainous Archie. Both are Scale 0, so Scale won't be mentioned. Rachel: Quarterstaff: +2 Strength Fair: +0 Offensive damage factor: +2 Light Leather Armor: +1 Damage Capacity Good: +1 Defensive damage factor: +2 Archie: Greatsword: +4 Strength Great: +2 Offensive damage factor: +6 Heavy Leather Armor: +2 Damage Capacity Fair: +0 Defensive damage factor: +2 So Rachel's damage factor is 2-2 = 0. She gets no bonus. Archie's damage factor is 6-2 = 4. He gets +1 bonus, according to the table above. On the first round, Rachel wins by +2, whacking Archie across the ribs. Relative degree +2 doesn't get any bonus (and she has none from her damage factor), so Rachel will read the Min. She rolls 3d6 and gets lucky: a 3, 5, and 6. The Min is a 3: she Hurts Archie, who is now at -1 and checks off his Hurt box. On the second round, Archie manages to win with a graze: +1 relative degree. Do not even calculate a bonus in this case - use the graze rule unchanged from Section 4.56, Grazing. His damage factor is only four, so he scores a Scratch on Rachel. On the third round, Archie does very well: he wins by +4 as Rachel backs into a chair! He now gets two bonuses, one from his damage factor and one from his relative degree: he will read the Max die. But Archie's karma is in serious need of overhaul: he rolls a 1, 2, and 3. Rachel is only Hurt, and the GM checks off the Hurt box. Rachel all-out attacks in the following round, and with the +1 to hit she scores an awesome +6 over Archie! She gets two bonuses for such a high relative degree - she'll read the Max die - *and* gets +1 to the die roll for all-out attacking. (Note that this is +1 to the die result, not a +1 to the die-reading bonus.) The GM rolls a 1, 4, 6. She reads the Max and adds 1 for a total of seven. Reading the wound table on the character sheet, she sees that this is Incapacitated, and declares that Rachel's staff just smashed across the bridge of Archie's nose, probably doing serious damage, and at least knocking him out of this battle . . . For a more epic game, where it's important to be able to Incapacitate in one blow, use the following wound track on the character sheet: [TABLE] 1 2,3 4,5 6 7+ Wounds: Scratch Hurt Very Hurt Incapac. Nr. Death O O O O O O O O O [END TABLE] The extra wound boxes are in keeping with an epic style game, but are optional. - - - - - - - - 4.64 PC Death - - - - - - - - Sometimes the dice try to kill a PC. In most campaigns, PC death shouldn't occur through a bad die roll, but only if the character's actions were truly self-sacrificing - or stupid - enough to warrant death. Three methods of preventing accidental PC death are presented. They may be used separately or together or not at all. These should not be used for run-of-the-mill NPCs, but could be used for major ones. The "automatic death" rule in Section 4.51, Wound Levels, takes precedence over these suggestions. 1) A character cannot take more than three levels of wounds in one blow. For example, an unwounded character could be Scratched, Hurt, or Very Hurt in one blow, but any excess damage points beyond that would be lost. A Hurt character could go all the way to Near Death in one blow, but not be killed outright. 2) A character cannot be rendered Near Death unless he began that combat round Incapacitated. This is simpler to keep track of than the first system, and assumes there is some great difference between a severe wound and mortal wound. There probably isn't, but the rule isn't intended to be realistic: it's to make the PCs more heroic than real life. 3) A player may spend a Fudge Point (Section 1.36) to convert a deadly wound to a merely serious one. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 4.65 Technological Levels as Scale - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Technological differences between weapons and armor can be expressed as Scale if the GM desires. Instead of figuring exactly how much mega-damage a transvibrational subneural pulverizer does, the GM can simply say, "This is a weapon that is of the same technological level as the armor of the defender - therefore, it has the same effect on her as a modern pistol would on kevlar." However, if used against someone who is wearing kevlar, the transvibrational subneural pulverizer does lots and lots of damage - kevlar wasn't designed to stop this type of thing. Basically, there isn't much difference between thrusting a sword through a naked man's kidney, or shooting him with a .38 through the kidney, or using a transvibrational subneural pulverizer on the kidney: naked people don't resist most weapons well. Plate armor stops the sword well, but won't slow down the .38 enough to help much - unless it can deflect it away from the kidney, that is. It probably won't help at all against the pulverizer, but it may: the GM will have to decide the effect of such a weapon on plate armor. The concept of technological levels as Scale only comes into effect when weapons of one technological era are used against armor of another technological era. At that point, the GM can add an arbitrary Scale difference to the weapon - or armor, whichever is of the higher tech level. No attempt to quantify tech levels is made here. This section is merely food for thought. -------------------------------- 4.7 Combat and Wounding Example -------------------------------- This example uses the numerical offensive and defensive factors in Section 4.54, Sample Wound Factors List. It also uses a damage die roll: the 4dF option, with the three limitations listed. The two opponents are Medieval warriors, Snorri and Brynhild. The fight takes place in a barroom, which quickly empties of other occupants once weapons are drawn. No one noticed that the innkeeper's son had actually left much earlier than this, when the belligerent Snorri was merely exchanging insults with the proud Brynhild. Both fighters are human (Scale 0), so Scale is left out of the discussion. Snorri: Sword skill: Great No shield Strength: Good (+1) Weapon: Magic Sword (+2 for size, +1 for Sharp, +1 for Magic = +4) Offensive damage factor: +5 Damage Capacity: Good (+1) Armor: Heavy Leather (+2) Defensive damage factor: +3 Brynhild: Axe skill: Good Shield: Medium (-1 to foe's weapon skill) Strength: Great (+2) Weapon: Axe (+2 for size, +1 for Sharpness = +3) Offensive damage factor: (+5) Damage Capacity: Fair (+0) Armor: Heavy Leather (+2) Defensive damage factor: (+2) Snorri's damage factor vs. Brynhild: 5-2 = +3 Brynhild's damage factor vs. Snorri: 5-3 = +2 Snorri's skill is reduced to Good for this combat by Brynhild's shield - see Section 4.31, Melee Modifiers. In the first round, Snorri gets a Great result on his weapon skill (die roll = +1), and Brynhild gets a Fair result (die roll = -1). Snorri wins with a relative degree of +2. Snorri's damage factor of +3 is added in, bringing the damage to +5. Looking at the character sheet, a +5 result equals a Very Hurt wound - before rolling for damage. The GM is requiring damage rolls, so Snorri's player rolls the dice: a -2 result, too bad. This brings the damage down to three. Since Brynhild is an NPC, the GM looks at the wound chart on her character sheet, and finds three: a Hurt Wound. The GM marks off the box under the word "Hurt," and the next round is fought. Brynhild is now at -1 for the rest of the combat. In the second round, both combatants get Good results - a standoff. The GM describes it as a give-and-take of blows that are all parried or blocked as the fighters circle each other. Another five seconds have passed this round, the GM decrees. In the third round, Snorri gets a Great result and Brynhild only a Good result - Snorri has hit again. Since the relative degree is +1, this is a graze. The GM does allow a damage die roll on a graze, but won't let it change the result by more than one level. Snorri's damage factor of +3 normally means a Scratch on a graze. Snorri rolls a 0 for damage, so the GM marks off a Scratch box on Brynhild's character sheet. In the fourth round, Snorri decides to finish off the Hurt Brynhild in one blow: he all-out attacks, which gives him a +1 modifier to his skill, and a +1 to damage if he wins. Brynhild had decided to try for a situational advantage, though: she's spending this round in all-out defense, hoping to spot some way to get an advantage over Snorri for the fifth round. Brynhild gets a +2 modifier to her skill this turn, but can't hurt Snorri if she wins. Snorri gets a Great result, even counting his +1 for all-out attacking, and Brynhild also gets a Great result. Snorri would ordinarily have lost the combat round (all-out attackers lose tie results), but Brynhild's all-out defense means she doesn't aim any blows at Snorri, just beats his attack down. The GM requires a Good Perception roll from Brynhild in order to spot a situational advantage. Her Perception attribute is Great, so she easily makes it. She notices a drink on the floor, spilled earlier by a customer in full flight. Since she successfully defended that round, the GM rules she maneuvers Snorri into the slippery puddle for one round. In the fifth round, the GM gives Snorri a -1 to skill this round (down to Fair) for bad footing. Snorri tries an ordinary attack, and Brynhild, wounded, desperate, and sensing this may be her only chance, now tries an all-out attack: +1 modifier to her skill, bringing her up to an effective skill of Good from her wounded Fair state. Brynhild rolls a Great result, and Snorri only gets a Good result: Brynhild wins this round by +1. Since she was doing an all-out attack, she gets a bonus of +1 to damage. This *does* affect a graze, so her normal Scratch result (for a graze) is increased to Hurt. She rolls a 0 on the damage roll, so Snorri is now Hurt: -1 until healed. The combat is interrupted at this point by the town guards, who had been alerted by the innkeeper's son. Snorri and Brynhild are hauled off to separate cells, probably only too glad to get out of what had become a potentially deadly duel . . . ------------ 4.8 Healing ------------ Wounds are healed through a medical skill or supernormal power. A Scratch is too insignificant to require a roll on a healing skill (although it might require a kiss to make it better . . .). Scratches are usually erased after a battle, provided the characters have five or ten minutes to attend to them. An individual GM may rule otherwise, of course: they may linger on for a day or two. A Good result on a healing skill heals all wounds one level (Hurt to healed, Very Hurt to Hurt, etc.). (Scratches do not count as a level for healing purposes. That is, a Hurt wound that is healed one level is fully healed.) A Great result heals all wounds two levels, and a Superb result heals three levels. Healing with realistic medical skills takes time: the success of the roll merely insures the wounds *will* heal, given enough rest. How long this takes depends on the technological level of the game setting, and is up to the GM. (A day per treated wound is extremely fast healing, but may be appropriate in an epic-style game. Likewise, one minute per magically healed wound is fast.) Whether or not strenuous activity before the healing period ends reopens a wound is also left up to the GM . . . Example: a character with three wounds (two Hurt results and one Very Hurt) is healed with a roll of Good. After the appropriate time, the two Hurt wounds will be fully healed, while the Very Hurt wound will now be a Hurt wound (and carries a -1 modifier as such). Otherwise, wounds heal on their own at one wound level per week of rest - or longer, if the GM is being more realistic. That is, after a week of rest, an Incapacitated character becomes Very Hurt, etc. The GM may also require a successful roll against a Constitution attribute: Fair Difficulty Level for Hurt, Good Difficulty Level for Very Hurt, and Great Difficulty Level for Incapacitated. Failing this roll slows the healing process. Someone Near Death should take a long time to heal, even with magical or high tech healing. [End of Chapter 4. FUDGE continues in file FUDGE5.]