Thoughts on a wounding/damage system?

[John Blaz]

[whoknowswhynot]

I have a project that uses the same type of system of GUIDELINES for damage.  Damage levels are not acquired the same way, but I like your method and can offer something to make it work, I think.  I wanted to create a damage level system that could be used for large creatures versus small ones, sci-fi or fantasy included.

There are 12 levels of damage that are mostly descriptive...I'm not sure how detailed you are needing the damage to be or how specific the rules need to be, but this is what I got:

>=11 Disintegrated - Nothing left, except maybe the pungent smell of death.
    10 Broth - All that is left is greasy, powdered soup-like remains.
      9 Splattered - All that is left are pulpy scattered pieces and body fluids.  May cause nausea.
      8 Grotesque - Corpse is unrecognizable.  Very little can be determined without DNA analysis.  Requires "Sanity check" with a penalty.  May cause nausea and/or vomiting.
      7 Overkill - Violent, bloody and gory death.  Disemboweled, may be in at least two pieces.  Requires "Sanity check".  "Sanity check" with a penalty if victim was a friend or family member.
      6 Dead - Death is swift, but not exceedingly violent.  "Sanity check" if victim is family member.
      5 Fatal - Incapacitated.  Character will die very soon (not exceeding 30 min at best) if not treated by immediate surgery.  Level of success determines how long death is prevented.
      4 Mortal - Character must test "will" to avoid incapacitation.  Character will eventually die (not to exceed 24 Hours) if not treated by surgery.  Level of success determines how long death is prevented.
      3 Emergent - Character will not die from wounds, but needs treatment for blood loss, shock, broken bones etc.  Stun/shock test needed with a penalty.  Probable complications without treatment.
      2 Non-Emergent - Character needs medical attention in the form of stitches, ice packs, pain medicine, etc.  Stun/shock test needed.  Possible complications or infection without treatment.
      1 Superficial - First aid is all that is needed.  A little blood or bruising.  Slight discomfort.  May leave scar.  Character building.
  <=0 None/Stopped - No damage was caused.

In your example, a level 3 damage from a bullet would be "Emergent", but a lot of wounds would be this level if they are serious.  I assume that the victim was wearing armor, so the damage could be in the form of a broken rib or something.  My intention is for the GM to sort of fill in the blanks and describe the scene a little more.  I used to work in an ER and there are way too many ways for people to hurt themselves to try and be specific.  That is why I chose to be more generic.  I hope this helps!

[hoefer]

John,

I like the system!  It allows you to have "bullet-proof" armor that may only be marginally effective against powerful firearms yet completely effective against smaller calibers.  The only gripe I could see players having is "But weapon Y should be unhindered by armor type X."  (A knife against kevlar for example...).  Just something to throw out there for you to chew on...


Louis Hoefer
www.wholesumentertainment.com

[Darcy Burgess]

Hi John,

Nifty!  What I really like about this mechanic is its straightforwardness in implementation (pretty quick to parse, very clear-cut).  Simultaneously, it has a fair amount of front-loaded complexity (wide variety of armour & weapon types are possible, all with their own sets of peculiarities).  This is nice for folk who enjoy a level of crunch in their games (I'm in that camp.)

Query: this is your armour penetration ruleset.  We're seeing it devoid of a context -- are there to hit rolls?  dodge rolls?

More importantly, what are your larger design goals for the game as a whole?

Cheers,
Darcy

[John Blaz]

In the system I want to use, armor is by hit location. And there's no reason I can't add in a rule along the lines of "kevlar armor is only half AR vs. knifes". Thanks for the input though! I was getting worried no one would respond.

[John Blaz]

Query: this is your armour penetration ruleset.  We're seeing it devoid of a context -- are there to hit rolls?  dodge rolls?

More importantly, what are your larger design goals for the game as a whole?

As with most RPGs, there is a to-hit roll, and and a Dodge ability that makes the to-hit roll harder under certain circumstances (like shooting at somebody who is only a few meters from you).

The game is geared toward being a gritty survival horror game, where it's important to know how severe a wound is and where it's located. Leg damage decreases speed, arm hits make alot of tasks harder etc.


One other thing I wanted to implement was non-lethal damage, in a way that is similar to the World of Darkness games. In this method, damage is tracked by putting either a "/" in a health box for non-lethal, or fully marking the box with an "x" for mortal wounds. When a character's health boxes are filled with "/"s (nonlethal), the next time they're hit, the non-lethal turns into lethal "X"s.

The only problem with that method is differentiating between what counts as nonlethal hits, and tracking it could be a pain that might not add much to the experience.