Nov 22, 2019 1:16 am
How would that translate to the injury system though?
Help with Horror Homebrew Injury System
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Nov 22, 2019 7:13 pm
Well, that was the inspiration for the idea with the grid of "vulnerable" spots on a person's body, I guess.
Feb 7, 2020 8:08 pm
Something along the lines of FFG's Star Wars injury system might work, just need to tweak the flavor of it probably.
Feb 27, 2020 2:58 pm
I don't know why system you are using generally, but one thing most systems have in common are physical attributes.
Physical attributes are basically abstractions of physical capability (how much force you can bring to bear, hand eye coordination accuracy etc) but if you simply start thinking of those attributes as values at the current moment, attributes become more akin to hit points/health etc. The exact physical nature of injuries is more in the realm of fluff than mechanics.
There are a couple of options that suggest themselves to me.
1) The holistic approach:
Physical attributes are implicitly the values they hold for a structurally sound and uninjured person, so logically there is no reason why these values should remain constant as hit points/health decreases.
Apply a penalty to ability scores (or even all checks) relative to percentage of hit points/health remaining, you can do this by having milestones at certain percentages, or everytime X damage is taken.
eg.
I ran a Pathfinder game which used this approach...
75% > hitpoints - no modifiers.
50% -74% minus two to all skill checks, and combat rolls.
25% - 49% minus four to all skill checks, and combat rolls.
< 25% minus six to all skill checks, and combat rolls.
The penalties are explained as various injuries depending on what did the damage, blood loss, concussion affecting concentration, fractures, pain etc.
You could apply this penalty to select ability scores (strength and dex maybe) or a blanket penalty to rolls (which adds in disorientation from headblows, distracting pain etc).
The end result is the same, if health diminishes then physical ability diminishes, most system uses a numeric variable of sorts to track both, whether its a score like D&D or dots like WoD.
2) Injury tables.
MERP uses tables for injury (and LOTS of other things....SO MANY TABLES) but the idea is sound and provides the option for detailed and good (in terms of story telling) injuries.
If you are playing in a mostly humanoid setting (like a modern or real world setting) you can compile some tables based on damage type (bludgeoning, slashing, piercing, fire etc) which outline detailed injuries and penalties that along with them and can even include role-play affecting elements or permanent changes.
What game event triggers a roll on these tables is down to you, critical hits, damage above a certain threshold (universal or based on a constitution like attribute) or if you are feeling particularly brutal (and realistic) after every successful hit.
You could even replace damage with injury tables, with fights going on until someone surrenders, someone runs away, or players are physically incapable of fighting anymore due to so many injuries.
You could possibly set a cap so that after X number of injuries or X total penalties the character passes out.
Have a look at these tables to give you some ideas, you may even be able to convert them in a manner of speaking.
https://ibb.co/7jkZkRC
https://ibb.co/1J53Rh1
https://ibb.co/Mcd8s6g
Physical attributes are basically abstractions of physical capability (how much force you can bring to bear, hand eye coordination accuracy etc) but if you simply start thinking of those attributes as values at the current moment, attributes become more akin to hit points/health etc. The exact physical nature of injuries is more in the realm of fluff than mechanics.
There are a couple of options that suggest themselves to me.
1) The holistic approach:
Physical attributes are implicitly the values they hold for a structurally sound and uninjured person, so logically there is no reason why these values should remain constant as hit points/health decreases.
Apply a penalty to ability scores (or even all checks) relative to percentage of hit points/health remaining, you can do this by having milestones at certain percentages, or everytime X damage is taken.
eg.
I ran a Pathfinder game which used this approach...
75% > hitpoints - no modifiers.
50% -74% minus two to all skill checks, and combat rolls.
25% - 49% minus four to all skill checks, and combat rolls.
< 25% minus six to all skill checks, and combat rolls.
The penalties are explained as various injuries depending on what did the damage, blood loss, concussion affecting concentration, fractures, pain etc.
You could apply this penalty to select ability scores (strength and dex maybe) or a blanket penalty to rolls (which adds in disorientation from headblows, distracting pain etc).
The end result is the same, if health diminishes then physical ability diminishes, most system uses a numeric variable of sorts to track both, whether its a score like D&D or dots like WoD.
2) Injury tables.
MERP uses tables for injury (and LOTS of other things....SO MANY TABLES) but the idea is sound and provides the option for detailed and good (in terms of story telling) injuries.
If you are playing in a mostly humanoid setting (like a modern or real world setting) you can compile some tables based on damage type (bludgeoning, slashing, piercing, fire etc) which outline detailed injuries and penalties that along with them and can even include role-play affecting elements or permanent changes.
What game event triggers a roll on these tables is down to you, critical hits, damage above a certain threshold (universal or based on a constitution like attribute) or if you are feeling particularly brutal (and realistic) after every successful hit.
You could even replace damage with injury tables, with fights going on until someone surrenders, someone runs away, or players are physically incapable of fighting anymore due to so many injuries.
You could possibly set a cap so that after X number of injuries or X total penalties the character passes out.
Have a look at these tables to give you some ideas, you may even be able to convert them in a manner of speaking.
https://ibb.co/7jkZkRC
https://ibb.co/1J53Rh1
https://ibb.co/Mcd8s6g
Last edited February 27, 2020 3:02 pm