VsD/Health and Healing


 * Go back

The basic idea is that hit point damage represents temporary damage that you heal naturally and automatically, while effects of critical hits require you to focus on rest and recuperation (by setting up Camp or seeking out a Safe Haven).

Compared to the RAW, I have loosened a couple of particularly harsh limitations, indicated below by blue text.

Characters recover one tenth of their Total HP for every full hour of rest unless: You can attempt to Tough it out: make a TSR with the difficulty depending on the circumstances. Success gives you the benefits of rest. Partial Success gives you half rest, and you can't attempt to tough it out again until a full day has passed. Failure means no benefit and you can't attempt to tough it out again until a full day has passed. This normally means you can start each day fully healed as long as you suffer no criticals.
 * you are exposed to nature (wet, cold and so on)
 * you suffer from one or more critical with untreated Bleeding
 * you are Weary (the Weary Condition)

Healing herbs can accelerate HP recovery and even make you recover HPs even while actively adventuring:
 * A dose of clotting herbs can be used to create a Healing Salve (heals 1d10 HP)
 * A dose of mending herbs doubles the HP recovery from rest (for five hours)
 * Quaffing a draught from a Reviving Cordial makes you act as if not Weary for up to 3 hours.

Bleeding
While Bleeding is caused by critical hits, Bleeding is treated separately. The severity depends on the amount of HP lost per round in total.
 * Light Bleeding (1-4 HP lost per round)
 * Severe Bleeding (5-10 HP lost per round)
 * Exsanguination (>10 HP lost per round)

Bleeding characters (any severity) cannot recover HPs until all bleeding is stopped and Treated.

Stopping Bleeding
If you are humanoid, you need some bandages or a tourniquet or a dose of clotting herbs to stop Bleeding (i.e. no longer lose hit points each round). The same Bandages count for both stopping and treating the same bleeding.

You succeed automatically if you spend one full uninterrupted minute on this activity. The patient stops losing HP immediately, but as soon as you stop (before the full minute is up) the bleeding resumes without reduction. If you want to stop bleeding faster, you need to do so as part of a Healing Skill Roll, adding one round's worth to account for the application of bandages before the actual treatment is attempted.

You can stop bleeding even without equipment (for instance, if the patient is an animal, licking its wounds):
 * Light Bleeding: You succeed automatically if you spend one full uninterrupted minute on this activity. The patient stops losing HP immediately, but as soon as you stop (before the full minute is up) the bleeding resumes without reduction.
 * Severe Bleeding: Succeed at a Hard (-20) Body Skill Roll and spend ten full uninterrupted minutes to stop severe bleeding. The patient stops losing HP immediately, but as soon as you stop (before the full ten minutes are up) the bleeding resumes without reduction. Failure likely means you bleed out and die.
 * Exsanguination: Cannot be stopped without healing skills and bandages. You might have time to retreat to a safe space, or utter a few final words.

Do remember the option to take the Doomed condition.

Treating Bleeding
Even after the bleeding is stopped it still needs to be Treated. HP loss will resume as soon as somebody with untreated bleeding patient enters combat again or performs any strenuous activity.


 * Light Bleeding: Treat anywhere. Requires a bandage or use of Healer's Kit or a dose of clotting herbs. Succeed at a Standard (+0) Healer Roll to Treat Light Bleeding. Bleeding is healed immediately once treated, leaving patients free to continue their adventure.
 * Partial Success: Spend an additional bandage or use of Healer's Kit or a dose of clotting herbs to succeed, or counts as a failure.
 * Failure: Each failure gives the healer a cumulative -10 penalty to try to heal this particular patient. The penalty disappears the next day.


 * Severe Bleeding: Treat anywhere. Requires the use of a Healer’s Kit or a dose of clotting herbs. Succeed at a Challenging (-10) Healer Roll to Treat Severe Bleeding. Treated characters must rest for a full day (or have a dose of clotting herbs applied) before they start recovering HP but can otherwise continue their adventure.
 * Partial Success: If not Weary, patient becomes Weary and counts as a success. If already Weary, count as failure.
 * Failure: The blood loss is temporarily stopped, but the wound isn’t Treated. HP loss will resume as soon as the patient enters combat or performs any strenuous activity. If in a safe environment, you can try again. If not, the patient must either find another way to heal or be treated by a more skilled healer.


 * Exsanguination: Treat only in a safe environment (requiring the party to set up Camp or find a Safe Haven). Requires the use of a Healer’s Kit or a dose of clotting herbs. Succeed at a Very Hard (-30) Healer Roll to Treat Exsanguination. Treated characters must rest for a full day before they start recovering HP (or have a dose of clotting herbs applied) but can otherwise continue their adventure.
 * Partial Success: If not Weary, patient becomes Weary and counts as a success. If already Weary, count as failure.
 * Failure: The blood loss is temporarily stopped, but the wound isn’t Treated. HP loss will resume as soon as the patient enters combat or performs any strenuous activity. You cannot try again (until you level up): the patient must either find another way to heal or be treated by a more skilled healer.

Allow me to remind you of the Taking the Time rule (p121), allowing the GM to provide a bonus to any Skill Roll when there is no hurry or particular stress involved. In this case, put simply: Outside combat, you gain +20 to any Healing Skill Roll. (Aggravating circumstances like inclement weather can still add penalties, of course, but this does not prevent you from getting +20 for taking your time)

Injuries
Each Injury must be recorded and healed separately, but the penalties they inflict stack.

Each Injury is categorized into one of three severities:
 * Minor Injury (penalty up to -20)
 * Serious Injury (penalty -21 to -50)
 * Crippling Injury (penalty above -50)

If your total penalty is above -100 you fall unconscious, becoming Incapacitated.

Treating Injuries
All injuries heal in parallel. While you have untreated Bleeding, however, Injuries cannot recover at all.

Injured characters can travel or engage in similarly light activities and still recover, but each time you enter combat or perform any strenuous activity you must succeed at a Toughness Save Roll. The base difficulty is only 50, but you must add your total penalty to this. Failure means that day does not count for purposes of recovery.

Example: You suffer from two Minor injuries. One gives a -5 penalty, the other a -20 penalty. If you're forced to fight that day, make a Toughness Save Roll after the fight ends. The difficulty is 50 + 5 + 20 = 75. Success and the day counts as recovery for both wounds; failure and the day doesn't count at all. Later that day, you're ambushed, and you have to run away hard. This forces a new Toughness Save Roll. Not that the day only counts for recovery purposes if you succeed at both Save Rolls.

A dose of mending herbs applied to a recovering Injury makes that day count as two days. If you enter combat or perform any strenuous activity and fail the TSR, the mending herbs still makes the day count as one day of recovery.


 * Each Minor Injury will heal by itself after three days of light activity. By making a Challenging (-10) Healer Skill roll and spending a use of Healer's Kit, one Minor Injury heals after one day.
 * Partial Success: The injury becomes Lingering and now heals after four days.
 * Failure: This injury cannot be helped further.


 * Each Serious Injury requires a Hard (-20) Healer Skill roll and spending a use of Healer's Kit, for the Injury to start recovering. It will turn into a Minor Injury (reducing its penalty to -20) in ten days of light activity.
 * Partial Success: The injury does start to recover but becomes Lingering and will turn into a Minor Injury in fifteen days.
 * Failure: You cannot try again (until you level up): the patient must either find another way to heal or be treated by a more skilled healer.


 * Each Crippling Injury requires an Extremely Hard (-40) Healer Skill roll and spending a use of Healer's Kit, for the Injury to start recovering. It will turn into a Serious Injury (reducing its penalty to -50) in twenty days of light activity.
 * Partial Success: The injury does start to recover but becomes Lingering and will turn into a Serious Injury in thirty days.
 * Failure: You cannot try again (until you level up): the patient must either find another way to heal or be treated by a more skilled healer.

A mending herb can be spent to provide a character an attempt to turn a Lingering Injury back into a normal one of the same severity by making a Challenging (-10) Healer Skill Roll.