Unless a character has an applicable Asset, drawing a weapon is an action. For those without weapons at the ready, drawing and firing
imposes a multiple action penalty.
Explosions
Grenades, missiles, mining charges, ordnance, ships—lots of things go boom.
Best to be as far away as possible.
Explosions or explosive weapons list a number of damage dice (explosives don’t cause initial damage, unless you get conked in the head with one) and a blast increment. Anyone within one blast increment
C h a p t e r F o u r
suffers the full damage rolled. Those beyond one increment and within two increments take one less die (the one with the highest roll) in damage. Keep moving out one blast increment at a time, always removing the die with the highest result, until no more dice are left.
If circumstances create a damage step bonus or penalty in an explosive attack, the damage die is affected, not the number of dice rolled.
The truly heroic and truly insane sacrifice themselves for their comrades. Diving on a small explosive, like a grenade, removes the highest die from the damage. That only applies to others. The hero suffers full damage.
Crewmembers on Galactica’s flight deck are caught in an explosion resulting from poor maintenance on a missile. The GM decides that the damage is 5d6 Wound, and the blast increment is 15 feet. He rolls the dice; they come up 5, 4, 4, 2, 1, for a total of 16 Wound damage.
The unlucky bastards within 15 feet of the explosion are most likely killed outright. Those between 15 and 30 feet suffer slightly reduced damage. The GM removes the die that rolled a 5, leaving 11 Wound damage. Those between 30 and 45 feet take only 7 Wound; one of the 4 result dice are dropped.
Restraints
There’s a reason prisoners are bound, handcuffed, or otherwise restrained. A target that can’t move is an Easy (3) Difficulty to hit. If your character’s hands are bound, he suffers a —2 Skill step to attack rolls made with pistols and close combat weapons. He can’t use any form of rifle, and is extremely limited in terms of non-combat actions—the Game Master should exercise common sense here.
Escaping from restraints depends entirely on the binding—handcuffs, for example, must almost alway be broken, opened with a key, or picked. Your character might wriggle out of a binding with an Agility + Athletics/Escape Artist roll against a Difficulty set by the competence of the person doing the binding (GM discretion, but usually Hard or Formidable).
Injury
So you got tagged. That happens in combat. Suck it up and get your butt to the medic. He’ll patch you up—as soon as he does, get back to work. Job’s still
gotta get done, right? No time for goldbricking.
Every character has a certain number of Life Points based upon Vitality, Willpower, and certain Traits. Damage is subtracted from Life
Points. When the total damage taken, regardless of type, is greater than your character’s Life Point total, he probably drops unconscious. When total Wound damage exceeds Life Points, he is dying.
d a m a G e T y P e s
Damage comes in two forms: Stun and Wounds. A third type, Basic, combines the two.
Stun
Stun damage represents light injuries—bruising, scrapes, fatigue, shallow cuts, and so on. Stun damage is recovered quickly, and at worst results in nothing more than unconsciousness.
Stun damage can exceed Life Points. If your character remains conscious, the extra damage simply accumulates and is recovered normally.
Shock Points: If an unconscious character receives Stun damage, it is recorded as Shock Points. If Shock Points rise above your character’s maximum Life Points, he falls into a coma.
Wound
Wound damage is much more dangerous than Stun damage. Broken bones, punctured organs, internal bleeding, and anything else that could eventually result in death are considered Wound damage. That kind of hurt causes intense pain; wounded character suffer penalties. When Wound damage gets high enough, the character risks death.
Basic
Initial damage—imposed when subtracting the Difficulty from an attack roll result—is almost always Basic type. Basic damage is divided between Stun and Wound types, favoring Stun with any excess. For example, if your character takes five points of Basic damage, he suffers three Stun and two Wound.
e x T r a o r d i n a r y s u CC e s s & d a m a G e
Injuries are always a problem, but some are a damn sight worse than others. A bullet might put a hole in you, but if it pierces a lung or a kidney you’re seriously screwed. A club could leave some nasty bruises, or you could wind up with a concussion. That’s how Extraordinary Success works with damage.
If an attack results in an Extraordinary Success, the victim must make an Average (7) Endurance (Vitality + Willpower) roll. A failed roll imposes the following additional damage (based on the weapon’s damage type, if any):
R ules
Stun
The character falls unconscious immediately, taking a number of Shock Points equal to the Stun damage inflicted during the attack. (Even if he doesn’t have enough Stun to put him out!)
Wounds
The character suffers a serious injury. Without successful treatment, the character is bleeding, and suffers an additional d2 Basic damage every ten minutes, and every turn that he performs strenuous activity.
Basic
The character suffers a debilitating injury, either a broken limb (which is useless until treated), or being rendered blind, deaf, immobile, or under some similar condition. The exact nature of the injury is determined by the GM, depending on the situation.
f a l l o u T
Getting hurt messes you up. Here’re the specifics.
Damage Penalties: Wound damage causes serious pain. When your character has accumulated half his Life Point total (rounded down) in Wound damage, he suffers a —2 Attribute step to all actions until he recovers or is treated thoroughly enough to stop the pain (at the GM’s discretion—some injuries may not be treatable in this way).
Passing Out: When your character’s damage, regardless of type, is greater than his Life Points, he risks falling unconscious. Roll Endurance (Vitality + Willpower) against an Average (7) Difficulty. Success keeps him on his feet—or at least awake. Every turn thereafter, the character repeats the roll with a cumulative +4 to Difficulty each time.
Starbuck, stranded on Caprica, takes a bullet in the gut in a Cylon ambush. She suffers some Wound damage, and that hurts like hell. The immediate problem is the additional Stun damage, which puts her total damage over her Life Points. Starbuck has to make an Average (7) Resistance roll to stay conscious; she rolls a 9 and keeps her feet this turn. She spends a moment assessing the damage—it doesn’t look good. The next turn, she must make a Hard (11) Vitality + Vitality roll to stay conscious. This time, she rolls a 10 and blacks out, collapsing to the ground.
Dying: When your character suffers Wound damage greater than or equal to his Life Points, roll Endurance (Vitality + Willpower) every minute to stay
alive. The first time, the Difficulty is Easy (3), but it increases by 4 each minute. Once the character succeeds, no further rolls need be made, unless he is injured again.
A dying character can be treated with a Hard (11) Alertness + Medical Expertise/First Aid roll. This increases the time between Endurance rolls to one hour. A Hard (11) Alertness + Medical Expertise/
Surgery roll, or a Formidable (15) First Aid roll stabilizes the wounded without further rolling.
If Wounds exceed double a character’s maximum Life Points, he dies immediately—most likely in an extremely brutal fashion.
o T h e r i n j u r y
Getting shot, stabbed, broken, or beaten is bad enough, but that’s not the only way to get hurt.
Drugs & Poison: Alcohol, drugs, and poisons can cause a variety of effects, but they are all fought off with a Resistance (Vitality + Vitality) roll. The exact Difficulty and effects are up to the Game Master. As a guideline, the downside of heavy drinking starts as a Hard (11) Difficulty and gets worse as the character drinks more. A rare poison that causes unconsciousness and, later, death if left untreated might be Formidable (15) to resist.
Environmental: This includes all damage caused by (non-instantly fatal) extremes of temperature.
Every hour of exposure without adequate protection causes d2 Stun damage. GMs may also impose frostbite, heatstroke, and similar risks if they wish.
Falling: Dropping more than a few feet can cause damage. The falling character must roll Agility + Athletics/Gymnastics to avoid damage. The Difficulty is Easy (3) if the fall is 10 feet or less. The Difficulty increases by +4 for each 10 feet beyond that. If the damage is not avoided, the fall is treated as an attack with a roll result equal to its Difficulty. Damage is Basic type.
Sharon falls from the top of a ruined building when the roof gives way beneath her feet. She drops 30 feet.
She makes a Hard (11) Agility + Athletics/Gymnastics roll. If her player rolls a 7, she takes damage, perhaps a severely sprained ankle. Treating the Difficulty as an attack roll result, Sharon subtracts her “defense”
roll (7) and the damage is 4. As Basic damage, Sharon suffers 2 Wound and 2 Stun.
Agility penalties from armor almost always apply to falling. Armor Rating almost never protects the character.
C h a p t e r F o u r
Fire: Burns are Wound damage caused by heat or fire. They heal at half the normal rate and often leave disfiguring scars.
Illness: Character fight off disease through Resistance (Vitality + Vitality) rolls. The Difficulty and effects depend upon the disease. Illness effect could range from a —1 Attribute step to all actions for a minor cold, to almost certain death.
Radiation: Exposure to harmful radiation causes damage—first Stun, and then Wound. Like burn damage, radiation injury is difficult to treat. Stun does not begin to recover until the character receives proper medical treatment; Wound damage takes twice as long to heal.
When exposure begins, the GM determines a time increment—1 day for light radiation, 1 minute for heavy radiation, or even one turn in extreme cases. Exposed character suffer d2 Stun damage each increment. When Stun reaches a character’s maximum Life Points, he begins to suffer d2 Wound damage each increment. Radiation injury can be prevented with proper precautions, such as inoculations or radiation-proof haz-mat suits. These measures increase the time increment, or the character is rendered immune to the radiation.
Suffocating: Humans, skinjobs, and other living creatures need to breathe. When prepared, a character can hold his breath for 30 seconds with an Easy (3) Resistance (Vitality + Vitality) roll. Each 30 seconds beyond that, the Difficulty increases by 4. Once the character fails a roll, he begins to suffer d2 Stun damage every turn. Once the character has passed out, suffocation causes d2 Shock Points and d2 Wound damage every turn.
If unable to prepare by drawing a quick breath, a suffocating character’s Resistance roll Difficulty starts at Hard (11).
C o n d i T i o n s
Being banged up or wounded is a problem, but it doesn’t exhaust a character’s problems. A variety of conditions make life a bear.
Bleeding: Bleeding characters take d2 Basic damage every turn that they perform strenuous activity. Even if they lay still and breath easy, they suffer the same damage every 10 minutes.
Fatigued: Characters who stay awake longer than 24 hours suffer penalties from fatigue. Every eight hours they remain awake past 24 causes two Stun damage. As fatigue poisons drain their strength, they also suffer a —1 Attribute step for every 24 extra hours they remain awake. If any Attribute
is reduced to less than d2 this way, the character passes out.
Combat causes exhausting adrenaline rushes and often involves strenuous activity. Your GM may rule that every half hour of battle-readiness, combat, or similar activity counts as being awake for eight hours for fatigue purposes.
Fatigue penalties can be staved off by napping.
Sleeping for 10 to 30 minutes removes a number of
“awake” hours equal to the result of a Willpower roll.
Resting an hour or two removes a number of “awake”
hours equal to the result of a Willpower + Discipline/
Specialty roll. A character can gain napping benefits once every 12 hours.
A full night’s rest (8-12 hours) zeros out “awake”
hours and removes all fatigue damage and penalties.
Fatigue damage and penalties can be temporarily alleviated by stims or other amphetamines.
Intoxicated: Drugged characters are affected in various ways based on the drug in their system. Being drunk imposes 4 Stun that clears up only after sobering up. Drunk characters also suffer a —2 Attribute step.
Stunned: Stunned characters cannot perform actions. They defend themselves with innate defense, if at all.