Grisly Injuries

Grisly Injuries These optional rules for 4th edition should make the consequences of going into battle a little more dire. Using this system, even if you come out on top, there could be a few lingering effects afterward; a day in the life of an adventurer. In these new rules, a new status effect is introduced called simply injuries. Injuries are granted to a character when they drop to 0 hp or below. Injuries work almost like diseases: they go through different phases of how their injury affects them. An orc might’ve torn a huge gash in a warrior’s leg, but it’s not going to get better immediately. The wound may be treated and dressed, but moving around with it is still going to cause some pain.

Being Injured An injury takes its effect immediately after a character has dropped to 0 hp or below. When this happens, the character starts at the beginning stages of the injury track according to the narra-

tive description of the attack or is rolled randomly using a chart detailed later on in the article. The character is under the effects of whichever stage he or she is currently on. When a character progresses up or down the injury track, they take the new effects of the injury. In other words, progression (or even regression) on the track supersedes the original effect--effects do not stack unless they come from different sources. A character cannot be injured in the same place twice.

Healing Injuries After a character has been injured, they can be healed in a few different ways. Primarily, they can be healed either by themselves or by other allies using the Heal skill. Healing an injury can be done during a short rest--injuries need more time and precision to be healed, something a combat situation just does not offer. During a short rest, a character can use a Heal check (with only one other ally’s help in the form of aid another) to beat an injury’s Improve DC. If the improve DC is not beaten, then the injured character does not advance nor go down a stage. They just stay where they are. Typically, a heal check against an Injury can be made only one time per hour. Another form of healing an injury is

just to take an extended rest. Taking an extended rest cures a character from injuries, erasing it from his condition. Lastly, a character may use the gusto of being a hero and prevail against the odds, ignoring the brutal wound he might have acquired during the course of battle. If an injured character spends an action point and uses that extra standard action to spend his second wind, he may ignore the effects of his injury, no matter the stage, for the rest of the encounter. After the encounter is over, the injury’s effect take hold again as normal.

Injuring body parts Only certain body parts can be injured to have a real effect on adventurers. They are the head, the torso, the arms, and the legs. With new races come new body parts that could be damaged (such as dragonborne with the scion of Arkhosia paragon path or the ashemi who would both be very susceptible to damaged wings), but for simplicity’s sake, we’ll worry about the body parts that everyone has.

Head When the head is damaged in battle, vision could go fuzzy. Short term memory loss is totally possible depending on the blow. When the head is damaged in this way, the injured character doesn’t have a tight grasp on what’s going on around him, thus preventing him from taking opportunity attacks. Long term effects can include short term memory loss, the need for visual aids, and a general uneasy feeling.

Torso When the torso is wounded, either through a large gash on the chest or a stab in the gut, breathing becomes harder and everything is a strain on the body. Torso injury can lead to bleeding out. In some cases, the pain can be utterly paralyzing. Long term effects can include nausea or internal pain.

ArMS An injury to the arms can hinder a character’s abilitiy to wield certain weapons and shields in battle. Additionally, they can take penalties to attacks due to the injury their arm has. Long term effects could include a stiffness in limbs.

Legs An injured leg can lead to strained movement, hampering a character’s ability to move efficiently through the battlefield. A character with a wounded leg could become a liability in chase scenes or retreating. Long term effects of an injured leg could be a limp or stiffness in limbs.

Injury Tracks Arm Injury Ending Stage: The character is no longer injured.

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Heal DC 13 + half level

The injured character can wield two-handed weapons, use off-hand weapons/ ◄ implements, and use shields. They take a -1 penalty to attack rolls.

Head Injury Ending Stage: The character is no longer injured.

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The injured character can make opportunity attacks normally. He cannot target ◄ creatures from 5 squares away.

Leg Injury Ending Stage: The character is no longer injured.

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Torso Injury Ending Stage: The character is no longer injured.

The injured character cannot move their full speed. They can shift as normal.

Heal DC 15 + half level Starting Stage: The injured character must make a saving throw before he can make an opportunity attack. Creatures more than 3 squares away have concealment. Creatures more than 5 squares away have total concealment. Heal DC 13 + half level

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Starting Stage: The injured character cannot wield two-handed weapons, wield off-hand weapons/ implements or gain benefit from a shield. They take a -2 penalty to attack rolls.

The injured character loses a healing surge every two hours. ◄

Starting Stage: The injured character is slowed. Additionally, they cannot shift. Heal DC 15 + half level Starting Stage: The injured character loses one healing surge every hour. Additionally, the target must make a saving throw or be immobilized until the end of their next turn.

When a character falls below 0 hp... 01-25% 26-50% 51-70% 71-90% 91-00%

The character sustains no real injury. The character’s torso is injured. The character’s arm is injured. The character’s leg is injured. The character’s head is injured.

Remember... be INVENTIVE with botched Heal checks. ;) Written by CJ Lewis ([email protected])