Health and Injury

Below are the rules for dealing with a Characters Health in and out of Combat. The rules explain what Hit Dice or HD are and how they represent hit points within combat.

Health

Hit Dice

A characters Hit Dice or HD is the dice type associated with a Character's Base Class. The normal hit dice examples are d6, d8 and d10 dice. The dice represents the potential hit points of a Character. Each time a Character levels up they get another Hit Dice worth of Hit Points. So at level two a Strong Base Hero would have 2 Hit Dice or "2d8 of HD". The Hit points are tallied this way because if provides flexibility with the rules in both giving a Character more total Hit Points as well as healing. For example alternate rules for character advancement states that when levelling a Player must role his Characters Base Hero Hit Dice to determine how many new Hit Points there is. The default rule is to provide the maximum health.

Hit Points

Hit Points is what most people commonly think of when they think of a Character's health. Hit Points are removed when a Character takes damage in combat and are used to measure how hard a character is to kill. Hit points mean two things in the game world: the ability to take physical punishment and keep going, and the ability to turn a serious blow into a less serious one.

Editing Character Sheet: The Player can record the Character Hit Points on the Future Path Character Sheet. It is located just under the "Future Path" to the right or right under the 'Species' section. Also inbetween the "STR" and "SPEED" section. You will notice that there is a "Total" box and "DR" box. DR will be explained further later. Below the Total and DR section there is a "Wound/Current HP" and below that is "NonLethal Dmage" boxes. These boxes are there to make it easier to record combat damage.

Temporary Hit Points

Certain effects can give a character temporary hit points. When a character gains temporary hit points, make a note of his or her current hit points before adding the temporary hit points. When the temporary hit points go away, the character’s hit points drop to that score. If the character’s hit points are already below that score at that time, all the temporary hit points have already been lost, and the character’s hit point total does not drop. When temporary hit points are lost, they can’t be restored as real hit points can be, even with medical treatment or magic.

Constitution Bonus Hit Points

An increase in a character’s Constitution score—even a temporary one—can give the character more hit points (an effective hit point increase), but these are not temporary hit points. They can be restored through normal healing. When a character’s Constitution drops back down to its previous score after a temporary increase, the character’s full normal hit points go down accordingly.

Death

Zero Hit Points

Once a Character reaches 0 hit points they are considered unconscious, unstable, helpless and dying. (Helpless status is inferred because the Character is unconscious. I will not mention again here. Assume that if the player is not longer unconscious they are no longer helpless) Another Character will need to assist the dying Character by attempting to stabilize them. This requires a Treat Injury Skill check of DC15 and a full round action.

If successful the dying Character now has 1 HP (Hit Point) and is no longer unstable or dying. However they are still unconscious. After 1 hour and ever hour after the Character can attempt to make a CON check of DC10 to regain conscious. After 8 hours they can wake up without a check with one day worth of natural healing.

If the Character who is trying to stabilize the unconscious Character failures however different things may happen. If the failure is a Natural 1 the unconscious Character receives 1d4 of CON damage. If the failure is above 10 then the Character isn’t stabilized but doesn't suffer dying penalties for one round.

Unstable and Dying

A Character cannot have negative hit points. Instead the Character semi-permanently losses his or hers Constitution score. Once a Character has Zero Constitution they die. Constitution points are not restored by health kits or healing armour. Treat Injury cannot be used to heal Ability damage while in combat or while a Character is unstable. A Character losses 1 Con ever turn they are unconscious. Any further physical damage given by weapons go directly too Constitution as if Constitution where Hit Points. Keep in mind that any DR still counts. And now the Characters Con Modifier acts as a Total DR again any type of damage. However the Characters Constitution Modifier goes down with the Characters Con Score. If a Character is made stable again the Character's new Con score stays with them including the modifier that goes with it. This then applies with any ability or skill check or any Technique or chemical/poison. This counts as semi-permanent ability damage.

If the blow that brings a Character down to zero hits with more then enough damage the the left over damage goes directly to Constitution. However when doing so it first must go through the Character's Con Modifier as DR.

To read up more on what Agility Damage can mean for a Character please go here

Death

Once a Player hits Zero Constitution they are considered dead. This doesn't mean they are permanently dead. Advanced civilizations have different ways of cheating death. A Character can be brought back to life through the means of powerful futuristic science! There are 2 main different forums of bring a person 'back from the dead'.

1. Rejuvenate the body. (Usually this requires that the majority of the body is still intact)
   1. This can be done using advance biology and chemistry taking what is left of the original body and reviving it to a new condition.
   2. Replace the badly damage parts with new ones. Usually this means being part machine, a cyborg. However this could also mean taking other biological samples from different 'donors'.
2. Transfer the mind into a new body. (Usually this requires that just the mind is intact and not too damaged)
   1. Physical transplant the brain into a new body.
   2. Using advance technology download the mind and its thought patterns/memories into a computer that can then be uploaded to another body.
   3. Using Psionics to transfer ones consciousness to another body
3. Lastly any other Sci-Fy sounding way that the GM (and group) are ok with excepting.

Each of these have there advantages and disadvantages.

For any of the rejuvenation techniques The disadvantages are Time,(time and rest where the body is in a medically indued comma) A mostly intact body, (The Character's body most not have died in such a way where the majority of it would be missing), and lastly the body most not have started decomposition. It would of needed to been placed in some form of status within 4 hours of death. Rejuvenation is a Tech Level 2 skill. Higher tech levels can do it with better results.

• Minimal Cost: $1,000,000 x Character Level.
• Procure Diff 4

For any of the Transfer of Mind into new body the disadvantages are Stats, (Any stats related uniquely to the previous body no longer count unless it was cloned, which would be more expensive). Distance, (If the Character's brain has to be activity connected in order for full memory download then it may not work if the Character is out of range. The range would max out beyond a planet's med to high orbit.) Mind Transfer is a Tech Level 3 skill. Higher tech level can do it with better results.

• Minimal Cost: $10,000,000 x Character Level.
• Procure Diff 4

Healing

Please review the Treat Injury skill for more information.

Natural Healing

If a Character is stable and not dying (Has at least 1 hit point) then they can slowly heal themselves over time. For every day of 8 hours of rest the Player can roll the Hit Die of the Character's Hero Base Class and regain that amount of health. If the Character has multi base classes then choose the one with the largest Hit Die. If the Character does a full day of bed rest (The Character doesn't leave the bed all day except to do the necessary) then the Player can roll 2HD and add the total to the Hit Points.

Treat Injury Skill for Hit Points

However to summarize Treat Injury can be used to improve Natural Healing. The action cannot be done in combat and has a DC20. If successful the Player can roll twice and take the highest. If the Character is assisting in a full day of bed rest then the action takes a full day and the Player can roll 4 times and take the two highest. A Player cannot use Treat Injury on oneself. In any situation an Natural 20 allows max possible hit points recovered.

Ability Healing

24 hours after the Ability damage was dealt a Character can start healing naturally. (This doesn't include the Treat Injury Skill). Every day where the Character gains at least 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep the Character gains 1 point back in all damaged Abilities.

Treat Injury Skill for Ability

Another Character can help by using the Treat Injury skill to assist in improving the healing of an Ability score. This action cannot be done in combat and has a DC20. The action can only be done once per 24 hours which includes rest. If successful the Character regains a +1 in as much as 3 different Ability scores. If a critical success (Natural 20) is rolled the Character gains a +3 in as much as 3 different Ability scores.

Med-packs and other Items

Please review Medical Equipment for more information on items that can help in both the Treat Injury skill but also while in combat.

Old Rules

Injury and Death

Hit points measure how hard a character is to kill. Hit points mean two things in the game world: the ability to take physical punishment and keep going, and the ability to turn a serious blow into a less serious one.

Effects of Hit Point Damage

At 0 hit points, a character is disabled. At from –1 to –9 hit points, a character is dying. At –10 or lower, a character is dead.

Massive Damage

Any time a character takes damage from a single hit that exceeds the character’s massive damage threshold, that damage is considered massive damage. A character’s massive damage threshold is equal to the character’s current Constitution score; it can be increased by taking the Improved Damage Threshold feat. When a character takes massive damage that doesn’t reduce his or her hit points to 0 or lower, the character must make a Fortitude save (DC 15). If the character fails the save, the character’s hit point total is immediately reduced to –1. If the save succeeds, the character suffers no ill effect beyond the loss of hit points. Creatures immune to critical hits are also immune to the effects of massive damage.

Nonlethal Damage

Nonlethal damage is dealt by unarmed attackers and some weapons. Melee weapons that deal lethal damage can be wielded so as to deal nonlethal damage, but the attacker takes a –4 penalty on attack rolls for trying to deal nonlethal damage instead of lethal damage. A ranged weapon that deals lethal damage can’t be made to deal nonlethal damage (unless it is used as an improvised melee weapon). Nonlethal damage does not affect the target’s hit points. Instead, compare the amount of nonlethal damage from an attack to the target’s massive damage threshold. If the amount is less than the target’s massive damage threshold, the target is unaffected by the attack. If the damage equals or exceeds the target’s massive damage threshold, the target must make a Fortitude save (DC 15). If the target succeeds on the save, the target is dazed for 1 round. If the target fails, he or she is knocked unconscious for 1d4+1 rounds.

Disabled (0 Hit Points)

When a character’s current hit points drop to exactly 0, the character is disabled. The character is not unconscious, but he or she is close to it. The character can only take a single move or attack action each turn (but not both, nor can the character take full-round actions). The character can take nonstrenuous move actions without further injuring his or herself, but if the character attacks or perform any other action the GM deems as strenuous, the character takes 1 point of damage after completing the act. Unless the activity increased the character’s hit points, the character is now at –1 hit points, and is dying. Healing that raises the character above 0 hit points makes him or her fully functional again, just as if the character had never been reduced to 0 or lower. A character can also become disabled when recovering from dying. In this case, it’s a step up along the road to recovery, and the character can have fewer than 0 hit points (see Stable Characters and Recovery).

Dying (–1 to –9 Hit Points)

When a character’s current hit points drop below 0, the character is dying. A dying character has a current hit point total between –1 and –9 inclusive. A dying character immediately falls unconscious and can take no actions. A dying character loses 1 hit point every round. This continues until the character dies or becomes stable naturally or with help (see below). Dead (–10 hit points or lower) When a character’s current hit points drop to –10 or lower, he or she is dead. A character can also die if his or her Constitution is reduced to 0.

Stable Characters and Recovery

A dying character (one with –1 to –9 hit points) is un­conscious and loses 1 hit point every round until he or she becomes stable or dies.

Recovering without Help

Each round, a dying character makes a Fortitude saving throw (DC 20). If the save fails, the character loses 1 hit point and must make another save on his or her turn the next round. If the save succeeds, the character becomes stable. A stable character stops losing hit points every round, but remains unconscious. If no one tends to the stable character (see below), he or she remains unconscious for 1 hour, at which point he or she makes a Fortitude save (DC 20). If the save succeeds, the stable character regains consciousness, becoming disabled (see above). The character’s current hit point total remains where it is, however, even though it’s negative. If the save fails, the character remains unconscious. An unaided stable, conscious character who has negative hit points (and is disabled) doesn’t heal naturally. Instead, each day the character makes a Fortitude save (DC 20) to start recovering hit points naturally that day; if the save fails, he or she loses 1 hit point. Once an unaided character starts recovering hit points naturally, the character is no longer in danger of losing additional hit points (even if his or her current hit point total is still negative).

Recovering with Help

A dying character can be made stable by the use of the Treat Injury skill (DC 15). One hour after a tended, dying character becomes stable, he or she makes a Fortitude save (DC 20) to regain consciousness. If successful, the character becomes disabled (see above). If the character remains unconscious, he or she makes the same Fortitude save every hour until he or she becomes conscious. Even while unconscious, the character recovers hit points naturally, and he or she can return to normal activity when his or her hit points rise to 1 or higher.

Healing

After taking damage, a character can recover hit points through natural healing (over the course of days) or through medical technology (somewhat faster). In some campaign settings, magical healing is also available. In any case, a character can’t regain hit points past his or her full normal total.

Natural Healing

A character recovers 1 hit point per character level per evening of rest (8 hours of sleep). A character undergoing complete bed rest (doing nothing for an entire day) recovers 2 hit points per character level.

Healing Ability Damage

Ability damage returns at the rate of 1 point per evening of rest (8 hours of sleep). Complete bed rest (24 hours) restores 2 points per day.

Temporary Hit Points

Certain effects can give a character temporary hit points. When a character gains temporary hit points, make a note of his or her current hit points before adding the temporary hit points. When the temporary hit points go away, the character’s hit points drop to that score. If the character’s hit points are already below that score at that time, all the temporary hit points have already been lost, and the character’s hit point total does not drop. When temporary hit points are lost, they can’t be restored as real hit points can be, even with medical treatment or magic.

Increases in Constitution Score and Current Hit Points

An increase in a character’s Constitution score—even a temporary one—can give the character more hit points (an effective hit point increase), but these are not temporary hit points. They can be restored through normal healing. When a character’s Constitution drops back down to its previous score after a temporary increase, the character’s full normal hit points go down accordingly.