X-Com: Gray Dawn Damage Application

Damage Application

Hit Location Damage Multipliers

In CP2020 combat can be pretty instantaneously deadly, which is often very much in-line with reality. However, in CP2020, highly effective armor (that covers all areas of the body) is rather ubiquitous. To prevent half the players from creating new characters after every battle (or littering the game world with retired PC amputees), damage to limbs is halved (rounding down, minimum of 1 point), after the BTM is subtracted. An 8-point hit to a limb against a target with BTM -2 would cause 3 hits (8-2=6; 6/2=3). Damage from AP rounds is not halved again.

Damage Types

Minor Wounds

Any injury that results in only a single point of damage is considered a minor wound. These marks on the wound track should be made differently than other wounds, perhaps with a reversed hash mark or single hash instead of an "X" in the boxes of the wound track). These are generally dings, bruises, scrapes and minor cuts. Some perks deal with these wounds differently, and 1-point wounds will heal much faster; so long as the character is not in "mortal" condition, up to four 1-point wounds will be "healed" within approximately one day of game time. The injuries may still be there, but they will cease to hinder the character.

Stun Damage

Some weapons/attacks will deal Stun Damage. This type of injury represents pain, soreness or some other kind of incapacitating force that does not leave lasting physical trauma to the victim. Blunt force trauma from things like clubs and most unarmed attacks is half real/half stun (round in favor of stun damage). Stun damage represents pain, soreness and shock. It will affect the character for the purpose of making stun and death saves, but stun damage heals quickly, at a rate of 1 point/hour. If a character fails a stun save from stun damage, they lose their current/next action, just as from receiving a normal wound. A character failing a death save from stun damage is knocked unconscious, and has a chance to recover (by making another death save) once every minute.

Crippling Damage

If a limb sustains 8 points of damage (after BTM) in a single attack, it is considered crippled (or blown off/severed, depending on the type of attack), but only a maximum of 8 points will be applied to the wound track. If a limb is crippled this way, the target must make a death save to avoid succumbing to blood loss/shock even if they are not in mortal condition (i.e., if an uninjured character gets his arm blown off, he must make a death save at -0, even though he only has 8 points on the wound track (a serious wound state). A crippled limb will require stabilization, but this can be accomplished with the first aid skill and does not require the doctor skill. If the wound is not stabilized, death saves will need to be made every minute until it is.

Damage to the head is doubled on the wound track (a 2-point wound to the head would result in 4 points on the wound track). Doubling occurs after BTM is subtracted. If the head sustains 8 or more points of damage in a single attack and is crippled, this is considered an instantaneously fatal wound. The target fails a death save, and will expire without stabilization.

To determine the extent of crippling damage, the victim must make a stat roll. Use the victim's Body+Luck+1d10 vs. the post-BTM damage to the limb/head. If this check is failed, the limb/head is considered severed/destroyed. If this check succeeds, the limb/head is still crippled and unusable, but the nature of the damage is less; a limb will have one or more broken bones that will eventually need to be set and immobilized. A crippled head may result in a cracked skull, broken jaw, damaged eyes/ears, etc. A failed death save from a severed arm or leg will result in the victim dying through shock or blood loss. A victim with a crippled head may be stabilized and revived; a severed or "destroyed" head will, of course, result in instantaneous, unpreventable death.

Stun damage wounds that cause more than 8 points of damage in a single attack might (at the Ref's discretion) have certain special effects such as torn/pulled muscles, sprained joints, concussion, extended stun time, unconsciousness or temporary blindness/deafness.

The torso cannot be crippled in the same manner as the extremities, but wounds to the torso do not top out at 8 points on the wound track; if you suffer a 20-point chest wound, you tick off 20 boxes on the wound track (which would put the target well into mortal condition).

Explosion Damage

Damage from weapons such as grenades is considered Explosion damage. Almost any weapon that has an area of effect (AoE) is considered to inflict this kind of damage. Since an explosion can easily engulf the victim's entire body, armor may not fully protect the target. Damage from an explosion is applied to the target's torso armor, but even if this is enough to stop the attack, unprotected body parts will allow wounds to be inflicted. Each extremity (head/arms/legs) that is protected by at least 8 SP of armor (or level/2+ cover) will increase the target's torso armor SP by 1. Each unprotected limb (<8 SP) will cause two points of damage (four for the head) to the wound track, even if the torso armor stops the blast damage. Example, a standard frag grenade would cause (rounding down) an average of 24 damage. If the target is wearing only an SP 14 vest, 14 points of damage would be stopped, resulting in a 10-point wound. Because no other body locations were covered, another 12-point wound would be incurred. BTM would apply to each wound separately. In the previous example, if the target was also wearing an SP 20 helmet, the secondary wound would only be 8 points instead of 12, and the main blast would only cause 9 damage because the effective SP of the armor was increased by one (one extremity was protected. If the target was also behind cover that protected the legs, the damage would be further reduced to 7 from the main blast (SP 14+3 extremities covered=SP 17), and an additional 4-point wound (2 points each for the exposed arms).