A person can sustain injury to a body part (head, torso, arms, legs, tail, etc) which will cause problems over time and eventually destroy that body part. The number of ranks of injury a character can sustain to any body part is equal to ten percent (rounded down) of their maximum Fortitude. Thus, a character with 75 Fortitude can take 7 ranks of injury to a body part before it is destroyed.
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Crippling Injuries
As a body part receives cumulative injury, it will cause any actions that require that body part to be penalized based on how much damage is done to that body part. Thus, injury to the eye will cause problems with sight-based Focus rolls and aiming a gun, while injuries to the arm might hinder swinging a weapon or climbing a rope. The penalty is based on how injured the body part is from the max number of injury ranks it can sustain. Thus, if you have 80 Fortitude and can therefore sustain 8 ranks of damage, if the body part sustains 1 or 2 ranks of injury, you would receive a -1 penalty to all actions involving that body part. If you received 3 or 4 ranks of injury, you would receive a -2 penalty. If you received 5 or 6 ranks or injury, you would receive a -3 penalty. If you receive 7 or 8 ranks of injury, you would receive a -4 penalty, and on the eighth rank, that part of the body would be injured to the point of unusability and possibly severed or otherwise destroyed.
The following table will show how many injury ranks equal what penalty all the way up to having a Fortitude of 300.
| If Your Fortitude Is: | You can sustain this much injury | -1 penalty | -2 penalty | -3 penalty | -4 penalty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-19 | 1 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 1 rank |
| 20-29 | 2 | N/A | 1 rank | N/A | 2 ranks |
| 30-39 | 3 | 1 rank | 2 ranks | N/A | 3 ranks |
| 40-49 | 4 | 1 rank | 2 ranks | 3 ranks | 4 ranks |
| 50-59 | 5 | 2 ranks | 3 ranks | 4 ranks | 5 ranks |
| 60-69 | 6 | 2 ranks | 4 ranks | 5 ranks | 6 ranks |
| 70-79 | 7 | 2 ranks | 4 ranks | 6 ranks | 7 ranks |
| 80-89 | 8 | 2 ranks | 4 ranks | 6 ranks | 8 ranks |
| 90-99 | 9 | 3 ranks | 5 ranks | 7 ranks | 9 ranks |
| 100-109 | 10 | 3 ranks | 5 ranks | 8 ranks | 10 ranks |
| 110-119 | 11 | 3 ranks | 5 ranks | 9 ranks | 11 ranks |
| 120-129 | 12 | 3 ranks | 6 ranks | 9 ranks | 12 ranks |
| 130-139 | 13 | 3 ranks | 7 ranks | 10 ranks | 13 ranks |
| 140-149 | 14 | 3 ranks | 7 ranks | 10 ranks | 14 ranks |
| 150-159 | 15 | 3 ranks | 8 ranks | 11 ranks | 15 ranks |
| 160-169 | 16 | 4 ranks | 8 ranks | 12 ranks | 16 ranks |
| 170-179 | 17 | 4 ranks | 8 ranks | 13 ranks | 17 ranks |
| 180-189 | 18 | 4 ranks | 9 ranks | 13 ranks | 18 ranks |
| 190-199 | 19 | 4 ranks | 9 ranks | 14 ranks | 19 ranks |
| 200-209 | 20 | 5 ranks | 10 ranks | 15 ranks | 20 ranks |
| 210-219 | 21 | 5 ranks | 11 ranks | 16 ranks | 21 ranks |
| 220-229 | 22 | 5 ranks | 12 ranks | 17 ranks | 22 ranks |
| 230-239 | 23 | 5 ranks | 13 ranks | 18 ranks | 23 ranks |
| 240-249 | 24 | 6 ranks | 14 ranks | 19 ranks | 24 ranks |
| 250-259 | 25 | 6 ranks | 15 ranks | 20 ranks | 25 ranks |
| 260-269 | 26 | 6 ranks | 16 ranks | 21 ranks | 26 ranks |
| 270-279 | 27 | 6 ranks | 17 ranks | 22 ranks | 27 ranks |
| 280-289 | 28 | 7 ranks | 18 ranks | 23 ranks | 28 ranks |
| 290-299 | 29 | 7 ranks | 19 ranks | 24 ranks | 29 ranks |
| 300 | 30 | 7 ranks |
20 ranks |
25 ranks | 30 ranks |
Bleeding Out
If the character receives a wound which the GM believes will leave them bleeding out, then that character takes a number of Fortitude damage once per turn equal to the number of ranks of damage done to the injured part of the body. Thus if the character had 4 ranks of injury to his forearm and the GM decides this nicked his artery in his wrist, then that character would take 4 Fortitude damage every turn until someone was able to stop the bleeding.
Unconsciousness
A character will fall unconscious when their Fortitude reaches 0. During this time they will be completely helpless. A First Aid roll can give them back enough Fortitude to wake back up (1 Fortitude point per rank of success), but this is the only case in which Fortitude damage can be healed in this way.
Death
If enough damage is done to the back, head, chest, or stomach, the character will most likely die of their injuries. Also, reaching negative ten percent of your total Fortitude (-7 if your FOR is 70, for example) will be considered death. A good GM will try not to outright kill player characters, but sometimes it is unavoidable. The GM may choose to allow an 8-hour surgery performed in a back alley that will miraculously save the character's life. Remember, this game is supposed to be like playing a movie, and nobody likes when their favorite character gets killed off in the movies.
Stopped Heart
Some injuries, especially chest injuries or electrical injuries, can cause the heart to stop, essentially killing the character. A First Aid roll must be made (one per minute can be attempted) to try to revive them, but the only way is if the First Aid roll's success rank matches or beats the injury that caused the heart to stop. After five minutes, the character with a stopped heart will be considered to have died.
GM-Assigned Penalties
The GM may assign Disadvantages to a character who has been injured severely enough. For example, if a character has a leg that has reached Exceptional damage, even if it is healed correctly, the GM may apply a permanent rank of Crippled Arm / Leg to that character. If severe enough head trauma has taken place, the GM might give that character Forgetful or Nominal Aphasia. If the character has been hit in the face with a flamethrower or a chainsaw, the GM may confer a rank of Ugly upon them.