Page 96 - Chronicles of Darkness

Subtract from ballistic armor first, then general armor. penalty from every action she performs, including rolling for
Armor-piercing attacks in close combat subtract from general Initiative, but not including Stamina rolls to stay conscious.
armor only.
When shooting at an object — or a person in cover — Health Boxes Marked Penalty
subtract the piercing quality from the object’s Durability. Third-to-last -1
Injury and Healing Second-to-last -2
Last
-3
Characters can suffer three types of damage. Fists and feet,
along with other kinds of low-impact trauma, deal bashing Full Health Tracks
damage. Brass knuckles, knives, and speeding trucks deal and Upgrading Damage
lethal damage. Human characters always take lethal damage
from weapons. Some horrifying supernatural powers deal ag- If a character’s Health track is filled with bashing damage,
gravated damage. When something deals aggravated damage each point of further bashing or lethal damage upgrades the
directly, it’s quite obvious. Flesh bubbles and sloughs away. leftmost point of bashing damage to lethal — turn one of the
Foaming pustules taint the victim’s flesh. Blackened veins slashes into an X. When a character’s rightmost Health box
streak out from the site of the injury. has bashing damage marked in it, his player must make a
A character’s Health track contains a number of boxes reflexive Stamina roll each turn for him to remain conscious.
equal to his Health trait, determined by his Stamina + Size. If a character’s Health track is filled with lethal damage,
each point of further damage upgrades an existing point of
Marking Damage lethal damage to aggravated. Turn the leftmost X into an
asterisk. When a character’s rightmost Health box has lethal
When a character suffers bashing damage, mark it with a
slash (/) in the leftmost empty box of his health track. damage marked in it, he takes another point of damage each
When a character suffers lethal damage, mark it with an minute (upgrading existing lethal damage to aggravated) until
X in the leftmost box of his health track that doesn’t contain he receives medical attention, mundane or supernatural.
lethal or aggravated damage. If you mark over a point of If a character’s Health track is filled with aggravated
bashing damage, it moves one box to the right. damage, he’s dead.
When a character suffers aggravated damage, mark it with Temporary Health Boxes
a large asterisk (*) in the leftmost box that doesn’t already
contain aggravated damage. If you mark over a point of Some supernatural powers can bestow temporary Health
bashing or lethal damage, it all moves one box to the right. boxes. If a character takes damage in a temporary Health box
Always mark the most severe injuries at the left of a and then the effect that bestowed it ends, the damage rolls over
character’s health track, and push any less severe injuries to into his permanent Health boxes as if he had just taken it anew.
the right. Characters heal their rightmost health boxes first
and progress left. Healing
Example: Cassidy has seven boxes in her Health track.
Characters need time to heal once they’ve been beaten
She’s just taken one point of bashing damage. Her Health to a pulp. Some supernatural creatures have other ways to
boxes look like this:
heal, but human characters rely on time and medical care to
set broken bones and heal bullet wounds.
A character heals her rightmost Health box at the rate
indicated below. The healing time is enough for the wound to
If she’s later stabbed and takes a point of lethal damage,
her Health track would be: fully recover; lethal damage doesn’t downgrade into bashing.
Normally, a character can heal without medical attention,
though use of the Medicine Skill helps her recover (see p.
96). The only exception is if a character has all her Health
boxes full of lethal damage — she’s bleeding out. She can’t
If Cassidy next suffered a point of aggravated damage,
her Health boxes would look like this: recover from that without urgent medical attention and
emergency surgery.
Wounds recover at the following rates:
• Bashing: One point per 15 minutes
Wound Penalties • Lethal: One point per two days

As a character takes damage, it impairs her ability to act. • Aggravated: One point per week
When one of her three rightmost Health boxes has dam- Example: After a scuffle with an off-duty cop, Cassidy’s out
age marked, she suffers a penalty accordingly. Subtract this of harm’s way for now. She isn’t looking for another fight.

95
Violence