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Combat

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Injuries

Hit Location

Once a hit has been made on an opponent, reverse the to hit roll and compare the result on the Hit Location table (e.g. if the to hit roll comes up as 36, location 63, the right arm, is hit). This table can also be used to determine random locations in other circumstances, in which case just roll a D100 and refer to the appropriate result.

Reversed To Hit Roll	Location
01-10	Right Leg
11-20	Left Leg
21-60	Body
61-75	Right Arm
76-90	Left Arm
91-00	Head

Matched Success – Critical Hit

There is a chance that an attack will hit with particularly deadly force. Characters who roll a matched success when attacking in either shooting or close combat have scored a critical hit.

The damage from a critical hit is doubled, before any modifiers for armour, cover and force fields. This means that even a primitive tribesman with a knife can find a weak spot in a Space Marine’s armour, or more advanced light weapons are able to smash through Terminator armour or concrete walls.

Damage Rolls

A blow may cause only a glancing hit or it may smash through bones and internal organs, inflicting massive and life-threatening injuries. For this reason, all hits have a random Damage value, specified by giving weapons and other attacks a number of dice that need to be rolled. Some also have a fixed modifier to this dice roll.

For example, a hit from a bolt pistol causes 2D10+4 damage, meaning that two D10s are rolled, and then 4 is added to the sum of those dice to determine total damage from the hit.

Damage from close combat and thrown weapons

Because an axe wielded by an ogryn will obviously cause far more serious injuries than an axe wielded by a ratling, a character’s Strength may give additional modifiers to damage from close combat weapons.

Particularly strong characters cause an additional point of damage for every full 10 points of Strength he or she possesses above 50. For instance, a character with Strength 70 adds +2 to damage rolls. Bear in mind that a character’s Strength in one arm is half his or her normal Strength. (Yes, a Strength 200 Space Marine does get a +15 damage bonus if he is using both hands – avoid Space Marines with two-handed swords…)

Thrown weapons like javelins or throwing knives also gain this damage bonus.

Unarmed close combat damage

Hits in close combat from characters who do not have claws, fangs or some other form of natural weaponry cause D3 damage and get the Strength bonus described above. However, they will not cause location injury (see below) unless the roll to hit was a matched success (i.e. a critical hit). This means that unarmed combat is generally non-lethal, but may result in minor injuries, stunning or unconsciousness. Of course, if it goes on too long, or something unfortunate happens, someone can still end up dead.

Armour

If a character wears armour on a location (or has some natural form of protection, like bony plates, that act in the same way), this offers a degree of protection against hits. It is rare for any but the heaviest armour to entirely absorb a gunshot or a sword stroke, but it always offers a limited amount of protection.

Each piece of armour has an Armour value, which is subtracted from the damage caused by any hit to the worn location. If this reduces damage to 0 or less, the hit does not cause any damage.

Wearing Armour

Only one piece of armour may have an effect when worn over any location. The sole exception to this is plate armour, which is generally designed to allow the wearing of chainmail beneath. Rules for this situation are given in the Armour and Force Fields section of the Armoury.

Optional Rule: Destroying Armour

Armour is not indestructible, and can eventually be destroyed, degraded or rendered useless by repeated powerful impacts.

To represent this, every penetrating hit on a piece of armour reduces its Armour value over that location by 1 point. (For example, flak armour trousers hit in the right leg will only have Armour value 2 on that location, but Armour value 3 on the left leg.)

The ease and cost of repairing armour should be modified according to the amount of damage taken by the piece of armour.

Force fields are not damaged by being hit.

Force Fields

Not all armour is physical in nature. Some defences are energy-based, use special wards, or are generated using psychic powers. These are all categorised as force fields.

Force fields normally have a random Armour value (2D6 for conversion fields, for example) that is generated separately every time a character is hit.

Force fields normally extend several feet from the character’s body, and so provide no protection in close combat.

Cover

If the location hit is behind cover, then the shot may be blocked or deflected by the intervening feature. The location covered depends on what the character was doing in his last action. For example, if he was firing over a wall, then his head, chest and one or both arms will be visible. Firing around a corner would expose the head, chest, one or both arms and one leg.

Cover is essentially another layer of armour, but is often capable of absorbing far more damage than any personal armour. Each type of cover has its own Armour value, a brief list of which is detailed below, but the GM can improvise the Armour values of other cover types:

Cover
Armour Value

Wooden fence 4

Wooden or plastic barrel or crate 6

Metal barrel or crate 8

Sandbags 10

Dry stone wall or pile of rubble 12

Brick / solid stone wall 14

Plasteel (as used in construction girders) 16

Rockcrete (reinforced concrete) 18

Armaplas (as found on armoured vehicles) 18+

Effects Of Injuries

Injuring hits cause two types of damage: not only do they subtract points from a character’s hit points, but they also cause location injury to specific body parts.

Location injury is representative of the physical trauma suffered by each of the character’s hit locations, while hit points represent his overall state of health, bleeding, pain and consciousness.

The reason for using two parallel damage systems is that it is possible to be either killed outright by a shot to a vulnerable location, or to die slowly over a period of time from multiple debilitating light wounds. This system represents both possibilities, and anything in between.

Hit Points

The character’s starting hit points total is equal to his Toughness. This is the highest hit points can go, unless Toughness is increased (in which case, current and maximum hit points will rise by the same amount), or under certain other circumstances.

The damage inflicted by a hit (after cover and armour), is deducted from the character’s current hit point total.

Consciousness Level:

Once a character’s hit points drop below the character’s Consciousness Level (Toughness divided by 2), he automatically falls unconscious (see Unconsciousness, below).

Instant Death:

Should a character’s hit points ever reach 0, the character is dead – his body has been so mangled by the pounding it has been taking that it simply gives up the struggle to live.

At the GM’s discretion, Fate points can be used to send a PC (or important NPC) into unconsciousness or some sort of coma, instead of killing him.

Location Injury

A character can sustain a certain amount of damage to any location before suffering severe injury. This is represented by a character’s Base Injury value, which is equal to a character’s maximum Toughness divided by 10. If a character’s Toughness characteristic should be temporarily reduced by illness, poison or any other source, Base Injury is not affected.

Additionally, each character has a number of injury levels that may be inflicted – in the case of the Body, these are Light, Heavy, Serious and Crippled, although other locations are less able to absorb damage and have fewer levels of injury.

If an attack inflicts up to (or including) the character’s Base Injury value it does one level of damage. If it inflicts damage up to twice his Base Injury value it does two levels of damage, and so on. Damage resulting in multiple injury levels being advanced inflicts all the effects of each level advanced through.

Subsequent hits advance injury levels from their current position, e.g. a character who already has a Light right arm injury and suffers another hit, this time causing two levels of injury, now has a Crippled right arm injury.

Injury levels are calculated from damage inflicted by individual hits. Therefore only the injury level needs to be recorded on a location, not the individual damage points taken from each hit.

The effects of injury levels can be found on the charts on the next page.

Immediate And Persistent Effects

The effects of location injury are split into immediate and persistent effects.

Immediate effects are applied as soon as the injury is taken and have no further effect.

Persistent effects are also applied immediately, but continue to affect the character until medical treatment is received.

Optional Rule - Attrition
Prefer a more heroic game of Imperium? Don't fancy the book-keeping of injury effects? Fair enough.

Just don't use the location injury rules, instead relying entirely on hit point attrition. Hit locations are used only for the purposes of determining protection from armour and cover. Characters are more likely to lose consciousness than to die, and those nasty bleeding injuries are avoided.

If you want to go the whole hog and turn Imperium into a four-colour heroic game, try reducing the Toughness and/or hit point totals of low-ranking NPCs, so that they die far more quickly. Keep high-ranking NPCs, such as gang leaders, ork warbosses, cult demagogues and the like, at levels on a par with the PCs, so as to provide a challenge.

Head Location Injury Chart

Any character hit in the head but who isn’t injured because he was wearing a helmet, or was hit by an attack causing 0 damage (a weak punch, for example), must pass a Toughness test or be stunned for one round. In most cases, he probably will not fall prone as a result of this stun.

Light

Immediate:

Persistent:

The character must test against Toughness. If he passes the test, he is stunned for D3 rounds. If he fails, he loses consciousness.

The character suffers –10 Initiative.

Crippled

Immediate:

Persistent:

As light, plus the location is bleeding.

The character must roll on the Head Crippling Injuries Chart.

Body Location Injury Chart

Light

Persistent:

The character suffers –10 Initiative.

Heavy

Immediate:

Persistent:

The character must immediately pass a Strength test or fall prone.

As Light, plus the location is bleeding.

Serious

Immediate:

Persistent:

The character falls prone and must test against Toughness. If he passes the test, he is stunned for D3 rounds. If he fails, he loses consciousness.

As Heavy.

Crippled

Immediate:

Persistent:

The character must test against Toughness. If he passes the test, he is stunned for D6 rounds. If he fails, he loses consciousness.

The character must roll on the Body Crippling Injuries Chart.

Arm Location Injury Chart

Light

Immediate:

Persistent:

The character must immediately pass a Strength test or drop any object held. If it is held only in one hand, halve his Strength for this test.

The character suffers –10 Initiative.

Heavy

Immediate:

Persistent:

The character automatically drops anything held.

The arm cannot be used and is bleeding.

Crippled

Immediate:

Persistent:

The character must test against Toughness. If he passes the test, he is stunned for D3 rounds. If he fails, he loses consciousness.

The character must roll on the Arm Crippling Injuries Chart.

Leg Location Injury Chart

Light

Immediate:

Persistent:

The character must pass a Strength test or fall prone. If both legs are wounded, halve his Strength for this test.

The character suffers –10 Initiative and all movement rates are halved.

Heavy

Immediate:

Persistent:

The character falls prone.

The character may only crawl, although he may stand if propped up against a wall or using a crutch. The leg is also bleeding.

Crippled

Immediate:

Persistent:

The character must test against Toughness. If he passes the test, he is stunned for D3 rounds. If he fails, he loses consciousness.

The character must roll on the Leg Crippling Injuries Chart.

Crippling Injuries

When a location reaches the Crippled level of injury, it has suffered such severe damage that limbs are utterly useless and may even have been severed, while other locations are so extensively damaged that permanent injury is almost unavoidable. The character will often lose consciousness, and may even die as a result of the injuries caused.

These injuries are represented by rolling a D6 and comparing this to the appropriate location’s Crippling Injuries Charts. There are modifiers to this roll:

Multiple Injuries

For each previous crippling injury on this location, there is a +1 modifier to the roll. Injuries that have been completely healed with no permanent effect do not count towards multiple injuries.

Severe Injury

If the damaging hit caused excessive levels of injury beyond Crippled, a +1 modifier is applied to the roll for every hypothetical level of damage caused by this hit.

Psychological Trauma From Crippling Injuries

Crippling injuries can have an adverse effect on the mental state of all but the strongest-minded character. As such, whenever he rolls on a Crippling Injuries table, a character must take a Willpower test. Failure results in the character gaining an Insanity point, as explained in the GM’s Section.

Crippling Injuries Charts

These are generic injury tables that make sense for most weapons. Eventually, more weapon-specific Crippling Injuries Tables may be made available, but until then, the GM should use his discretion (and maybe a medical dictionary) to come up with equivalent injuries where the ones described don’t make sense (e.g. eviscerating someone with a punch to the stomach – unless of course it is an incredibly powerful blow).

Head Crippling Injuries Charts

1

The character’s nose or one ear is blown, sliced or ripped off, or shattered. (Roll a D6: 1-2 Left ear, 3-4 nose, 5-6 right ear).

Until medical attention:

-20 to all characteristics except for Strength and Toughness.

Surgery Failure:

Disfigurement and 75% chance of deafness in one ear or loss of sense of smell (as appropriate).

2

The character’s jaw is smashed, shattering teeth and splitting gums.

Until medical attention:

–20 to all characteristics except for Strength and Toughness.

Recovery:

Unable to speak properly or eat solids for D3+3 weeks.

Surgery Failure:

The jaw will not reset, and the character loses 2D10 points of Leadership, due to a severe speech impediment.

3

One of the character’s eyes is damaged, but no other serious damage is caused.

Until medical attention:

–10 to all characteristics except Strength and Toughness.

Recovery:

Unable to see out of the eye for D6 weeks.

Surgery Failure

All sight-related special abilities are lost (including night vision), and Ballistic Skill is permanently reduced by 20. If the character has no remaining eyes, the character is blind, and reduces Weapon Skill by half and Ballistic Skill to 0.

4

The character’s carotid artery is ruptured, spraying blood in a wide arc.

Bleeding:

3D3 per round.

5

The blow bites deep into the spinal column or the brain. The character crumples to the ground as his organs fail.

Until medical attention:

Unable to move, and will die in (Toughness/10) rounds from asphyxiation.

Recovery:
All physical characteristics except for Strength and Toughness halved, cannot walk or move arms and may not stand unaided, for D6+6 weeks.

Permanent:

Must pass a Toughness test or be paralysed from the neck down.

Surgery Failure:

The character suffers automatic paralysis below the neck.

6
The blow smashes through the skull and severely damages the brain.

Bleeding:

D3

Until medical attention:

Unable to do move, and will die in D6 rounds.

Recovery:

Halve all characteristics except Strength and Toughness for D6+3 weeks.

Permanent:

Must pass a Toughness test or characteristic loss is permanent.

Surgery Failure:

Permanent characteristic loss is automatic.

7

A clean kill. The character staggers sideways and crumples to the floor, dying with a surprised expression on his face.

8

The character’s throat is torn bloodily open, arterial blood spraying uncontrollably from the carotid. The character dies in an expanding lake of blood.

9

The blow slams into the character’s head, severing the spinal column. The character collapses and dies, possibly gurgling pathetically for a few seconds beforehand.

10+

The blow smashes the skull apart, spraying blood, brain and fragments of bone over anyone nearby. Optionally, a bladed weapon may sever the head completely, sending it spinning away 2D6 feet in a random direction. Unsurprisingly, the character is dead.

Body Crippling Injuries Table

1
The character’s pelvis or breastbone is fractured, dropping him to the ground, gasping in pain.

Until medical attention:

Stunned.

Recovery:

May not sprint for D3+3 weeks, or run for D3 weeks. Other movement is halved for D6 weeks. Until the injury is completely healed, Initiative is halved in combat and for Reaction rolls.

2
One of the character’s shoulders or collar bones is broken, rendering the attached arm unusable.

Until medical attention:

Attached arm is useless, and -10 to WS, BS and I.

Recovery:

Strength in attached arm is halved for D6 weeks.

3
The character suffers extensive abdominal injuries and falls to the floor, writhing in agony.

Bleeding:

D3

Until medical attention:

Stunned, and must pass a Toughness test each round or lose consciousness.

Recovery:

-10 WS, BS and I, for 3D6 weeks.

4
The character’s groin is severely damaged, sending him into shock.

Bleeding:

2D3

Until medical attention:

Stunned, and must pass a Toughness test each round or lose consciousness.

Recovery:
All movement rates are halved for D6+3 weeks, and sprinting or running are impossible during this time. Urination is extremely painful and sexual activity is impossible.

Permanent:

Must pass a Toughness test or be rendered infertile or unable to carry a foetus to full term.

Surgery Failure:

Infertility is automatic.

5
The character’s spine is fractured, causing internal bleeding.

Bleeding:

D3

Until medical attention:

May do nothing.

Recovery:
All physical characteristics except for Strength and Toughness halved, cannot walk and may not stand unaided, for D6+6 weeks.

Permanent:

Must pass Toughness test or be paralysed from the waist down.

Surgery Failure:

The character suffers automatic paralysis below the waist.

6

The blow damages the character’s chest cavity, which fills with fluid or air. This collapses one or both lungs, and the character falls to the ground, wheezing ineffectually.

Until medical attention:

May do nothing. A chest drain valve must be inserted or improvised (minor surgery) within (Toughness/10) rounds or the character will asphyxiate.

Recovery:

The character cannot speak at all for D3 days, and will be hoarse until the injury is completely healed. May not sprint for D3+3 weeks, or run for D3 weeks. Must rest for fifteen minutes out of every hour during this time. If unable to rest, the character must pass a Toughness test at the end of the hour or fall unconscious.

7

Blood gushes into a lung and the character drowns ingloriously, red froth bubbling from his lips.

8

The blow neatly pierces the heart. Death occurs almost instantly.

9

Severe abdominal damage results in painful, but almost instant, death.

10+

The character is eviscerated, has his ribs exploded or is torn in half. Death is instantaneous and very messy. Characters within D3 yards are spattered with blood and tissue.

Arm Crippling Injuries Table

1

The character’s arm is broken, rendering the arm useless.

Until medical attention:

Stunned.

Recovery:

The arm may not be used for D6+3 weeks.

2
The blow severs or smashes several fingers, rendering them useless.

Until medical attention:

Stunned.

Recovery:

The hand may not be used for D3+3 weeks.

Surgery Failure:
D3 fingers are lost. There is a –5 modifier (per missing finger) to any characteristic tests requiring the use of hands. The GM may decide to impose additional penalties to tests relating to appropriate special abilities.

3

The character’s wrist, elbow or lower arm is broken and several arteries and veins are ruptured, sending blood spraying along his arm.

Bleeding:

D3

Until medical attention:

Stunned, and must pass a Toughness test each round or lose consciousness.

Recovery:

The hand may not be used for D6+3 weeks.

4
The blow shatters the bones of the character’s shoulder, rupturing blood vessels.

Bleeding:

D3

Until medical attention:

May do nothing.

Recovery:

The arm may not be used for D6+6 weeks.

5
The character’s hand or arm below the elbow is blown or sliced off, or is so badly damaged it requires amputation.

Bleeding:

D3

Until medical attention:

Stunned, and must pass a Toughness test each round or lose consciousness.

Recovery:

The arm may not be used for D3+3 weeks. Successful surgery is required within a day or the character will die.

Permanent:

The hand is lost. Characteristics are halved when taking characteristic tests that require both hands. The GM may decide to impose additional penalties to tests relating to appropriate special abilities.

6
The arm is blown or cut off close to the shoulder. So much blood gushes from the wound that death is almost inevitable.

Bleeding:

3D3

Until medical attention:

Stunned, and must pass a Toughness test each round or lose consciousness.

Recovery:

The character halves WS, BS and I for D6+6 weeks. Successful surgery is required within a day or the character will die.

Permanent:

The arm is lost. Characteristics are halved when taking characteristic tests that require both hands. The GM may decide to impose additional penalties to tests relating to appropriate special abilities.

7

Virtually every bone in the arm shatters in a chain reaction. Shock and severed arteries kill the character almost instantly.

8

A major artery is severed, spraying blood in a wide arc. The character dies in mere seconds, staring in horror at the unstaunchable wound.

9

The blow passes straight through the arm, taking it off at the elbow, and carries on into the character’s torso, killing him instantly through shock and blood loss.

10+

The blow slices off the arm in a welter of blood. The character staggers backwards D3 yards before collapsing, dead from trauma and massive haemorrhaging.

Leg Crippling Injuries Table

1
The blow breaks the character’s leg.

Until medical attention:

Initiative is halved and the character may not move.

Recovery:

Sprinting is impossible for 3D6+3 weeks, running is impossible for D6+3 weeks. During this time, WS and BS are halved and the character cannot stand unaided.

2
The blow severely damages the character’s hamstring, damaging several important muscles and blood vessels.

Bleeding:

D3

Until medical attention:

Initiative and all movement rates are halved.

Recovery:

Sprinting is impossible for D3+1 weeks, running is impossible for D3 weeks. During this time, WS and BS are halved.

3
A blood vessel in the character’s thigh is ripped open.

Bleeding:

D3

Until medical attention:

Initiative and all movement rates are halved.

Recovery:

Sprinting is impossible for D3+3 weeks, running is impossible for D3 weeks. During this time, WS and BS are halved.

4
The blow opens up a gaping wound in the character’s leg, almost taking it off.

Bleeding:

D3

Until medical attention:

May not move and Initiative is halved.

Recovery:

Sprinting is impossible for D3+1 weeks, running is impossible for D3 weeks. During this time, WS and BS are halved, as are all movement rates.

5

The character stumbles to the ground, staring in shock at the blood spurting from the stump of his leg, the foot severed halfway between the ankle and the knee.

Bleeding:

D3

Until medical attention:

Stunned, and must pass a Toughness test each round or lose consciousness.

Recovery:

The character cannot stand unaided for D3 weeks. During this time, WS, BS and I are halved.

Permanent:

The character cannot walk unaided. He may not run or sprint at all. Initiative is halved when taking characteristic tests requiring movement. The GM may decide to impose additional penalties to tests relating to appropriate special abilities.

6

The blow takes off the character’s leg at the knee or hip, or causes so much damage that it requires amputation. The character is sent crashing to the ground, blood gushing in torrents from the stump.

Bleeding:

2D3

Until medical attention:

Stunned, and must pass a Toughness test each round or lose consciousness.

Recovery:

The character cannot stand unaided for D3+3 weeks. During this time,WS, BS and I are halved.

Permanent:

The character cannot walk unaided. He may not run or sprint at all. Initiative is halved when taking characteristic tests requiring movement. The GM may decide to impose additional penalties to tests relating to appropriate special abilities.

7

The character’s hip is smashed, spears of bone shredding the femoral artery. Death from haemorrhaging and shock is instantaneous.

8-9
The character falls to the ground, his femoral artery completely severed. He bleeds to death in seconds.

10+

The blow smashes apart the character’s upper leg, taking out a large portion of the groin as well. Death from blood loss, shock and internal damage is almost instantaneous.

Optional Rule – Projectile Lodging
Weapons that fire projectiles (most commonly bullets, or sometimes shurikens), may leave the projectile, or fragments of it, embedded in a target’s body, requiring surgery to remove it (as described in the Recovery section).

Fortunately from one perspective, most projectiles hit with such force that they punch right through the target and out the other side. Unfortunately, it is this kind of injury that causes the most damage.

A projectile hit that causes only a single level of location injury lodges in the body, whereas hits causing two or more levels of location injury exit the body intact. It may stun the character hit (see below).

While a projectile is lodged in the body, and until surgery is fully recovered from, the character suffers a penalty of –5 Initiative, and the wound may become infected, even if other medical treatment has been received.

Projectile weapons that may lodge in the body are noted in the Armoury.

Optional Rule – Shots Passing Through People

This is a slight variation on the projectile lodging rules that can apply to all weapons that don’t actually explode in some way.

If a shot causes enough damage (after penetrating armour) to exit the body, the GM may rule that a character or characters close behind the victim is liable to be hit as well. Roll to hit for a second time, against this new target. If the shot hits, roll damage again, but subtract the Base Injury score and Armour value of the first target, representing the slowdown caused by the shot passing through a body. (Do not count the armour covering the exit wound – armour is designed to protect against incoming injuries, not outgoing projectiles.)

If the shot is so powerful that it exits this second target, there is a chance it could hit a third character as well, although the slowdown now consists of the Base Injury and Armour values of both previous targets.

If firing through a character held as a human shield (ruthless, but some characters will do this), no second roll to hit is necessary, and most of the time the same location will be hit. The GM can rule on complications like arms, which aren’t going to be directly behind that of the unfortunate hostage.

Optional Rule – Infected Wounds

If a wound is left untreated, or is treated unsuccessfully, there is a very good chance that it will become infected, swelling up and possibly poisoning the blood. There is a 50% chance that this will occur D10 hours after the injury is taken.

Failure to receive successful surgery to remove a lodged projectile always results in automatic infection of the wound D10 hours after the injury is taken.

Each infected wound imposes a penalty to the character’s Initiative of –5. At the start of each day that the infection is untreated, there is a 10% chance that sepsis will set in (see below).

Infected wounds halve the character’s Toughness when attempting recuperating location injury to the infected location.

Sepsis

So nasty it deserves its own heading, sepsis can kill a character who was otherwise only lightly injured. Sepsis is blood poisoning that manifests in the form of fever and deteriorating mental faculties, eventually leading to death unless treated.

No matter how many infected wounds a character has, he can only suffer from one bout of sepsis at a time.

Every hour, sepsis inflicts D6 damage and causes the character to lose D10 points from each mental characteristic. Should any mental characteristic reach 0, the character slips into a coma. If left untreated, it is very likely that the character will die.

Stunning

A character may be stunned by certain injuries or weapons, leaving him confused and unable to defend himself properly. He misses the indicated number of rounds (including this round, if he has not already acted). While stunned, the character may not perform any actions, may not parry in close combat, and all characteristics except for Toughness are halved.

At the GM’s discretion, the character may fall to the ground.

If a stunned character is stunned again, the number of rounds he remains so is increased cumulatively.

Optional Rule - Lodged Projectiles And Stunning
Projectile weapons are excellent at knocking down or stopping opponents, even if they don’t incapacitate them. This is why shotguns are so popular with law enforcement officers. As such, a character hit by an attack that causes the projectile to lodge or impale him (as with arrows, rapiers or spears) must take a Strength test. If this test is failed, the character is stunned for one round, and probably falls to the ground.

Bleeding

Although it can be assumed that most injuries cause bleeding to some degree, some location effects specify that a location is bleeding. This represents heavy bleeding that causes the character to suffer damage continuously until the flow is staunched.

Each location injury effect that specifies that a location is bleeding causes D3 damage at the end of every round. This is cumulative, so if a character is shot twice in the same location, and both results specify bleeding, then the character will suffer 2D3 damage per round.

Many crippling injury table results also cause bleeding, although some more serious, life-threatening results may specify that bleeding occur at a rate of 2D3, or even 3D3, hit points per round. Treat this normally, as if the character had merely taken two or more bleeding injuries to the location.

Bleeding does not cause additional location injury damage.

Unconsciousness

While a character is unconscious, he is utterly incapable of defending himself. He can be executed, captured, or otherwise subjected to immense mischief. Characters who are asleep are treated as unconscious, although of course they may wake up.

Close combat hits against unconscious characters hit automatically, in a location chosen by the attacker, and always count as a critical hit.

Where the length of time a character remains unconscious is not specified, assume it to be approximately D6x10 minutes, although the attentions of other characters (slapping around the face, cold water, medical treatment etc.) may shorten this, at the GM’s discretion.

Characters knocked unconscious by falling below their Consciousness level will not wake up until they have recover enough hit points (by rest and recuperation, or medical treatment) to be above their Consciousness level.

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Cover	Armour Value
Wooden fence	4
Wooden or plastic barrel or crate	6
Metal barrel or crate	8
Sandbags	10
Dry stone wall or pile of rubble	12
Brick / solid stone wall	14
Plasteel (as used in construction girders)	16
Rockcrete (reinforced concrete)	18
Armaplas (as found on armoured vehicles)	18+

Light	Persistent:	The character suffers –10 Initiative.
Heavy	Immediate: Persistent:	The character must immediately pass a Strength test or fall prone. As Light, plus the location is bleeding.
Serious	Immediate: Persistent:	The character falls prone and must test against Toughness. If he passes the test, he is stunned for D3 rounds. If he fails, he loses consciousness. As Heavy.
Crippled	Immediate: Persistent:	The character must test against Toughness. If he passes the test, he is stunned for D6 rounds. If he fails, he loses consciousness. The character must roll on the Body Crippling Injuries Chart.

1	The character’s nose or one ear is blown, sliced or ripped off, or shattered. (Roll a D6: 1-2 Left ear, 3-4 nose, 5-6 right ear).
	Until medical attention:	-20 to all characteristics except for Strength and Toughness.
	Surgery Failure:	Disfigurement and 75% chance of deafness in one ear or loss of sense of smell (as appropriate).

2	The character’s jaw is smashed, shattering teeth and splitting gums.
	Until medical attention:	–20 to all characteristics except for Strength and Toughness.
	Recovery:	Unable to speak properly or eat solids for D3+3 weeks.
	Surgery Failure:	The jaw will not reset, and the character loses 2D10 points of Leadership, due to a severe speech impediment.

3	One of the character’s eyes is damaged, but no other serious damage is caused.
	Until medical attention:	–10 to all characteristics except Strength and Toughness.
	Recovery:	Unable to see out of the eye for D6 weeks.
	Surgery Failure	All sight-related special abilities are lost (including night vision), and Ballistic Skill is permanently reduced by 20. If the character has no remaining eyes, the character is blind, and reduces Weapon Skill by half and Ballistic Skill to 0.

4	The character’s carotid artery is ruptured, spraying blood in a wide arc.
	Bleeding:	3D3 per round.

5	The blow bites deep into the spinal column or the brain. The character crumples to the ground as his organs fail.
	Until medical attention:	Unable to move, and will die in (Toughness/10) rounds from asphyxiation.
	Recovery:	All physical characteristics except for Strength and Toughness halved, cannot walk or move arms and may not stand unaided, for D6+6 weeks.
	Permanent:	Must pass a Toughness test or be paralysed from the neck down.
	Surgery Failure:	The character suffers automatic paralysis below the neck.

6	The blow smashes through the skull and severely damages the brain.
	Bleeding:	D3
	Until medical attention:	Unable to do move, and will die in D6 rounds.
	Recovery:	Halve all characteristics except Strength and Toughness for D6+3 weeks.
	Permanent:	Must pass a Toughness test or characteristic loss is permanent.
	Surgery Failure:	Permanent characteristic loss is automatic.

1	The character’s pelvis or breastbone is fractured, dropping him to the ground, gasping in pain.
	Until medical attention:	Stunned.
	Recovery:	May not sprint for D3+3 weeks, or run for D3 weeks. Other movement is halved for D6 weeks. Until the injury is completely healed, Initiative is halved in combat and for Reaction rolls.

2	One of the character’s shoulders or collar bones is broken, rendering the attached arm unusable.
	Until medical attention:	Attached arm is useless, and -10 to WS, BS and I.
	Recovery:	Strength in attached arm is halved for D6 weeks.

3	The character suffers extensive abdominal injuries and falls to the floor, writhing in agony.
	Bleeding:	D3
	Until medical attention:	Stunned, and must pass a Toughness test each round or lose consciousness.
	Recovery:	-10 WS, BS and I, for 3D6 weeks.

4	The character’s groin is severely damaged, sending him into shock.
	Bleeding:	2D3
	Until medical attention:	Stunned, and must pass a Toughness test each round or lose consciousness.
	Recovery:	All movement rates are halved for D6+3 weeks, and sprinting or running are impossible during this time. Urination is extremely painful and sexual activity is impossible.
	Permanent:	Must pass a Toughness test or be rendered infertile or unable to carry a foetus to full term.
	Surgery Failure:	Infertility is automatic.

5	The character’s spine is fractured, causing internal bleeding.
	Bleeding:	D3
	Until medical attention:	May do nothing.
	Recovery:	All physical characteristics except for Strength and Toughness halved, cannot walk and may not stand unaided, for D6+6 weeks.
	Permanent:	Must pass Toughness test or be paralysed from the waist down.
	Surgery Failure:	The character suffers automatic paralysis below the waist.

6	The blow damages the character’s chest cavity, which fills with fluid or air. This collapses one or both lungs, and the character falls to the ground, wheezing ineffectually.
	Until medical attention:	May do nothing. A chest drain valve must be inserted or improvised (minor surgery) within (Toughness/10) rounds or the character will asphyxiate.
	Recovery:	The character cannot speak at all for D3 days, and will be hoarse until the injury is completely healed. May not sprint for D3+3 weeks, or run for D3 weeks. Must rest for fifteen minutes out of every hour during this time. If unable to rest, the character must pass a Toughness test at the end of the hour or fall unconscious.

1	The character’s arm is broken, rendering the arm useless.
	Until medical attention:	Stunned.
	Recovery:	The arm may not be used for D6+3 weeks.

2	The blow severs or smashes several fingers, rendering them useless.
	Until medical attention:	Stunned.
	Recovery:	The hand may not be used for D3+3 weeks.
	Surgery Failure:	D3 fingers are lost. There is a –5 modifier (per missing finger) to any characteristic tests requiring the use of hands. The GM may decide to impose additional penalties to tests relating to appropriate special abilities.

3	The character’s wrist, elbow or lower arm is broken and several arteries and veins are ruptured, sending blood spraying along his arm.
	Bleeding:	D3
	Until medical attention:	Stunned, and must pass a Toughness test each round or lose consciousness.
	Recovery:	The hand may not be used for D6+3 weeks.

4	The blow shatters the bones of the character’s shoulder, rupturing blood vessels.
	Bleeding:	D3
	Until medical attention:	May do nothing.
	Recovery:	The arm may not be used for D6+6 weeks.

5	The character’s hand or arm below the elbow is blown or sliced off, or is so badly damaged it requires amputation.
	Bleeding:	D3
	Until medical attention:	Stunned, and must pass a Toughness test each round or lose consciousness.
	Recovery:	The arm may not be used for D3+3 weeks. Successful surgery is required within a day or the character will die.
	Permanent:	The hand is lost. Characteristics are halved when taking characteristic tests that require both hands. The GM may decide to impose additional penalties to tests relating to appropriate special abilities.

6	The arm is blown or cut off close to the shoulder. So much blood gushes from the wound that death is almost inevitable.
	Bleeding:	3D3
	Until medical attention:	Stunned, and must pass a Toughness test each round or lose consciousness.
	Recovery:	The character halves WS, BS and I for D6+6 weeks. Successful surgery is required within a day or the character will die.
	Permanent:	The arm is lost. Characteristics are halved when taking characteristic tests that require both hands. The GM may decide to impose additional penalties to tests relating to appropriate special abilities.

1	The blow breaks the character’s leg.
	Until medical attention:	Initiative is halved and the character may not move.
	Recovery:	Sprinting is impossible for 3D6+3 weeks, running is impossible for D6+3 weeks. During this time, WS and BS are halved and the character cannot stand unaided.

2	The blow severely damages the character’s hamstring, damaging several important muscles and blood vessels.
	Bleeding:	D3
	Until medical attention:	Initiative and all movement rates are halved.
	Recovery:	Sprinting is impossible for D3+1 weeks, running is impossible for D3 weeks. During this time, WS and BS are halved.

3	A blood vessel in the character’s thigh is ripped open.
	Bleeding:	D3
	Until medical attention:	Initiative and all movement rates are halved.
	Recovery:	Sprinting is impossible for D3+3 weeks, running is impossible for D3 weeks. During this time, WS and BS are halved.

4	The blow opens up a gaping wound in the character’s leg, almost taking it off.
	Bleeding:	D3
	Until medical attention:	May not move and Initiative is halved.
	Recovery:	Sprinting is impossible for D3+1 weeks, running is impossible for D3 weeks. During this time, WS and BS are halved, as are all movement rates.

5	The character stumbles to the ground, staring in shock at the blood spurting from the stump of his leg, the foot severed halfway between the ankle and the knee.
	Bleeding:	D3
	Until medical attention:	Stunned, and must pass a Toughness test each round or lose consciousness.
	Recovery:	The character cannot stand unaided for D3 weeks. During this time, WS, BS and I are halved.
	Permanent:	The character cannot walk unaided. He may not run or sprint at all. Initiative is halved when taking characteristic tests requiring movement. The GM may decide to impose additional penalties to tests relating to appropriate special abilities.

6	The blow takes off the character’s leg at the knee or hip, or causes so much damage that it requires amputation. The character is sent crashing to the ground, blood gushing in torrents from the stump.
	Bleeding:	2D3
	Until medical attention:	Stunned, and must pass a Toughness test each round or lose consciousness.
	Recovery:	The character cannot stand unaided for D3+3 weeks. During this time,WS, BS and I are halved.
	Permanent:	The character cannot walk unaided. He may not run or sprint at all. Initiative is halved when taking characteristic tests requiring movement. The GM may decide to impose additional penalties to tests relating to appropriate special abilities.