(TFT) Revised Healing and Injury rules.

["Charles Gadda" <cgadda@earthlink.net>]

Many changes. Commentary at end of document:

4.3 REACTIONS TO INJURY.
A figure that takes sufficient "hits" to lower its ST to zero is considered
to be unconscious (but see optional rule in section 4.3.1). A figure reduced
to less than zero must make a saving roll vs. ST to avoid dying. At -1 ST a
2/ST check is required; at -2 make a 3/ST check; -3 make a 4/ST check, and
so on. If successful the figure is considered unconscious at that negative
ST amount until healed to a ST of 1, otherwise, the figure is dead. Thus, a
figure with 10 ST could take 9 damage and still be conscious and able to
act, albeit with penalties as noted under "Effects of Injury," below. If the
figure took one more point of damage, it would be unconscious at zero ST. If
any more damage were then sustained, the figure would require a saving throw
as described above or be slain.

Effects of Injury
Body Hits:
B= ST or more damage from any single blow: Body suffers a GRAVE WOUND (q.v.)
and has a -2 adjDX until healed.
Limb Hits:
B< or less ST damage from a single attack - roll number of dice equal to
original damage vs. ST to avoid dropping held item for a arm hit or, for a
leg hit, falling down (unless figure has more than two legs; such a creature
loses 1/6 MA for each leg lost and can only fall when B= its legs are lost).
More than B< up to B> ST damage from a single attack; limb is GRAVELY WOUNDED
(q.v.) cannot be used until healed. Dropping of held items or falling
down/MA penalty is automatic. -1 adjDX until healed.
More than B> ST damage from a single attack; limb severed or permanently
crippled. Permanent -2 adjDX for combat purposes unless a REGROWTH (q.v.)
spell is used.
Head Hits
Treat as a body hit, but roll number of dice equal to damage vs. ST or lose
consciousness
For all figures:
ST reduced to B< ST or less: -1 to adjDX
ST reduced to 0: Unconscious
ST reduced below 0: Save vs. ST or slain as described above

Grave Wounds
As noted above, a figure that receives a SINGLE injury that inflicts damage
equal to or greater than the thresholds noted above, in addition to the
penalties noted above, a Grave Wound. Such a wound is very serious, and
requires more time to heal than normal lesser injuries. Good examples would
be serious burns or broken bones, which can require weeks to heal fully.
For game purposes a grave wound requires twice as long to heal then it would
were it a collection of minor injuries that inflicted the same aggregate
amount of damage. Further, all normal wounds must heal up before serious
healing begins for the grave wound. Note that this requires some minor
additional record keeping.
EXAMPLE: A ST 12 figure takes a total of eleven damage: 4 points from minor
injuries, and a single 7 point wound. For purposes of healing, he has to
recover from the equivalent of 18 damage.
A limb suffering a Grave Wound is rendered useless until healed.
Note that if you are using the optional Lingering Injuries rule (below) you
will need to keep track of where any Grave Wounds were inflicted.

Optional Rule: Lingering Injuries
Any grave wound may cause a lingering injury that impairs the victim in some
manner. For example, a severe leg wound, even if it does not cause loss of
the limb, might force a permanent limp. Here are some guidelines:
HEAD: 1-3: no lingering wound, 4-5: lose an eye (-4 DX with any thrown or
missile attack and one side hex b left or right depending on which eye was
lost b is treated as a rear hex), 6: minor brain damage -lose 1 IQ point.
ARM: 1-3: no lingering wound, 4-6: weak arm. Any weapon (one or two handed)
used by this arm is at b1 to hit and damage; any shield is at b1
effectiveness.
LEG: 1-3: no lingering wound, 4-5: permanent limp - reduce MA by 1, 6:
severe limp; reduce MA by 2 and must use a staff or cane (MA -4 without
staff or cane).
TORSO: 1-3: no lingering wound, 4-5: lose 1 ST, 6: lose 1 point of ST and
DX.

The recipient of a potential Lingering Injury is entitled to a base 4/ST
saving throw (see SAVING THROWS). All attribute points lost as a result of a
lingering wound may be recovered normally through experience, but the blostb
point is still counted towards the characterbs point total. For example, a
36 point character loses one IQ from a severe head wound. Though he is now
really a 35 point character, for experience purposes he is still treated as
a 36 point character. Casting a REGROWTH spell on the figure will regain the
lost attribute point and eliminate this penalty.

4.3.1 OPTIONAL RULE: REMAINING CONSCIOUS IN SPITE OF INJURIES.
Ordinarily, taking damage that reduces your ST down to zero makes you
unconscious. However, any creature at zero or negative ST, but not actually
dead, can make a check against basic ST to stay conscious. At zero, roll 3
dice to save. For each point below zero, add one die to this check. Check
once per turn. If at any time it is failed, the creature becomes
unconscious. Otherwise, the creature can act normally save for any DX
penalty incurred by their injuries (see 4.3, above).

4.3.2 REST AND HEALING

4.3.2.1 NORMAL HEALING
A figure may recover damage from regular injuries at a normal rate of 1
point per two days of bed rest. If the figure is active, or otherwise not
resting, this rate is halved.

4.3.2.2 RECOVERING FROM ZERO OR NEGATIVE ST.
If a figure is at zero or below and is NOT being actively tended to, a 3 die
check vs. basic ST must be made every day it is unconscious until a positive
total is reached, or a ST check is failed. If a check is failed, take 1 more
point of damage (and make a ST roll to avoid dying). Assuming nothing else
happens and enough ST checks are successful, a creature will recover; thus,
someone or something left for dead MAY survive and come back for revenge!

4.3.3 "RECOVERING" FROM DEATH.
There are a few means by which a slain character may be brought back from
death, as detailed below.

4.3.3.1 REVIVAL SPELL.
See spell description in Advanced Wizard for more details.

4.3.3.2 OTHER MAGICAL MEANS.
This includes using a Wish and the Revival potion. The potion is treated
exactly like the spell; see above. The Wish works best of all methods. If
administered within one hour to a corpse that was within 3 ST of being
alive, there is no loss of attributes. If used on a more damaged body or
more than one hour after death, but less than 12 hours, lose attributes
normally. A Wish is ineffective if used after 12 hours.
Also, in the case of death by poison, the Universal Antidote will restore
the unfortunate victim. If applied within 5 minutes, there is no attribute
loss. Otherwise, if used within one hour it may revive the victim normally.

4.3.3.3 PHYSICKER REVIVAL.
A figure that has been slain may be revived by a Physicker or Master
Physicker, if he can begin healing within 5 minutes of said figurebs death.
This works as follows:
The healer will make his usual DX check to perform healing. Assuming that he
heals AT LEAST one point of damage, the slain figure is entitled to a second
ST saving throw, similar to that outlined in 4.3, above. Healing Elixirs and
Elixirs of Health may be used to help out. If the slain figure has been
healed to ST 1 or higher, the save is at 4 dice vs. original ST. If at 0 ST,
save at 5/ST, +1 die for each point of damage below zero. A successful save
means the figure is now alive but unconscious (a full day of rest is
required before they can awake); if they were wounded to a negative ST they
are now at 0 ST. A failed save means that they are dead; no further
Physicker Revivals may be attempted (though a Wish or Revival spell may be
used).

HEALING TALENTS
IQ 9 BARBER (1). This is the basic physickering skill that covers how to
take care of wounds. A character with this talent can heal one point of
normal wounds (not exhaustion) after combat or an accident. He MUST have a
Physickerbs Kit to do so. Efforts of more than one Barber or
Physicker/Master Physicker on the same wounded figure are NOT cumulative.
Example: A figure receives a normal wound. No matter how many
Barbers/Physickers there are in the group, only one may treat him. However,
if he later takes another wound in a different mishap, he can again be
healed. It takes 5 minutes to heal 1 hit. Barbers are unable to treat
diseases. NOTE: a Barber, Physicker or Master Physicker can work on his own
wounds just as he can another's. Also, the Barber must make a 3-die roll vs.
DX; if the roll is failed NO damage is healed. On a 17 or 18 a point of
damage is INFLICTED to the patient.

IQ 11 PHYSICKER (2). Represents a greater medical knowledge than Barbering,
covering not only wound treatment, but disease, etc. A Physicker can heal up
to 2 points of normal wounds on any humanoid figure after any combat or
accident. It takes 5 minutes to heal 2 hits, and the Physicker must have a
Physickerbs Kit. Note that if figure suffers a single point wound from an
incident, the extra point of healing may NOT be applied to a previous wound
that was already treated (i.e. a figure takes 5 points in combat, and is
healed of 2 hits. Later, the figure takes another point from some other
cause. Only this single hit is healed b the extra point may not be applied
to the earlier wound and is lost). A DX check must be made as per Barber;
failure means only one point is healed, and a 17 or 18 means one point is
inflicted on the patient. The Physicker talent also allows a chance to treat
or cure diseases. Each disease has a die roll associated with it; the healer
must roll that number of dice under his IQ to succeed. Only one Physicker or
Master Physicker may work on a disease patient at a time. Having the
Naturalist talent subtracts one die (the herbalist knowledge helps). A
successful roll allows the Physicker to cure the disease (or, if incurable,
treat it and relieve symptoms). Prerequisite: BARBER.

IQ 14 MASTER PHYSICKER (2). A thorough knowledge of medicine. You must
already be a Physicker. A Master Physicker can heal 3 hits if he has a
Physickerbs Kit, or 1 hit even WITHOUT such a kit. Either way, it takes 5
minutes. A Master Physicker can also make the Healing Salve as though he
were a Chemist. He can treat diseases as per Physicker, but with a better
chance for a cure - roll one less die. When making the DX check for healing,
a failure means one less hit was healed (i.e. only 2 if using the Physicker
Kit and none if without) but only a roll of 18 will result in a point of
damage to the patient.

HEALING AND CURING MAGIC/SPELLS
IQ 17 CLEANSING (T) This spell will kill all small life forms (disease
germs, vermin, etc.) within the specified area. Up to 7 connected hexes may
be cleansed with one spell, at a ST cost of 20 per hex. This spell will make
moldy food safe to eat, cure a plague victim, vampire, or werewolf, or kill
off the lice in your garments. It will NOT affect poisons or make something
inedible good to eat.
Any living being wholly within the cleansed area will be killed, EXCEPT
those specifically named by the wizard who casts the spell ... thus, this
spell can be used as a weapon in emergencies. However, you can't kill a
dragon by cleansing ONE of his hexes!
Unfortunately, the spell always inflicts 1d+1 damage even on the
individual(s) the wizard does not want to injure, so there is a risk
involved when a very weak individual is cured this way.

IQ 18 HEALING (T) This spell will heal damage inflicted by wounds or
injuries. Costs 6 ST per point restored, up to a maximum of five points per
day with this spell per subject. Note that the mage may heal more than one
subject but the same subject may only receive one Heal spell per day. Note
that this can be used in addition to normal physicker healing.

IQ 19 REGROWTH (T) Allows subject to re-grow totally lost limbs, organs,
etc. Cost 40 ST to cast. Requires one week for the lost part to grow back.
Note that if the limb is present (i.e. the limb was simply crippled but
attached to the torso, or severed but present and otherwise bfreshb)
restoration will be immediate, and the spell will only cost 20 ST to cast.
This spell will also immediately remove all of a figurebs lingering injuries
(q.v.) for a cost of 30 ST. This spell, like Revival, cannot be made to work
from a scroll.

IQ 20 REVIVAL (T) This spell will restore any dead creature to life,
provided death took place less than an hour ago. The spell cures all minor
wounds and diseases and leaves its subject unconscious with a ST of 0. It
will NOT restore youth.
For revival to succeed, most or all of the body must be present. If the body
has been severely burned, mangled, or otherwise damaged or if limbs are
missing, the wizard must make his DX roll on FOUR dice. Revival does NOT
restore missing limbs - one must separately cast REGROWTH to regain limbs.
The character who is revived loses 5 points from some attribute or
combination of attributes. See DEATH.
No way has ever been found to make this spell work when read from a scroll.
ST cost: 50.

OTHER HEALING
HEALING SALVE: This is an ointment or poultice containing various herbs that
speed healing, reduce pain, and inhibit infection. If one dose of salve is
applied per day of bed rest, one point per day may be healed. Requires $107
of common materials and 1 week. A Chemist or a Master Physicker may make
this. Cost: $150 per dose.

HEALING ELIXIR: A magical potion that can heal any injury. May be ingested
or poured directly onto a wound. One dose will heal one point of damage.
Requires $740 in ingredients and Alchemy. Cost: $1200 per dose.

ELIXIR OF HEALTH: This very potent potion will heal 1d+1 points of damage,
and also cure any disease. Applied in the same manner as a HEALING ELIXIR.
Will not affect poisons, however b see UNIVERSAL ANTIDOTE. Requires $3600 in
ingredients, a CLEANSING spell, and Alchemy. Cost: $5200 per dose.

POISON ANTIDOTE: A specific antidote to specific poisons. It is not
universal and is intended to treat specific types of venom. Requires $185 in
ingredients and Chemist to make. Cost: $250 per dose.

UNIVERSAL ANTIDOTE: One dose of this potion will Cure any damage or harm
from any poison or potion, if taken within 12 turns of the time the
poisoning occurs. Also renders its drinker immune to any poison or noxious
potion for one hour AFTER it is taken. If a character is killed by poison, a
dose of the Universal Antidote poured in his mouth may revive him - see
DEATH. Requires 5 doses Simple Poison ($120 each), 1 dose Corrosive Poison
($500), and 10 weeks. Costs $2,500.

REVIVAL: Can be used in an attempt to revive one dead character, as per the
REVIVAL spell. On a 3-die roll against the corpse's original ST, the revival
is successful. Two doses at once guarantee revival. Requires 4 doses of
Universal Antidote ($2,500 each); 20 doses of Increase ST potion ($450
each); 1 dose Increase IQ potion ($600), and $400 of common materials. Takes
20 weeks to complete; costs $65,000.

****************************************************************************
**********
                                                               COMMENTARY
                                                               -------------
--------

This is much closer to what I had in mind. The whole is greatly streamlined
down from the mess I had originally presented a few months back. Sometimes
you just have to slowly evolve these things, and go through an awkward
bgrowthb stage before you can identify and trim the extraneous material.

Summary of changes:
***Effects of injuries and Grave Wounds heavily rewritten. The whole bit
about 8 or more points and one is knocked down has been eliminated, and
concept of Grave Wounds streamlined.

Notes: Even I did not wholly like the original write up of these - too many
fractions! Now I simply focus on doubling the healing time and leaving it at
that. I have retained the much despised bdeath-spiralb in spite of the fact
that it does add some overhead. My concern here is that while some folks
(Erol...b:) insist it is unrealistic, they donbt provide a lot of evidence to
back their case. Worse, the evidence provided really doesnbt even address
the question, which is: bDoes injury *impair* the injured person in a
 fight?b Instead, we are treated to a handful of highly subjective,
anecdotal stories indicating that, on occasion, people can continue
*functioning* after serious (or even lethal) injury. But not a single stitch
of this squarely addresses the original question of impairment, which is a
totally different matter than whether or not one can function. The fact that
people who insist the death spiral is unrealistic cannot distinguish between
these two related, but quite different circumstances does not exactly
instill confidence in their assertions... Based on the counter-points that I
raised before back in December (which, apparently, the foes of the death
spiral have never once contemplated judging from the lack of response) I
find not merely counter-intuitive but counter-scientific the notion that
there is no impairment due to injuries. But I may well be wrong - as a point
of fact there simply isnbt enough evidence to prove anything one way or the
other. Therefore, I am going to punt and simply follow what my knowledge of
physiology and sword handling tells me, namely that, even putting aside
pain, significant wounds can and will impair your ability to use a melee
weapon, at least, since such involves the use of the entire body (not just
your trigger fingerb&)

(BTW the above is not meant to put Erol or anyone else on the spot - this is
a complicated issue and I do not expect anyone to have all the answers. But
do keep in mind that impairment and functionality are two almost totally
separate issues, and evidence that addresses the latter has only marginal
applicability to the former.)

Also, from a strict gaming standpoint itbs helpful to interject a bit of
randomness and uncertainty into the fight - otherwise, we might just as well
dispense with die rolls altogether, and simply compare stats, armor, etc.
and assign wounds/deaths that way (i.e. I have ST12, DX13, mail shield and
broadsword. Statistically, I will inflict 13.48 damage to my enemy while he
will only inflict 4.71 damage in the same time frame. I win!). It could be
done but it would be more than a little boringb& point being that while one
wants simple and streamlined rules, there comes a breaking point that, if
passed, makes the game _simplistic_, which is not a virtue.

I have seriously revised the actual dying thresholds, as well - note that
now one simply rolls X number of dice vs ST based on how many points below
zero you are. This is a more elegant approach, IMHO, rather than mucking
around with fractions of ST, etc. (though this mechanic is kept for some of
the injury thresholds - just couldnbt see a good way around it, having kept
the idea in the first place)

***Lingering injuries rule modified. Odds of receiving such a wound dropped
from 66% to 50%; also allow a saving throw to avoid ill effects.
Notes: I have to admit that this rule was harsh as originally written, so I
softened it somewhat. While the saving throw may not be utterly realistic,
from a game standpoint it is better to allow the player a chance to avoid
such an injury, and also, once more, makes ST count for a bit more.

***Heavily rewrote bPhysicker Revivalb.
Notes: I had to agree with the observation that it was a clumsy mechanic,
and not very elegant. At one point I seriously considered eliminating it,
but with the change I made to the rules for dying, I decided that a far
simpler mechanic could be made that would neatly dovetail into the former. I
do have a concern that this might make it too easy for figures to avoid
dying, though I think the minimum best case of a 4/ST save should mitigate
that.

***Cleaned up the healing talents in conjunction with the streamlined Grave
Wounds. Ditto for the spells and potions.
Notes: With the cumbersome original rules eliminated, a lot of other stuff
could be removed as well. I started by eliminating the Great Healing spell,
and simply baveragedb this with Healing so that the effects and ST cost fell
somewhere in between the two, while the IQ is still 18. Note that it now
follows the bRule of Fivesb in terms of effects. I also eliminated the bit
about being able to magically heal better if you had the Physicker talents,
since I was afraid of unbalancing things. An interesting concept, but I am
wary of its application. Something for future contemplation. Finally, I made
Revival an IQ 20 spell, Regrowth IQ 19, and eliminated the whole bit about
Revival being able to reattach limbs - donbt know what I was thinking when I
decided to put that emendation in.

The healing salve now simply speeds normal healing; only the elixirs allow
for instantaneous healing (and these are *mucho* more expensive). I have
retained the b1d+1b healing for the Elixir of Health, though I concede it is
problematic.

One aside: for the Regrowth and Revival spells I would contemplate adding a
rule that requires the spell caster to sacrifice a certain number of
experience points - maybe even attribute points - along with fST to power
the spell. This definitely should be applied to most or all magic item
creations, and could work with these healing spells as well. Materials,
money, and fST can all be obtained and replenished with relative ease, but
the cost of XP or actual attribute points would make such a creation or
healing endeavor much more bpersonalb and likely severely limit these types
of magics, making them more scarce than would otherwise be the case. I think
at a stroke one could eliminate the problem of bIndustrial Diseaseb that so
many on this list are legitimately concerned about.
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