Rumble Street

[ Vampire: The Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition -- Page 121 ]

The Health Trait measures a character's physical condition, from perfect health to Final Death. As characters are wounded or otherwise impaired, they lose health levels, then regain them as they heal. A character's Health Trait consists of seven different "health levels," and each level applies a different dice pool penalty to any actions taken by the person in question. A character who is Hurt subtracts one die from her action dice pools, while a Crippled character subtracts five dice from her action dice pools. If health level penalties leave a character with no dice in a given dice pool, the character cannot take that action. However, a point of Willpower can be spent to ignore wound penalties for one turn.

A character at the Incapacitated health level is utterly immobilized and can take no action of any kind except healing himself with blood points (if the character is a vampire or ghoul) or swallowing blood that is offered to him. A mortal who reaches this stage is a breath away from death; if she takes any more damage, she dies. If a Kindred suffers an aggravated wound after being Incapacitated, he dies the Final Death. A vampire at the Incapacitated health level with no more blood in his body immediately sinks into torpor.

Note that dice pool penalties from health level loss apply only to actions. They do not apply to purely reflexive dice pools, such as soak dice, most Virtue checks, or Willpower rolls to abort to another action. If a character is Wounded and suffers more non-aggravated damage, he may still soak with his full Stamina (plus Fortitude, if he has it). The health level penalties do apply to damage rolls for Strength-based attacks, but not for mechanical weapons like firearms. Ultimately, this rule must be adjudicated by the Storyteller and common sense.

 

Health Levels Chart

 

Health LevelDice Pool PenaltyMovement Penalty

Bruised0Character is only bruised and suffers no dice pool penalties due to damage.

Hurt-1Character is superficially hurt and suffers no movement hindrance.

Injured-1Character suffers minor injuries and movement is mildly inhibited (halve maximum running speed).

Wounded-2Character suffers significant damage and may not run (though he may still walk). At this level, a character may only move or attack; he always loses dice when moving and attacking in the same turn.

Mauled-2Character is badly injured and may only hobble about (three yards or meters/turn).

Crippled-5Character is catastrophically injured and may only crawl (one yard or meter/turn).

Incapacitated-Character is incapable of movement and is likely unconscious. Incapacitated vampires with no blood in their bodies enter torpor.

Torpor-Character enters a deathlike trance. He may do nothing, not even spend blood, until a certain period of time has passed. Mortals have no torpor rating; if reduced below Incapacitated, they die.

Final Death-Character dies again, this time forever.

 

Vampires who enter torpor due to wounds must rest for a period depending on their Humanity or Path rating:

 

Humanity/PathLength Of Torpor

10One day

9Three days

8One week

7Two weeks

6One month

5One year

4One decade

3Five decades

2One century

1Five centuries

0Millennium +

 

Following this period of rest, the player may spend a blood point and make an Awakening roll (Humanity / Path rating, difficulty 8) for her character to rise. If the vampire has no blood in her body, she may not rise until she is fed; if the player fails the Awakening roll, she may spend another blood point and make an Awakening roll the following night. If the vampire rises successfully, she is considered Crippled and should either spend blood or hunt immediately.

 

Voluntary Torpor

A character may enter torpor voluntarily. This state resembles the character's normal daily rest, but is a deeper form of slumber and should not be entered into lightly. A vampire in voluntary torpor may rise after half the mandatory time period for involuntary torpor, but must make an Awakening roll (Humanity / Path rating, difficulty 8) to do so. A torpid vampire may ignore the nightly need for blood; she is effectively in hibernation.

 

Paralyzed / Staked Vampires

A vampire who is staked or otherwise paralyzed continues to spend blood at the rate of one point per night. If the vampire is further deprived of blood, the decaying process that unlife has held at bay begins again. A vampire with no blood begins consuming all excess moisture within his body at a rate of one health level per day. As the process continues, the vampire begins to resemble a mummified corpse. At first the vampire appears merely emaciated, but as the body is completely dehydrated, the meat and ligaments, along with the mostly useless organs within the body, begin to wither. By the seventh day, when the character has reached Incapacitated on the Health chart, the character's eyes shrivel within his skull, the tendons and ligaments within the body draw painfully tight, the gums recede from the teeth, and the lips draw back in a death rictus. At this point, the character enters torpor.

Once in torpor, the character cannot rise unless supplied with enough blood to bring him back to Injured on the Health chart (at least four blood points).

A vampire emerging from this state is ravenous to the point of insanity, and will attack whatever source of blood is closest, regardless of any emotional ties. Leaving a vampire staked until he reaches this near-death state, then reviving him with just enough blood to prolong the agony, is a favorite method of torture for both mortal hunters and the Sabbat. Most vampires undergoing this form of torture suffer permanent mental damage as a result. (The information on paralyzed and staked vampires was found in Vampire: The Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition, page 293.)

 

Mortal Healing Times: Bashing Damage

Like vampires, mortals have seven health levels and suffer dice pool penalties for wounds. Unlike vampires, mortals can heal their wounds only through time, rest, and medical care. Moreover, mortals have no "torpor" state; any amount of damage below the Incapacitated level kills them. Mortals can soak bashing damage, but cannot soak lethal or aggravated damage (though mortals take no damage from sunlight).

Each level of damage to a mortal (whether bashing or lethal) must be healed individually. Thus, if a mortal takes enough bashing damage to reduce him to Incapacitated, he spends a full 12 hours in a delirious state before healing to Crippled. Healing that level takes six hours, and so on.

Bashing damage up to the Wounded level can be cared for without medical skill; these wounds heal on their own, without treatment. Bashing damage beyond Wounded may have deeper consequences. A mortal's vision or hearing may be altered due to a concussion, she may suffer excruciating pain from internal bruising, or she may experience some other extreme discomfort. These effects can be negated if the mortal receives adequate medical attention.

Once bashing levels reach Incapacitated, mortals fall unconscious, but do not sink below Incapacitated... yet. However, any further bashing wounds are X'd over previous bashing ones, making them lethal. At that point, recovery is handled as lethal damage. In this way, a mortal can be slowly beaten to death.

 

Health LevelMortal Recovery Time

Bruised to WoundedOne hour

MaimedThree hours

CrippledSix hours

Incapacitated12 hours

 

Mortal Healing Times: Lethal Damage

Lethal damage of any sort can be deadly -- that's why it's called lethal. Lethal wounds that go unattended may continue to bleed until the mortal passes out and dies from blood loss. Other dangers can also arise from infection, cellular damage, or broken limbs. (Aggravated damage is considered to be lethal to a mortal.)

Any lethal damage past Hurt requires medical treatment to prevent further harm. Untreated lethal wounds worsen by one level of lethal damage per day. When a mortal sustains lethal damage down to Incapacitated, he's one health level away from death. If he takes one more wound (whether bashing or lethal), he dies.

If the individual is at Maimed or higher, he may recover with rest over the times listed below. However, if the mortal is Crippled or Incapacitated, no recovery is possible unless he receives medical attention. Indeed, at Incapacitated the individual is comatose at worse and delirious at best, and could still die.

 

Health LevelMortal Recovery Time

BruisedOne day

HurtThree days

InjuredOne week

WoundedOne month

MaimedTwo months

CrippledThree months

IncapacitatedFive months