Bandages and such

[mayapuppies]

How many feet of bandage does it take to bind an "average" wound?

I'm thinking 3'. :D

[Blue Jogger]

This is just a number, but I'm thinking 2' per BODY for the first 7 BODY, x2 per BODY after 7. So a 10 BODY wound (or 10 1 BODY wounds), would be 112' feet, basically to wrap the entire body while a 5 BODY sucking chest wound would take 10' feet.

Note this assumes a 10 BODY, multiply by 10 and divide by the maximum BODY of the victim. Because a 20 BODY barbarian needs half as much bandages ("Tis, but a flesh wound"). Advanced techniques might cut this in half, while a lousy roll might double it.

Of course, it depends you need to evenly distribute the pressure (because you're going to walk on it) or just trying to keep it from being infected.

[mayapuppies]

That is an awesome answer! Thanks Blue Jogger.

[Thia Halmades]

Um... should I even ask on what planet we're actually counting feet of bandages being used? I thought we moved beyond this sort of thing. Ugh. Pardon me whilst I go wander off to answer some question that's a little less ... technical.

[mayapuppies]

It's a Mayapuppies thing.

[Thia Halmades]

It's a teeth grinding thing, but you know, whatever makes you happy, yo. I would argue, if you REALLY want to get into it, that it's a combination of damage & location (i.e., 2 BODY to the arm requires less bandages than 2 BODY to the thigh or the chest). So I'd do it as a combination of Hit Location and BODY done.

[Old Man]

I've always thought RPGs fostered an amusing attitude toward wounds. Your character gets nicked for 1 body and you blow it off--but in real life, if you got cut so bad it brought you 1/10 of the way to death, you might not be so blasé.

[Zeropoint]

Agreed. Earlier this year, while splitting kindling with a machete (bad idea, it turns out), I chopped into my left index finger, the blade going all the way to the bone, as best as I can tell. Probably not even a whole 1 BODY, but it sure got my attention!

[Thia Halmades]

Yeah, try handling a sword at that point. Pretty much impossible. And you were no where close to being endangered; just in LAWTZ of pain.

[braincraft]

Depends on the type of wound, the size of the body part, the skill of the medic, the type of bandaging used, what other supplies are available (with tape or other fasteners, you need less 'bandage' material proper), and mind you that there are different bandaging techniques used depending on all of these. You don't just wrap up whatever's bleeding like a mummy; you generally put a wad of something on the wound and fasten it down.

If there's structural damage, you also need stuff like slings and splints, which require more material on top of the wound dressing. If the patient can't walk, you need a stretcher, or improvised carrying device, or at least someone pretty strong who can carry him where you're going.

Different tech levels make this even weirder. If you have, say, a supertech 'skin-in-a-can', you might just spray it on, or you might have a flesh-mender raygun, or a portable regeneration cocoon.

I have no idea what you mean by 'average' wound, either. An average nicked finger while cutting vegetables? You need a band-aid, preferably with cartoon characters on it. An average gunshot wound? To the torso? Bandages are only going to slow the bleeding until you get to surgery. An average sword wound? Knife wound? Grenade wound? Laser wound? Average wound from a punch from a troll? Average wound from getting mauled by an animal? Average wound from a car wreck? Plane wreck? Fireball? Magic missle? Sprit drain? Getting bucked by a horse? Arrow wound?

It's very complicated, and there's probably not a lot of value in simulating it to a high level of exactitude. Just make shit up.

'Feet' of bandages. Geez.

[AmadanNaBriona]

Agreed. Earlier this year, while splitting kindling with a machete (bad idea, it turns out), I chopped into my left index finger, the blade going all the way to the bone, as best as I can tell. Probably not even a whole 1 BODY, but it sure got my attention!

I'd probably argue that it did at LEAST 1 body.

You can factor in the X1/2 Body Modifier for a Hand location hit, and the "No more than 1/3 of your total body can be lost to a Limb wound" optional rule to keep it sane, but when trying to evaluate IRL injuries in HERO terms there are a few benchmarks I look at, and here are a couple of the pertinent ones (I'll leave off the STUN benchmarks as irrelevant in this case):

Did it Impair or Disable the function of the wounded Location?

Was it Bleeding enough to require the application of your Everyman (or better) Paramedics skill? IOW... Was it bleeding enough that it required direct pressure & dressings to stop?

To illustrate....
When I broke my 4th & 5th metacarpals last year, it took a good solid couple of months to get my hand back to a usable state, and I still have some loss of function and persistent pain. By these tokens, I figure I Disabled my Right Hand (the long term effects are because I never had someone apply their PS: Doctor skill to negate the long term effects, because of my "Poor" wealth disad), which means that I took a wound in the location equal to my Body before Location Modifiers. If I have 10 body, then the wound must've been a 10(+) Body wound, dropped to around 5 Body by location Modifier, dropped to 3 because of the Limb restriction.

How I managed to inflict 10+ body past my PD by punching a wall is a mystery the HERO system doesn't usually address, however.

[mayapuppies]

And this is why I make these posts. Look at the loads of discussion it triggers. All of it getting interesting takes on a single event.

Thank you all for being Herodome!

[braincraft]

I'd probably argue that it did at LEAST 1 body.

You can factor in the X1/2 Body Modifier for a Hand location hit, and the "No more than 1/3 of your total body can be lost to a Limb wound" optional rule to keep it sane, but when trying to evaluate IRL injuries in HERO terms there are a few benchmarks I look at, and here are a couple of the pertinent ones (I'll leave off the STUN benchmarks as irrelevant in this case):

Did it Impair or Disable the function of the wounded Location?

Was it Bleeding enough to require the application of your Everyman (or better) Paramedics skill? IOW... Was it bleeding enough that it required direct pressure & dressings to stop?

To illustrate....
When I broke my 4th & 5th metacarpals last year, it took a good solid couple of months to get my hand back to a usable state, and I still have some loss of function and persistent pain. By these tokens, I figure I Disabled my Right Hand (the long term effects are because I never had someone apply their PS: Doctor skill to negate the long term effects, because of my "Poor" wealth disad), which means that I took a wound in the location equal to my Body before Location Modifiers. If I have 10 body, then the wound must've been a 10(+) Body wound, dropped to around 5 Body by location Modifier, dropped to 3 because of the Limb restriction.

How I managed to inflict 10+ body past my PD by punching a wall is a mystery the HERO system doesn't usually address, however.

Assuming 10 STR and 2 PD, you haymakered the wall and rolled max BODY.







And the wall had a damage shield.

[AmadanNaBriona]

Assuming 10 STR and 2 PD, you haymakered the wall and rolled max BODY.

And the wall had a damage shield.
Yeah, that works.

Or I might have a Susceptibility to Punching Things with more DEF than the DC of my attack, also known as "Fragile Mortal" :thumbup: