The Bleeding Rules

[Sean Waters]

I'm not having a go, despite what the title of this tread might suggest - I'm just suggesting a slightly different way to do bleeding:

 

Bleeding Rules

If you want more detail when it comes to bleeding, here are some house rules. They certainly will not be appropriate for every game, but I’ve tried to keep the feel as ‘Hero’ as possible. It is not as complex as it might look. Here is what I started with, as assumptions:

 

1. Not every wound bleeds

2. Not every wound bloods at the same rate

3. Wounds can stop bleeding on their own but it is not very likely

4. Wounds can open up more on their own but it is not very likely

5. Some types of injury are more likely than others to cause bleeding

6. Bleeding can weakness and can cause you to pass out and it can cause you to die

7. Wounds can open up in some circumstances until they are fully healed

 

Here is what I ended up with:

 

1. Bleeding threshold: Divide your Body by 3. That is your bleeding threshold. The higher the number the less likely that a wound will bleed, or, if it does, the more likely that the wound will bleed slowly.

 

2. When you take a wound, roll 1d6, add the number of Body that the wound inflicted and subtract your bleeding threshold number.

 

 

 

1 or less: This wound does not bleed/stops bleeding

2: This wound bleeds at 1 Body per hour

3: This wound bleeds at 1 Body per 20 minutes

4: This wound bleeds at 1 Body per 5 minutes

5: This wound bleeds at 1 Body per minute

6: This wound bleeds at 1 Body per turn

7: This wound bleeds at 1 Body per 6 segments

8: This wound bleeds at 1 Body per 3 segments

9: This wound bleeds at 1 Body per 2 segments

10 or more: This wound bleeds at 1 Body per segment

 

3. When the time period has passed, you take 1 Body from blood loss and roll 1d6. On a result of 1, the frequency of bleeding reduces by 1 level on the chart. On a roll of 6 it increases by one level on the chart.

 

4. OPTIONAL - You can randomise when the blood loss occurs after determining the next relevant period: roll 3d6. On a roll of 10 or 11 it occurs at the end of the period. Each point above or below that means the blood loss occurs earlier – each +1 or -1 means that the loss occurs approximately 10% of the time earlier. Example, you roll 7 on 3d6, which is 3 points less than 10. Assuming the wound is bleeding every hour, 10% of 1 hour is 6 minutes so the blood loss will occur after about 42 minutes. This never speeds up overall rate of blood loss: even if blood loss occurs early, the next check is not until the end of the relevant time period. It does mean that you could die earlier than expected though.

 

5. Each point of Body you heal through the use of a power or skill or even the effluxion of time, reduces bleeding by 1 level on the chart. A wound that is completely healed no longer bleeds. You can buy healing with a limitation: -1 ONLY to stop bleeding/deterioration for trauma packs and such.

 

6. Each 2 points you make a paramedic roll by reduces bleeding by 1 level on the time chart. You can make another attempt to stop bleeding but only after the next lot of bleeding damage is (or would be but for a transfusion) taken. NB for some characters a mechanics roll, or other skill, might be more appropriate than a paramedic roll.

 

7. With the right equipment (transfusion equipment and a supply of matched blood) you can compensate for blood loss by replacing lost blood. This requires the right equipment and a successful paramedic roll. It does not change the rate of bleeding but does prevent damage. You can also attempt to ‘heal’ Body damage due to blood loss: make a paramedic roll at -2 (you can not combine in a single roll an attempt to maintain blood levels and an attempt to ‘heal’ blood loss – pick one). If you succeed the target heals one Body due to blood loss and their bleeding rate is reduced by one level (as for all healing of Body). If you fail the bleeding rate increases. The patient never takes immediate damage from the procedure unless you are running a critical/fumble system.

 

8. Some attacks are more likely to cause bleeding: you can take a +1/4 advantage to an attack to increase the effective Body by +2 for bleeding purposes. You can take the advantage multiple times.

 

9. Some attacks are less likely to cause bleeding: you can decide that an attack never causes bleeding or adds any number you like to the target’s Bleeding Threshold for +0.

 

10. If you take a violent action whilst bleeding, including moving more than ½ combat move or using most combat manoeuvres (GM option – firing a gun, for instance, may not cause this problem), then roll 1d6. On a 6 the rate of bleeding increases. You do NOT take any additional damage though.

 

11. Whenever you lose body due to bleeding, you also lose 2d6 END which can not be recovered normally until that point of Body loss is healed. Once you are out of END, lose 1d6 STUN instead, same rules.

 

12. You can use this system, if you like, for deterioration once under zero Body, even if you are not bleeding: roll 1d6 and add the number of Body you took from the wound that put you negative. Do not subtract your Bleeding Threshold number. At each appropriate time period the deterioration works just like blood loss.

 

13. Additional wounds can bleed separately, if you are willing to track that. If not, roll for the new wound bleeding effect. If there is no bleeding, it does not affect the rate of bleeding. If the rate of bleeding is less than the current rate of bleeding, it increases the rate of bleeding by 1. If it is worse, substitute that new rate of bleeding.

 

14. Damage from blood loss usually heals MUCH faster than other damage – increase the rate of healing of blood loss damage to REC per week or even REC/day if you are willing to track it separately.

[ghost-angel]

Re: The Bleeding Rules

 

Interesting... pretty simple implementation actually. Little extra paper work for the effort, especially on the recovery side if you use the options.

 

But likely usable for those games wanting it.

[Sean Waters]

Re: The Bleeding Rules

 

Interesting... pretty simple implementation actually. Little extra paper work for the effort, especially on the recovery side if you use the options.

 

But likely usable for those games wanting it.

 

 

Thank you. I like to get the 'Time Table' in wherever I can - it is one of those little Hero Gems.

[director13]

Re: The Bleeding Rules

 

 

1.Bleeding threshold: Divide your Body by 3. That is your bleeding threshold. The higher the number the less likely that a wound will bleed, or, if it does, the more likely that the wound will bleed slowly.

 

 

 

Starting BODY, or Current BODY? Is there a convention for referring to each (non "Current BODY" reference always means starting BODY, for example) that I don't know about that simplifies these things?

 

In either case, I find this a more refined implementation than is in the books now. My group has weak Hero-fu (we do negative BODY bleeding for drama, but only worry about Impairment, Disabling, and Knockdown with Placed Shots), but I might add this to a couple of specific weapon builds as a "Bloodletting" Advantage for +1/2 to try it out.

[Sean Waters]

Re: The Bleeding Rules

 

Starting BODY, or Current BODY? Is there a convention for referring to each (non "Current BODY" reference always means starting BODY, for example) that I don't know about that simplifies these things?

 

In either case, I find this a more refined implementation than is in the books now. My group has weak Hero-fu (we do negative BODY bleeding for drama, but only worry about Impairment, Disabling, and Knockdown with Placed Shots), but I might add this to a couple of specific weapon builds as a "Bloodletting" Advantage for +1/2 to try it out.

 

Starting Body - body often equates, at least in part, to size/mass and I figure a given size of wound would bleed less on a larger target: what to The Human Target is a Sword through the guts, to Giganto is a metal splinter.

 

I know the correlation is not always there, but I also figure the Body is a measure of overall survivability.

 

BTW I was thinking of modifying the 'bleeding' advantage because adding a set amount favours attacks with a low basic cost over attacks with a high basic cost. Something like this might be better: for +1/4 , if the base attack causes any Body damage, that Body damage is DOUBLED for the purposes of bleeding only.

 

So a 1d6+1 KA (Bloodletting +1/4) costs 25 points, and if the atatck does Body damage through defences, that Body damage is doubled when rolling for bleeding (say it hits 3 point leather armour and the dice roll is a 4 (total 5) - it would do 2 points, but does 4 points for bleeding purposes - meaning the wound will bleed much faster).

[Greywind]

Re: The Bleeding Rules

 

Only Women Bleed...

[Sean Waters]

Re: The Bleeding Rules

 

Only Women Bleed...

 

Hmm. I have been predicating this idea on the basis of flow speed...

[prestidigitator]

Re: The Bleeding Rules

 

BTW I was thinking of modifying the 'bleeding' advantage because adding a set amount favours attacks with a low basic cost over attacks with a high basic cost. Something like this might be better: for +1/4 ' date=' if the base attack causes any Body damage, that Body damage is DOUBLED for the purposes of bleeding only.[/quote']

 

Hmm. What about a +1 Body per die or DC or something? That might be a decent enough bonus without being overkill (pun intended).

[Sean Waters]

Re: The Bleeding Rules

 

Hmm. What about a +1 Body per die or DC or something? That might be a decent enough bonus without being overkill (pun intended).

 

There's two ways you can approach this: increased Body for bleeding purposes before or after defences. They give rather different effects.

 

The former would allow you to build a weapon that may cause little or no initial damage but cause you to bleed out quickly, the latter just increases the rate of bleeding if you can score a wound.

 

The problem with increasing before defences is that you can get far too much bleeding: imagine a 6DC attack that hits 5DC armour on someone with a 3 point bleeding threshold. If you add +1 per DC before defences, you roll as if it was a 7 Body wound, which will bleed really fast.

 

Maybe it would be better as an adder: +5 points = +2 Body for bleeding only (apply before defences)