Combat Basics

Rolling Actions

When a situation must be resolved with force, time becomes broken into rounds, which have been already described. Within these rounds, four steps occur: (1) generating initiative; (2) take your two actions, resolve actions, finish movement; (3) determining damage; (4) repeating the steps, if necessary.

Step 1: Generating Initiative

As discussed earlier, determine initiative based on the first significant action or on initiative rolls. Initiative is 1D20 + Initiative Bonus. Then go on to Step 2.

Step 2: Take your Two Actions, Resolve Actions, Finish Movement

This is where the action starts. The person whose turn it is gets to decide what type of action their character is going to do. Once they choose, they then make a skill roll or whatever the actions will require. Note: some maneuvers use two actions to perform them. At any time during your turn, you can move your character around, up to their max movement.

Example: Heather has a character with a move of 10. They move their character 3 squares to hide behind some cover, fires twice at their opponents, then moves 7 more squares behind some better cover.

Free Actions. Free actions are just that: actions that you can take that don’t use up an action slot. These include:

Taunts

Moving

Perception checks

Short communication with teammates

Gestures or Expressions

Combat Difficulty Modifiers

The accompanying Attack Modifiers and Defense Modifiers charts list a few popular combat situations — some of which are explained below — that can modify the base combat difficulty. Regardless of the number of modifiers used, the total combat difficulty may never be below 3. The gamemaster rolls the indicated modifier and adds it to the combat situation. A standard modifier is included in parentheses after the die modifier, should the gamemaster

prefer not to roll.

Range: The effectiveness of a punch, weapon, or power depends on its range. All range modifiers are added or subtracted from the combat difficulty. Note that, unless a special maneuver allows otherwise, unarmed close combat attacks may only be made at Point Blank range. In most cases, this is true for using various melee weapons as well, though the distance can be increased to Short range if the weapon is longer than one meter. For example, a character with a support beam can whack an opponent at Point Blank or Short range. Ranged weapons can only hit effectively based on their Range attribute’s shortest range, usually 3 meters or more.

Range Chart

Range Distance to Target	Modifier
Point Blank, 0 –3 feet	-5
Short, 1 meter to first value*	0
Short Medium, First to second value*	+5
Long, Second to third value*	+10

*Values refer to values given in the weapon ’s range listing.

Escape: To break free from any hold, the character must make a successful opposed Strength or lifting roll versus the holder’s Strength or lifting. This counts as an action.

Group Attack: This is a coordinated action. See the description of the command skill in “Attributes & Skills” for details.

Scale

You may notice that a vehicle may have a body strength of 2D, while a character can have a Strength of 4D. Does that mean that the character is tougher than the vehicle? No!

The game uses “scales” to show the differences between different sizes and types of objects. You add or subtract dice to attack rolls, dodge rolls and damage rolls to show these differences.

The scales, from “lowest” to “highest,” are character (and creatures), vehicle, starfighter, capital and planetary.

The scale modifiers reflect the differences between small, fragile targets (like characters) and large, tough targets (like Ha’tak Motherships).

Scale	Modifier*
Character	—
Vehicle	2D
Starfighter	6D
Capital	12D
Planetary	24D

*When targets of the same scale are shooting at each other, ignore the modifiers; just roll attack dice, dodges, and damage die codes normally.

It’s when things of a different scale are affecting each other that you use these rules.

* Apply the difference between the two scales: this is now called the “adjusted modifier.”

Example: A Humvee (vehicle-scale) is firing at a Death Glider (starfighter-scale). The Humvee has a modifier of 2D; the Deathglider has a modifier of 6D. The adjusted modifier is 4D.

Lower Against Higher. When a “lower” scale character or vehicle is shooting at a “higher” scale character or vehicle:

• The lower scale attacker gets to add the modifier to the attack roll. If the target makes a dodge (or vehicle dodge or starship dodge), it just rolls its maneuverability (and dodge skill).

• The higher scale target adds the modifier to the roll to resist damage; the lower scale weapon rolls damage normally.

Example: The Humvee fires at the Deathglider. The Humvee’s .50 cal has a fire control of 2D and a damage of 3D+1. The Deathglider has maneuverability (2D) and a body strength of 6D.

The Humvee gets to add the adjusted modifier of 4D to its roll to hit. If the Humvee hits, the Humvee rolls the weapon’s normal damage of 3D+1. However, because the Deathglider is a higher scale, it gets to add the adjusted modifier of 6D to its body strength of 2D: it rolls 8D to resist damage.

Higher Against Lower. When a “higher” scale character or vehicle is shooting at a “lower” scale character or vehicle:

• The higher scale attacker rolls its normal attack roll; the lower scale target adds the “adjusted modifier” to its dodge roll.

• The higher scale attacker adds the “adjusted modifier” to its damage roll.

Example: Assuming the Deathglider survived the blast (and that’s a pretty safe assumption), the Deathglider’s pilot decides to return fire. When the glider fires, it uses its fire control normally. The Humvee, because it is a lower scale vehicle, adds the adjusted modifier of 4D to its maneuverability to dodge the attack. If the glider hits with its blast, the glider adds the adjusted modifier of 6D to its normal weapon damage. The Humvee only rolls its normal body strength to resist damage. (Bad to be the Humvee if they get hit….)

Miscellaneous Combat Modifiers

• The attacker is blind or blinded: +4D (+12) combat difficulty.

• The target is blind or blinded or attacked from behind: -4D (-12) to the combat difficulty.

• Weapon is difficult to use (character unfamiliar with technology, object is hard to throw or grasp, etc.): +5 or more to the combat difficulty; do not combine with the unwieldy melee weapon modifier.

Defensive Actions

The base difficulty to attack someone is 10 or the target’s defense total, modified by range and other factors.

Dodge: The character attempts to anticipate the final location of any attack and be in another place when it comes. Attack types include energy beams, melee and projectile weapons, unarmed attacks, and so on. This is accomplished by rolling the dodge skill.

Parry: The character attempts to stop their opponent’s attack by intercepting it. The character may roll their brawling, martial arts, or melee combat (if they have something in their hands) to block it. If the character uses a sharp or energized weapon (sword or dagger, for example) to parry an unarmed blow and is successful at the block, the attacker takes damage from the weapon. However, do not add the defender’s Strength to the listed value when determining damage inflicted this way. If the opponent strikes at the character with bladed or energized hand weapon and the character uses any part of their body to parry the attack, the defender always takes the weapon’s damage value. If the block was successful, then the attacker’s Strength is not added to the listed value. If the block was unsuccessful, then the target character takes damage as normal. The character may avoid this aspect by having armor, a shield, a special ability, or a suitable close combat specialization in melee parry.

Full Defense

A character who foregoes all of their actions for a round to completely protect themselves from attacks makes a full defense. The total rolled by the defensive skill plus +10 takes the place of the base combat difficulty. Skills can include: acrobatics, dodge, or possibly martial arts.

Full active defense total = any active defense roll + 10

Withdrawal

Characters can choose to avoid combat altogether and withdrawal from the scene. They must first have a path out of the combat area, if there is no path out, then they can either fight, full defense, or surrender. If there is a path out, then they must move at double their current move rate and take no further actions.

Offensive Actions

All-out. The character attacks with no thought to the consequences. The target has a better chance of being hit, but, in that round, the attacker cannot actively defend — or perform any other action — at all! This uses all your available actions, even if you have more than the usual two.

Knockout. This option does half of the normal damage, but it can render the target immediately unconscious with a successful attack. It requires a successful called shot to the head. If, after the resistance total has been subtracted, the target sustains at least two Wound levels, then they fall unconscious for a number of hours equal to the difference between the combat skill total and the combat difficulty or until he’s awoken by some external force, whichever comes first. The target, however, receives only half the Wound levels inflicted (round down).

Multiple Weapons. Weapons that characters can use with one hand and in either hand, such as knives or most guns, may be employed at the same time in the same round. The character incurs a -2D penalty. This penalty can be reduced or eliminated by Feats.

Prone or Crouching. Attacking a target that is crouched on the ground adds 1D to the combat difficulty. If the target is moving while crouching, then the combat difficulty increases by +2D, but the defending character’s normal Move, or running roll is halved.

For prone targets, subtract 2D from the combat difficulty when attacking at Point Blank or Short range, but add 2D to combat difficulty when attacking at Medium or Long range. Characters who willingly get low to the ground or make themselves small may get into and out of the position as a free action. However, a character forced into that position, such as a result of being thrown, need to make an effort to stand, which counts as an action.

Ready a Weapon. It takes one action per item to draw a gun, unsheathe a knife, reload a rifle, or something similar. Although this generally does not require a skill roll, the gamemaster may require one related to the weapon in question for particularly stressful situations. Additionally, drawing and using the weapon in the same round incurs a multi-action penalty. The gamemaster may add further modifiers for attempting to get out an item from a restrictive location or ready an unwieldy weapon.

Hand to Hand

Hand to hand combat is using your physicality to do battle. It is usually fought face to face, with no weapons. Brawling is an unskilled way of fighting bare handed and using physical power to do harm to another being. Martial Arts is a more refined and precise way of doing the same. Acrobatics can be used to maneuver and strike in unorthodox ways.

Acrobatic Tricks: Acrobatics can also enhance brawling, martial arts, and melee combat attacks. The character must perform the acrobatics trick and the attack on the same turn. The gamemaster determines the exact difficulty of the acrobatics attempt. The player may add one-half of the difference (rounded up) between the difficulty and the successful acrobatics roll to the amount of damage done (not to the combat skill roll). One acrobatics trick roll can affect one attack only.

Breaking Things. Use the demolitions skill guidelines in the “Attributes & Skills” chapter for determining the effect of damage on items.

Grab. The attacker physically grasps a target. Few melee weapons allow this option, so it is used generally only in brawling or martial arts attacks. The character does less damage with the grab, but they have a hold of the target with a successful attack.

Martial Arts. Martial Arts represent a codified movement designed to take an opponent out using just physical prowess. Below are Martial Maneuvers that Martial Arts practitioners know how to use. Each maneuver lists a difficulty that you can optionally add to the to-hit roll or just simply use the opponent’s defensive roll. The maneuvers also list damage or effects of the maneuver. Many of the maneuvers can be used with weapons.

Martial Maneuvers Chart

Maneuver	Skill & Difficulty	Damage/Effect
Basic Strike*	Martial Arts-Easy	STR+1
Choke Hold*	Martial Arts-Easy	STR+2d6
Crush	Martial Arts-Moderate	STR+3d6 (must follow grab)
Defensive Block*	Martial Arts-Easy vs. Att hit roll	Blocks the blow
Defensive Strike*	Martial Arts-Mod vs. Att hit roll	Blocks+Strikes;STR+1
Fast Strike*	Martial Arts-Difficult	STR+2d6
Flying Tackle	Martial Arts-Difficult vs. Dodge	STR+2-3d6; both fall
Grappling Throw	Martial Arts-Diff vs. Dodge	STR+2;Target falls,must follow grab
Killing Strike*	Martial Arts-Very Diff vs. Dodge	STR+3d6
Killing Throw	Martial Arts-Very Diff vs. Dodge	STR+3d6;Target Falls
Leg Sweep*	Martial Arts-Mod vs. Dodge	STR+1d6;Target Falls
Martial Block*	Martial Arts-Moderate	-2d6 to any rolls rest of round
Martial Disarm*	Martial Arts-Diff vs Att Str or Reversal	STR+2
Martial Dodge	MArts or Dodge-Moderate	vs. All Attacks; Full Dodge
Martial Escape	Martial Arts-Mod vs. Att grab or holds	free from grabs and holds
Martial Grab*	Martial Arts-Mod vs. Dodge	STR+1d6 to hold on
Martial Strike*	Martial Arts-Diff vs. Dodge	Str+1d6+1
Martial Throw	Martial Arts-Diff vs. Dodge	Str+1d6-2d6+2;Target falls
Nerve Strike*	Martial Arts-Very Diff vs. Dodge	Str+3d6 (Stun)
Offensive Strike	Martial Arts-Moderate vs. Dodge	Str+2d6; Kicking opponent
Running Strike*	Martial Arts-Diff vs. Dodge`	Str+2-3D6; -2d6 to all actions that rnd
Reversal	MArts-Diff vs Att grab roll or str	Escape from grabs or holds
Root	Martial Arts-VeryDiff vs. Att roll	Resists shoves,blocks;count as Full Dg
Sacrifice Disarm*	Martial Arts-Diff vs Att Str,Revers	-3d6 to any rolls rest of round
Sacrifice Lunge*	Martial Arts-Moderate vs. Dodge	STR+2-3d6; no defensive moves in Rd
Sacrifice Strike*	Martial Arts-Moderate vs. Dodge	STR+2d6;no defensive moves in Rd
Sacrifice Throw	Martial Arts-Mod vs. Dodge	You fall and opponent falls
Shove*	Martial Arts-Easy vs. Dodge or Root	falls or -2d6 to skills rest of the Rnd
Shove Takeaway*	Martial Arts vs. Dodge or Reversal	gain weapon;target falls
Takedown*	Martial Arts-Difficult vs. Dodge	Str+1;Target falls
Weapon Bind*	Martial Arts-VDiff vs. Attack Roll	Weapon bound

*Can be used with a weapon

Melee Attacks

Melee combat covers any hand-to-hand combat weapons, including swords, staff weapons-when used in hand to hand, axes and similar weapons. Most melee attacks use the melee combat skill (or Dexterity attribute).

Every melee weapon has a difficulty to use: Very Easy, Easy, Moderate, Difficulty, Very Difficult or Heroic. (Pick a specific difficulty number for the attack.)

If the attack roll is equal to or greater than the difficulty number, the attack hits; roll damage. Usually the weapon is a combination of strength and the weapon’s damage.

Weapon Difficulty: Melee weapons longer than 30 centimeters, objects that are hard to throw or grasp, ones relying on technology with which the user is unfamiliar, or any weapons otherwise difficult to wield incur a +5 or more modifier to the combat difficulty.

Ranged Attacks

Ranged combat covers any weapon that can be used at a distance, including firearms, grenades, staff weapons, energy weapons, bows… even throwing spears and knives.

Every ranged weapon is covered by a specific skill. (Unless otherwise noted, use the Dexterity attribute if the skill hasn’t been improved.)

Ranged Actions

Combat Maneuver	Time	Defense Roll Modifier	Damage Modifier	Notes
Burst fire as single	1 Action	0	-2D	To use one shot per trigger pull in an automatic weapon instead of usual 3 per pull
Called Shot	1 Action	+1D for a target 10 to 50cm, +4D 1 to 10cm, +8D < 1cm	knocks the item out of the target’s hand, pins the target to a wall, or does +1D (or more, at the GM’s discretion) to the damage.	A very precise shot to a very specific location, for a very specific effect.
Entangle	1 Action	0	0	Fire an Entangling Weapon
Full Auto	2 Actions	-2D	+2D	Holding down trigger on Automatic weap, can be defensive action
Hit Location	1 Action	See Chart	See Chart	Hitting specific target on a body
Single Fire as Multi	2 Actions	-1D(-3)per addl shot	+1D per addl	Max No. of Shots equals Clip Size, SS weapons only
Sweep Attack	2 Actions	-2D(-6)	-3D	Many blasts, Right to left spray of blasts
Brace	1 Action	+1D to attack, +1 to init, -4D to dodge	0	Using something to brace the weapon
Aim	1 Action	+1D to attack, +1 to init	0	As long as the target doesn't move from square, then bonus to attack.
Suppression Fire	2 Actions	0	0	Suppression Fire makes firer harder to hit on opponents’ turn, Add one level of difficulty to to-hit rolls, 9 or 15 ammo.
Short Burst	2 Actions	-2D	+2D	uses 6 ammo, many shots, one target (auto weapons only)
Long Burst	2 Actions	-3D	+3D	uses 9 ammo, many shots, one target (auto weapons only)
Full Burst or Empty Clip on Single Target	2 Actions	-5D	+5D	uses 15 ammo, or entire clip, many shots, one target (auto weapons only)

SS= Single Shot Weapons

Burst fire as single: 1 Action. This attack can only be performed with a weapon that is capable of burst fire (like an assault rifle) and that can be switched to single fire. The firer fires only one shot instead of a burst; it is primarily used to conserve ammunition.

Called Shot: 1 Action. Attackers can make a “called shot” against a small target, such as a specific part of a target’s body or shooting a weapon out of a target’s hand. Add +1D to the difficulty for a target 10 to 50 centimeters long. Add +4D to the difficulty for a target one to 10 centimeters long. Add +8D to the difficulty for a target less than a centimeter long. On a successful attack, they knock the item out of the target’s hand, grabs the limb, pins the target to a wall, or does +1D (or more, at the gamemaster’s discretion) to the damage. The exact result depends on the situation and the player’s intent.

Entangle: 1 Action. A character throws an entangling weapon at their opponent. On a successful firearms, missile weapons, or thrown weapons roll (as appropriate), the end of the weapon wraps itself around the target. Unless the weapon is spiked, electrified, or enhanced in some other way, it does no damage, but it prevents the target from doing any action except for trying to break free. The target may escape by snapping the bonds or slipping free, each of which counts as an action. To break the weapon, they must make a Strength or lifting roll that meets or beats the damage total of the weapon. To slip free, they need to roll a Dexterity or acrobatics total equal to or higher than the weapon’s damage total.

Full auto: 2 Actions. This attack is only possible with weapons that can fire at fully automatic settings (such as assault rifles, submachine guns, and machine guns). Since the character is taking quite a bit of time to “hold down the trigger” and pump ammo into the air, the extra “to hit” and “damage” bonuses are somewhat compensated for by the modifier to the character’s defensive value during the round they are performing a full auto attack.

Hit Locations. Hit locations are a special kind of called shot that allows a character to shoot or strike a specific point on their target’s body. The table below is used to determine the modifiers

for hitting a target of Human proportions in different areas of their body. Note that aiming at an arm or leg actually causes less damage — this is because the character took extra care to shoot an area that is “less vital.”

Hit Location Modifiers

Option	Difficulty Modifier	Damage Modifier
Head	+1D	+12
Heart	+4D	+12
Chest, abdomen	0	0
Left or Right Arm	+1D	-2
Left or Right Leg	+1D	-1
Left or Right Hand	+4D	-2

At the gamemaster’s discretion, sufficient damage to a particular hit location can affect the target’s ability to use that part. Except for blows to the chest, the modifier lasts until the character heals that portion (which typically takes a few days, as Wounds are recovered for the body as a whole, not just a specific part). When the first aid or medicine skill or a healing effect is applied, it can be specified to repair one particular location.

Hit location modifiers are in addition to Wound level modifiers.

Chest: The character can do no more than passively defend in the next round.

Foot or leg: −1D to all acrobatics, sneak, movement, and initiative totals.

Hand or arm: −1D to all acrobatics, brawling, climbing/jumping, melee combat, missile weapons, pick pocket, thrown weapons, lifting, and other rolls involving the hand or arm.

Head: −1D to all Knowledge, Perception, and initiative totals.

Random Body Hit Location. To determine the location where a character was hit, consult the following chart Random Hit Location Roll 1D:

Roll	Area Hit
1	Head
2-3	Torso
4	Arms (roll again: 1-3 left arm; 4-6 right arm)
5	Left Leg
6	Right Leg

Single fire as multi: 2 Actions. The character fires a weapon several times in a round at the same target. The most common example is when someone fires a pistol several times in a row at the same target. This option can only be used when a weapon automatically reloads itself after firing a single shot or when it is fairly easy to ready it for firing again (such as a .45 automatic, which puts a new cartridge in the slide as soon as the first one clears the barrel). It increases the character’s chance to hit a target, as well as the damage. It does not count as a multi-action as long as the shot is taken at the same target. One target, one die roll, one damage value.

Sweep (ranged): 2 Actions. The character wants to “spray a area” with ammo. This can only be done by characters with weapons that go full auto, burst, or single fire as multi (in general, just about any automatic weapon). The gun uses the amount of ammunition needed by whichever setting is used. They gain a positive modifier to hit (because of the sheer volume of shots), but this “non-targeted” attack results in a lower damage value.

Suppression Fire. 2 Actions. Suppression fire is intended to force the enemy into cover, rather than to actually eliminate them — essentially to suppress the enemy’s ability to return fire. If a gamemaster wishes, suppression fire may be used to increase an opponent’s difficulty to hit. The difficulty to hit is increased by +1 for every shot fired. Repeating firearms are much better suited to this than single-fire weapons. Characters using repeating firearms for suppression fire add a full level to the opponent’s Difficulty for every burst fired.

Short burst: 2 Actions, uses 6 ammo, many shots, one target (auto weapons only)

Long burst: 2 Actions, uses 9 ammo, many shots, one target (auto weapons only)

Full burst or Empty Clip on target: 2 Actions, uses 15 shots, or entire clip, many shots, one target (auto weapons only)

Grenades and Area Effect Weapons

When throwing a grenade, the thrower picks a target point; you determine the difficulty based on the range. Add a +5 to +10 modifier to the difficulty if the thrower cannot see where they are throwing the grenade (such as over a wall). If the roll is equal to or greater than the difficulty number, the grenade hits its target point. If the roll is lower it misses; see “Grenade Deviation.” Grenades have several activators: some are contact-based, some are time-based. If the grenade is contact- based, it will explode when it hits something. If it uses a timer, it will explode after a set amount of time. If the timer is set for less than five seconds, the grenade explodes at the end of the round in which it was thrown.

Grenade Deviation. If the character misses with the grenade throw, the weapon lands somewhere else. First, roll 1D to determine in which direction it deviates from the target point (see “Grenade Deviation Diagram”).

You must also determine how far the grenade goes. If the throw was at point-blank or short range, it deviates 1D meters. If the throw was at medium range, it deviates 2D meters. If the throw was at long range, it deviates 3D meters.

Blast Radius. Some weapons have a blast radius: everything within the blast radius is affected. Some weapons have several ranges for blast radius — the further away from the center of the blast, the less damage the weapon does. Because blast radius weapons are so powerful, you may want to determine exactly where a shot hits if the attack roll misses: you can use the “grenade deviation” rules above

Dodging Grenades. Characters can dodge grenades, but this only means they hit the deck and avoid damage.

Tossing Grenades Away. Brave characters can try to grab a grenade and throw it away if there’s time left. (Most people set the timer for five seconds so the grenade explodes immediately after it lands.) The character may pick a specific spot to throw the grenade (determine difficulty normally) or can throw it “as far away as possible” — have the character roll their grenade or Dexterity; the grenade goes as far as the roll will send it.

Gravity Effects

Option	Difficulty Modifier	Damage Modifier
Low Gravity	-1D(-4)	0
No Gravity	-2D(-6)	0
Heavy Gravity	+3D(+10)	0

Cover

When a target is protected by something — poor lighting, smoke, fog, a table — it makes their harder to hit. This is represented by a cover modifier, which is added to the combat difficulty.

Cover	Modifier
Light smoke	+1D
Thick smoke	+2D
Very thick smoke	+4D
Poor light	+1D
Moonlit night	+2D
Complete darkness	+4D

Target is:
1/4 covered	+ 1D
1/2 covered	+2D
3/4 covered	+4D
Fully covered	If cover provides protection, attacker cannot hit target directly; attacker must eliminate cover first.

Sample Protection	Body Strength
Flimsy wooden door	1D
Standard wooden door	2D
Standard metal door	3D
Reinforced door	4D
Blast door	6D

Damage Roll > Body Strength Roll by:

Protection is:

0-3

4-8

9-12

13-15

16+

Not seriously damaged

Lightly damaged

Heavily damaged

Severely damaged

Destroyed

Protection is:

Reduce weapon damage by:

Not seriously damaged

Lightly damaged

Heavily damaged

Severely damaged

Destroyed

Character is completely protected

-4D

-2D

-ID

Character suffers full damage

Surprise

When characters are surprised, their attackers can automatically take their first action before the “surprised” side can act. The “surprised” side cannot roll defensive skills to dodge or parry this first action.

How Do You Figure Out if Someone is Surprised?

When characters are laying an ambush, simply have each character make a sneak roll. When the targets of the ambush come with in range (just a couple of seconds before the ambush is going to be sprung), roll search or Perception checks for each target character: if they roll equal to or higher than any of the attacker’s sneak rolls, they spot that attacker and will not be surprised by the attack. If none of the characters spot the attackers, the target characters are “surprised.” (Ambushes are a good place to use “Secret Checks” as discussed in “The Rules.”)

Movement

Characters can move before actions, in between actions, after actions, or not at all. For movement difficulties, check the “The Rules” chapter.

Armor

Armor protects the wearer from damage. In game terms, armor simply adds to a character’s Strength roll when resisting damage. (It doesn’t add to any other Strength rolls.)

Armor may provide different levels of protection for differ ent attack types. For example, Jaffa armor provides +2D against physical attacks (bullets, melee weapons, and rocks, for example) but only +1D against energy attacks (staff weapon bolts and zat guns).

Some types of armor are bulky and reduce a character’s Dexterity and all Dexterity skills: Jaffa armor also fits this example, as it causes a −1D penalty to Dexterity and all related skills. Note that there are several feats that can mitigate these penalties.

Armor may not cover the wearer’s entire body; if you use the optional hit location rules, this is important since armor can’t protect an area it’s not covering.

Damaged Armor. When someone wearing armor suffers damage through a protected area, the armor is also damaged.

Armor Damage Chart

Injury suffered by Wearer	Damage to Armor
Wounded	Lightly Damaged (-1 pip)
Incapacitated	Heavily Damaged (-1D)
Mortally Wounded	Severely Damaged (Useless, but repairable)
Killed	Destroyed

Armor repairs are discussed in the “Using Repair Skills” section in “Attributes and Skills.”

Damaged Weapons

Weapons can suffer damage in combat, such as when a weapon gets shot, or gets dropped, or as a result of a “complication” that leads to a serious malfunction.

If a weapon is damaged, roll its body strength to resist damage. Most hand weapons — such as firearm pistols, axes and so forth — have a body strength of 2D (regardless of how much damage they cause).

Weapon Damage Chart

Damage Roll ≥ Body Strength Roll by:	Weapon is:
0-3	Not Seriously Damaged
4-8	Lightly Damaged
9-12	Heavily Damaged
13-15	Severely Damaged
16+	Destroyed

Lightly damaged weapons lose −1D of their damage value.

Heavily damaged weapons lose −2D off their damage and add +10 to all difficulties to use in combat.

Severely damaged weapons cannot be used, but may be repaired.

Destroyed weapons may not be repaired.

Weapon repairs are discussed in the “Using Repair Skills” section in “Attributes and Skills.”

Note: Damage to ordinary objects can also be covered using this rule. Pick the object’s body strength and compare the roll to the damage roll. Find the result on the chart above.

Miscellaneous Damage

Here is a small selection of various other harmful things that players may encounter during their adventures. Generally, no attack roll is necessary for any of these to affect a character, though a roll would be required if a person could somehow attack with it. The gamemaster determines what, if any, benefit armor and similar protection provides. Some equipment may even increase the damage! Damage is otherwise determined as per the combat rules.

Except falling, all damage is done per round of close contact. The gamemaster may decide that certain types in certain situations also affect characters at a distance.

Type Damage

Type	Damage
Botulism (severe case)	4D
Cold (extreme)	1D
Cyanide (fatal dose)	8D+2
Electricity (standard wall outlet)	1D
Electricity (major power line)	9D
Fire (torch-size)	1D
Hydrochloric acid (undiluted, any amount)	2D+1
Radiation (intense)	3D

Falling Damage Chart

Distance Fallen in Meters	Damage
3-6	3D
7-12	4D
13-18	5D
19-30	6D
31-50	8D
51+	10D

Environmental Effects

Extreme Temperature

In severe heat or cold, a character must make a Moderate Stamina roll each hour, adding a -1 penalty each hour. Particularly appropriate or inappropriate clothing can provide a bonus or penalty of up to 2D. Each time the roll fails, the character’s condition deteriorates, as though he/she was wounded by an attack. If the temperature is extremely hot or cold, the time required between Stamina rolls can be reduced to as little as 10 minutes.

Cold-blooded races suffer worse penalties in cold weather. Immediately upon exposure to a cold environment, a member of a cold-blooded race suffers a –2D penalty to all attributes and skills. The time between Stamina rolls is reduced by half, and Stamina difficulty increases one level. Heavy garments are of little help to cold-blooded races, since they do not produce body heat.

Breathing superheated air, such as that directly over a volcano, can also cause injury. Each minute requires a Stamina roll, with difficulties beginning at Very Easy and increasing one level each time. Each time the roll fails, the character’s condition worsens, as though they were wounded by an attack.

Suffocation/Vacuum

If a character is unable to breathe – whether being physically choked, or in an environment with air and pressure but no oxygen (or other vital gases) – a Stamina roll is necessary at the beginning of each round. Difficulty is Very Easy for the first round, increasing one level each round. Each time the Stamina roll fails, the character’s condition deteriorates as though he/she was wounded by an attack. When this happens, a Willpower roll at two levels higher difficulty allows the character to remain conscious and continue making skill rolls (even after becoming Incapacitated or Mortally Wounded).

Thin Atmosphere

In a thin atmosphere, a character must make an Easy Stamina roll each hour, with a cumulative -1 penalty each hour. The first three failed Stamina rolls give a –1D penalty to all skill rolls. After this, at each failure the character’s condition deteriorates as though he/she was wounded by an attack. These “injuries” are temporary and can be “healed” by 4 hours exposure to full atmosphere for each failed roll. A character can not recover from failed rolls while he/she is still in the thin-atmosphere environment, unless an air supply is available.

If a character is exposed to a vacuum, normal suffocation rules apply, but Stamina difficulties are increased by one level.

Add at least one additional level of difficulty for characters particularly susceptible to the effects of cold (such as reptiles and other cold-blooded races).

Radiation Sickness

The difficulty to avoid suffering the effects of radiation sickness is versus the Strength roll. If this roll is made, the character suffers the effects of the next lower level of radiation exposure.

Effects:

Fatigue: -1 pip from all attributes.

Nausea: -2 pips from all attributes.

Vomiting: -1D from all attributes, vomit every [STR] minutes, always accompanied by diarrhea.

Incapacitated: -2D from all attributes, cannot move, unconscious for 1D hours, awake for [STR] rounds, then lapse back into unconsciousness.

[STR]: make a STR roll to determine number

General Rule

Radiation cannot be seen or felt by human beings. The Gamemaster can recreate this fear by keeping track of the character's exposure secretly, rolling their resistance rolls "behind the GM's screen", and just informing them of the effects their characters are suffering.

Radiation is cumulative. A character exposed to 150 REM will be nauseous for a period of time, then recover. If the same character is later exposed to another 150 REM exposure they suffer the full effects of their total 300 REMS. Good Strength rolls will allow them to avoid the worst of the effects, but they still carry the full exposure. A human body heals .5 REM / year.

Things such as vomiting, diarrhea, & forced menstruation may be too much for some folks. Although realistic, in Stargate, such things are not often shown. So characters can just be "really sick" or incapacitated while suffering the game mechanic modifiers.

Sources of Radiation

Damaged hyperdrive 1D Rem / hour (until repaired)

Flying really close to a star w/o shields 10D Rem / orbit

Walking on a radioactive molten planet 2D Rem / day

"Low technology world" fission power plant meltdown: 1D Rem / minute if you're trying to repair the machinery

1D Rem / hour if you're down wind (in the fallout)

1D Rem / day if you're in the area after it's fixed

"Low technology world" medical X-ray/fluoroscopy examination 1 Rem

Surviving a near miss from a nuclear weapon detonation

1Dx100 Rem if your unit was the target

1Dx1,000 Rem /hour if you're down wind (in the fallout) this is reduced by half every 1D hours (GM rolls only once)

1D Rem / day if you're crossing the contaminated area quickly

Heavily polluted world 1 Rem / day

Medical Treatment for Radiation Exposure

Exposure	Wound Equivalent
50-99 REM	Stunned
100-499 REM	Wounded
500-1999 REM	Incapacitated
2000+ REM	Mortally Wounded

Natural Healing will eventually allow the character to recover from radiation exposure just like any other wound. It is a race between the natural healing rule and the radiation effects rule - both of which must be rolled to see which will triumph.

At low levels the radiation effects rule usually runs its course before natural healing can stop it. At high levels the radiation effects rule will usually kill a character before natural healing

has time to work.

A Medpack can be used to reduce the effect one level (e.g. Mortally wounded is lowered to Incapacitated), lessening the effects, but the exposure remains. Standard difficulties apply.

Radiation Effects Chart

Amount of Exposure	Difficulty to Resist	Effect
25 REM	Very Easy	Minor blood changes after 1D days. this is only detectable by medical scan
50 REM	Easy	Fatigue after [STR] hours lasting 1D days. 1D-2 minor benign tumors after [STR] days. this is only detectable by medical scan
100 REM	Moderate	Nausea and internal bleeding after 2 hours lasting 1D days.Females suffer forced, painful menstruation.
250 REM	Difficult	Skin turns red after [STR] hours. This is a radiation burn. Vomiting starting after 1D hours lasting 2D weeks.
500 REM	Very Difficult	Vomiting after [STR] rounds lasting until incapacitated. Incapacitated after [STR] hours lasting [STR] days. Death unless a STR resistance roll of 10 is made. Females are sterile for 1D months.
1,000 REM	Heroic	Vomiting after 1D minutes lasting until unconsciousness. Unconsciousness after 1D hours lasting until death. Death after [STR] days unless a STR resistance roll of 15 is made. Males are sterile for 1D months.
2,000 REM	Unable to Resist	Vomiting immediately lasting until unconsciousness. Unconscious after 1D minutes lasting until death. Death after 1D days.
5,000 REM	Unable to Resist	Unconscious after one round. Death after 1D minutes.

Sarcophagus or Healing Devices will eventually cure any level of exposure. Standard times apply. Sarcophagus or Healing Devices actually repairs damage at the genetic level, so all exposure is removed after Sarcophagus or Healing Devices treatment is complete.

Sanity Levels

Sanity levels work much like Wound levels. For Wounds, when you take physical damage, you roll your Strength to resist it. Depending on how many points of damage remain after the resistance roll, you suffer increasing levels of Wound damage. For Sanity, give each creature or horrifying experience a "Horror" level. The character experiencing the horror rolls their Willpower against the Horror difficulty, and takes Sanity damage based on how many points the Horror beats their Willpower.

Specific Effects of Sanity Loss

The rules above state that you take penalties to random attributes when you lose sanity. It is up to the gamemaster if the attribute is decided once, or if it's randomly chosen each time the character fails the Willpower roll. Having the same effect each time is probably more realistic (as the character develops a specific psychosis or neurosis), but choosing randomly has the potential to be even more unsettling and, in short, crazy.

The following are descriptive examples of penalties to your attributes :

Technical/Mechanical - Severe anxiety prevents the character from performing basic skills. The character feels tense most of the time, and during situations of major stress they feel completely out of sync, have difficulty concentrating, and possibly develop irrational phobias.

Perception- The character hears, sees or otherwise senses things that are not there. These hallucinations prevent the character from noticing obvious things, causes them to misinterpret

information provided to them, and makes it very difficult to communicate with others as they infer intention and motivations that are not really there.

Dexterity - Autonomic reaction. The character's hands shake uncontrollably when under stress, threatened of feeling angry, making it very difficult to perform fine motor skills or

feats of agility.

Knowledge- The character suffers selective traumatic amnesia, suddenly forgetting random things for no apparent reason. They also have difficulty concentrating and performing deductive

Reasoning.

Strength - The severe psychological trauma induces physiological trauma. The character suffers from migraines, intense muscle pain, nausea and other physically debilitating symptoms.

Healing Sanity

It is very difficult to restore sanity. Some options are:

Psychoanalysis - performed by trained professional on the suffering individual for an extended period of time (3 months or more) may allow the character a roll to heal one Sanity level.

Meditation- can be used in certain circumstances to remove Sanity damage.

Drugs or Alcohol- may temporarily remove one level of Sanity damage, but the character must make a Stamina check or suffer the physical effects of the intoxication (and risks chance of addiction).

Sanity Levels

Horror> Willpower Roll	Level	Effect
0-3	Shaken	You are startled with fear and cannot act. You lose all your actions for the next round. After that, you may operate normally, but you always have that horrible reminder somewhere in the back of your head of the terrible things you saw.
4-6	Disturbed	Something you have seen has affected you deeply. It will probably give you nightmares in the future. Whenever you encounter a stressful situation, you must make a Moderate Willpower roll or suffer -1D on a random attribute and all associated skills for the remainder of the scene.
7-10	Unhinged	You have seen things that humans are not meant to know. You have nightmares every night, and know you will never be the same again. Whenever you encounter a stressful situation, you must make a Difficult Willpower roll or suffer -1D on two separate random attributes all associated skills for the remainder of the scene.
11-13	Deranged	You have trouble distinguishing reality from your own twisted imagination. You have nightmares constantly, even when you're awake, and it's a constant struggle for you to operate normally. You take a permanent -1D penalty to all attributes and skills. Whenever you encounter a stressful situation, you must make a Very Difficult Willpower roll or suffer -2D on two separate random attributes, in addition to the previous -1D penalty.
14-15	Psychotic	The damage to your psyche is massive. Surely no human being could have survived what you have experienced, and so you question whether you are even still human. You experience overwhelming, often violent breaks from reality. You continue to suffer from the -1D penalty (as per Deranged, above), and when faced with a stressful situation you must make a Very Difficult Willpower roll or lose control of your character for the scene. Whether you flee, strike out mindlessly or curl up in a ball and sob is entirely at the whim of your Game Master.
16+	Vegetative	At this point, you character might as well be dead. You permanently lose control of your character as they are either forcibly committed to an institution or disappears into the darkness, never to be heard from again.

DISEASES

Diseases are viruses or other organisms that infect the body of a living creature. Infections can occur in a number of ways, such as coming into contact with another infected creature, touching diseased matter, consuming food or drink tainted with disease, or being the victim of a biological weapon attack. All living creatures have an immune system that is able to fight off infection which could lead to recovery. However, in severe cases medical treatment was required.

If left untreated, a disease could wreak havoc on a being. Depending on the type and severity, diseases could bring about unconsciousness, the loss of a limb or death.

Phases of Disease

• Exposure

• Incubation

• Symptoms

• Medical Diagnosis

• Treatment

• Recovery/Long Term Sickness/Death

EXPOSURE

Transmission of pathogens can occur in various ways, including physical contact, contaminated food, body fluids, objects, airborne inhalation, or through vector organisms. Infectious diseases that are especially infectious are sometimes called contagious and can be easily transmitted by contact with an ill person or their secretions.

Roll stamina against Contagious Difficulty for physical disease. Roll willpower against Contagious Difficulty for mental disease. If the roll succeeds, then the body fights off disease. If the roll succeeds by 5 or less, they become a carrier but do not become infected. Length of carrier phase is based on how contagious the disease is. If roll is failed, move on to Incubation

phase.

Contagious	Difficulty	Length of Carrier Phase
Very Low	Easy	12 hours
Low	Moderate	24 hours
Moderate	Difficult	2 days
High	Very Difficult	1 week
Very High	Heroic	2 weeks

Factors that affect Resistance

Situation	Contagion Modifier
Every day without water	+3
Every day without food	+1
Every day without sleep	+2
Poor nutrition	+10
High/low temperature exposure	+5
Extremely wet/dry environment	+5
Character has had a booster shot	-10
Previously been exposed to disease	-15
Excellent nutrition	-10

Most military rations constitute as poor nutrition, since a lot of it is highly processed to give it a long shelf life.

Optional Rules

If you want the disease to have a more long standing effect on the character, you could have the disease be weakened during this phase instead of destroyed, thus making the character roll Stamina resistance a couple of times.

If stamina/willpower beats Contagious Difficulty by:

1-5 Infection weakened: drops Contagious Difficulty by one level.

6-10 Infection severely weakened: drops Contagious Difficulty by 2 levels.

11-15 Body destroys infection

To add some variety or difficulty to a disease use the Mutating Virus Chart.

Mutating Virus Chart

1D	Result
1	Evolved Strain- Add one extra symptom to a disease
2	Virulent Strain- Increase Infection Difficulty by one level
3	Adaptable Strain- For every failed attempt to treat add +3 to Difficulty
4	Resistant Strain- Increase Treatment Difficulty one level
5	Mutating Strain- Increase Diagnosis Difficulty by one level
6	Fast acting Strain- Reduce Incubation roll result by half

INCUBATION

Incubation period is the time elapsed between exposure to a pathogenic organism, a chemical or radiation, and when symptoms and signs are first apparent. The period may be as short as minutes to as long as years.

The gamemaster secretly rolls to see how long disease incubates. Roll Contagious Difficulty, against any character that comes into contact with infected character that hasn’t been exposed to disease previously. If character for some reason goes to a doctor during this time, difficulty to diagnosis disease is increased by 2 levels.

SYMPTOMS

A symptom is a departure from normal function or feeling which is noticed by a patient, indicating the presence of disease or abnormality.

After incubation period is over symptoms begin to appear. If there is more than one symptom, the gamemaster may assign a number to each symptom than roll a die every day the character has the disease or just apply all symptoms at once.

Roll Damage after incubation period is over.

Fatal	Damage
Very Low	2D every 12 hours
Low	2D+1 every six hours
Moderate	3D every three hours
High	4D every hour
Very High	5D every half hour

MEDICAL DIAGNOSIS

Medical diagnosis refers to the process of attempting to determine and/or identify a possible disease or disorder and the opinion reached by this process. The treating physician or character must analyze the affected character identifying their symptoms and diagnosing their disease. If diagnosis roll fails, proceed to treatment with a +20 modifier to difficulty. If treatment fails, use Misdiagnosis chart and repeat diagnosis phase.

Optional Difficulties

Situation	Modifier
Patient is Incoherent	+3
Patient is Unconscious	+6
Patient can describe what bit, attacked, or describe symptoms	-3
Patient has physical evidence of what bit, attacked, or evidence of symptoms	-10
Disease/Injury is unknown to Doctor	+15
Doctor has heard or read about disease/injury before	-5
Doctor has treated disease/injury before	-10
Patient is from same planet as Doctor	0
Patient is from different planet but same system	+2
Patient is from different system but same sector	+5
Patient is from different sector but same region	+10
Patient is from different region	+20
Patient is from a species common to planet	0
Patient is from a species uncommon to planet	+5
Patient is from a species rare to planet	+10
Patient is from a species unheard of to planet	+20

Misdiagnosis Chart

1D	Result
1	Treatment interacts horribly with disease increase Fatal Damage by one level.
2-3	Treatment makes disease worse. +3 to Difficulty to treat.
4-5	No change.
6	Treatment provides clues about disease +2 to next diagnosis roll.

TREATMENT

The attempted remediation of a health problem, usually following a diagnosis.

Once the Physician has diagnosed the specific disease they will then try to cure it. If required skill is (A) medicine then that skill must be used. If first aid, (A) medicine may be used with a +1D bonus.

RECOVERY/LONG TERM SICKNESS/DEATH

On a successful Treatment Roll, the disease is cured and the symptoms disappear unless specifically stated. If the roll fails, symptoms continue and no treatment rolls can be performed for 1D hours. After a total of 5 failed Treatment rolls one of the symptoms becomes a permanent condition and the character suffers it the rest of their life, unless they take regular medication or undergoes complete cellular rejuvenation.

Allergic Reaction: Character has difficulty breathing or repeated sneezing for 3D minutes, -1D to sneak for duration of allergic reaction.

Anxiety: An Easy willpower roll must be made every round that an affected character is engaged in combat. Failure to make the required willpower roll indicates the character’s nerve breaks and they begin a blind retreat in a randomly determined direction. Multiple-action penalties apply when making the willpower roll.

Attention Deficit: Character must make a Moderate Perception roll to access short-term memory: recent orders, weather updates and so forth.

Blackouts: If a character rolls a 1 on the Wild Die during any attribute or skills checks, they experience a blackout for 2D rounds. During the blackout the character falls prone and cannot

move, see or hear.

Blindness: Difficulty for any vision-based skill or attribute checks is increased by five Difficulty levels. If medical treatment is not received before the effect’s time has elapsed, the blindness is permanent.

Blurred Vision: -1D to Vision Based search checks, -1D to any Dexterity skill rolls that require the use of sight: firearms, melee combat, dodge and so on.

Body Aches/Soreness: Reduce Move by 2.

Boils/Blisters: Causes a very painful and irritating itch, -2D to Perception and related skills. Reduce Move by 2.

Brain and Central Nervous System Shut Down: Character has suffered irreversible physical damage and cannot survive without permanent medical attention (life-support apparatus and so on). All Attributes and Skills reduced to 0D. In the field, the character can be stabilized by a Heroic+10 first aid or Heroic medicine roll; if the character does not receive the required medical attention, death occurs after the effect’s duration had elapsed.

Burning Eyes: -2 to Vision Based search checks, -2 to any Dexterity skill rolls that require the use of sight: firearms, melee combat, dodge and so on.

Catastrophic Parasitic Infection: Choose any 5 symptoms (Gm’s choice)

Chest Pain: Reduce Move by 2. Any skills requiring the upper body are reduced by -2D. i.e. lifting, climbing, etc.

Chills: Roll a Moderate willpower roll every 3 hours. If failed character is reduced to shivering uncontrollably for 2D rounds. Reduce Move by 4 and any rolls made are reduced by -2D for

the duration of the shivers.

Coma: Character lapses into a coma for the effect duration. All Attributes and Skills are reduced to 0D, and Move is reduced to 0. Character must receive a Moderate first aid roll once per day or will lapse into systemic shutdown (see below). If the character is stabilized, they awaken after the effect duration has elapsed.

Complete Biomass Conversion: Converts total body into energy. Must roll heroic stamina roll or the body completely disintegrates to energy.

Confusion: Represents mental feebleness, general incompetence, mild delusions, or intoxication. Confused characters suffer from the following: -1D to all Knowledge, Technical and Mechanical skills.

Congestion: -1D to Scent based search checks

Cough: Requires a Moderate willpower roll. If roll fails Character will cough. Can disrupt sneak or hide rolls, etc.

Coughing Up Blood: -2D to stamina and -1D to Strength rolls including resisting damage.

Crusting Around Eyes and Mouth: -1 to any Dexterity skill rolls that require the use of sight: firearms, melee combat, dodge and so on.

Deafness: Difficulty for any auditory-based skill or attribute checks is increased by five Difficulty levels. If medical treatment is not received before the effect’s time has elapsed, the

deafness is permanent

Degeneration of Nervous System: a loss of motor control. -1D to Dexterity and related skills after every failed stamina roll. If Dexterity is reduced to 1D then it becomes permanent nerve damage.

Diarrhea: This condition often occurs in tandem with Nausea, Dehydration, or Organ Failure of the stomach or intestinal tract. Sufferers of diarrhea will experience frequent urges to visit the bathroom and must succeed at both a Moderate stamina and willpower roll to resist this urge. While under the effects of diarrhea, character cannot attack or do anything requiring focused concentration. The only action such a character can take is a move action per round. Attempting any other physical activity will cause the victim to lose control of their bowels for 1D rounds. Prolonged diarrhea can also result in Extreme Dehydration and Fatigue.

Dizziness/Loss of Equilibrium: -1D to Dexterity, Mechanical and related skills.

Drowsiness: -1 to all skill and attribute checks for every stamina check failed.

Dry Heaves: Character must make a Difficult stamina check every 1D hours to prevent dry heaves. The attack lasts for 1D minutes.

Earache: Difficulty for any auditory-based skill or attribute checks is increased by one difficulty level.

Excessive Ear Wax Production: Difficulty for any auditory-based skill or attribute checks is increased by two Difficulty levels unless ears are cleaned every 3 days.

Excessive Mucus Production: -1D to any persuasion or Seduction rolls

Exhaustion: This condition usually follows the initial onset of Fatigue due to declining health, but some diseases have a much stronger effect upon their victims and cause immediate An exhausted character can only move at half speed and takes a -2D to all skill and attribute checks until the condition is alleviated. After 1 hour of complete rest, an exhausted character improves to a fatigued state.

Extreme Dehydration: Character is exceptionally thirsty, experience dizziness, lightheadedness, fatigue, and may lapse into unconsciousness. Character suffers a -2D penalty to all attributes and skill checks and movement is reduced to 5.

Extreme Hunger: -1D to Strength and related skills. Does not count when taking damage. Character must make a Moderate willpower roll every hour, if failed character must stuff

himself or suffer an additional -1D to Strength Skills.

Extreme Paranoia: The affected character believes they are the subject of a conspiracy. Character must make a Difficult perception roll to refrain from attacking fellow squad members.

All Multiple-action penalties apply.

Fainting: If a character rolls a catastrophic complication during any attribute or skills checks, they experience a fainting spell for 1D rounds. During the fainting spell the character falls prone and cannot move, see or hear.

Fatigue: -1D to all skill and attribute checks for every stamina check failed.

Fear: A Difficult willpower roll must be made every round that an affected character is engaged in combat. Failure to make the required willpower roll indicates the character’s nerve breaks and they begin a blind retreat in a randomly determined direction. Multiple-action penalties apply when making the Willpower roll.

Gaps in Memory: -2D to Knowledge, Technical, and related skills when trying to use skills that require memory.

Hallucinations: Character experience visual or auditory hallucinations.

Visual: reduce all vision based Attribute and Skill checks by -1D.

Auditory: reduce hearing based attribute and skill checks by -1D.

Hard of Hearing: Difficulty for any auditory-based skill or attribute checks is increased by four difficulty levels. If medical treatment is not received before the effect’s time has elapsed, Hard of hearing is permanent

Headache: -1D to any Knowledge or Technical and related skills.

Head Cold: -1D to Perception and related skills.

Hearing Loss: Difficulty for any auditory-based skill or attribute checks is increased by three Difficulty levels.

Heatstroke: a Moderate stamina roll. If failed the character must stop what they are doing and rest for 1D rounds.

High Grade Fever: -2D to stealth when attempting to hide from sensors. -1D to any Knowledge or Technical and related skills.

Hoarseness: Difficulty for speaking-based skill or attribute checks is increased by one Difficulty level. If using against an NPC such as a bargain roll. Modify the NPC roll by +5.

Immune Deficiency: A lowering of the victim’s immune response system, thereby preventing the immune system from effectively responding to an infection. Characters suffering from a temporary or permanent immune deficiency incur a -1D to -3D to stamina depending on the severity of the deficiency when rolling to resist further infections.

Increased Aggression: Character must make a Moderate willpower roll to refrain from attacking any nearby target, friend or foe; character may not use stealth during this attack.

Insanity: Character must make a Very Difficult Perception roll to refrain from attacking fellow squad members. All Multiple-action penalties apply. Desires, intentions and motives of affected character change unpredictably and frequently.

Internal Bruising/Bleeding: Character suffers a -2D penalty to Strength to resist damage and must receive medical attention before the effects wear off; failure to receive treatment results in the character’s death within 36 hours.

Loss of Appetite: Requires a Moderate willpower roll or the character doesn’t eat. -1D to stamina for every 24 hour period character goes without eating.

Loss of Directional Sense: Whenever heading to a never visited location, roll a die on an odd result the character has become lost. The degree of being lost determined by GM. Can have hilarious results.

Loss of Judgment: Character has difficulty making snap judgments or interpreting orders, All Perception, Knowledge and related skill Difficulties increase by one.

Low Grade Fever: -1D to sneak when attempting to hide from sensors.

Major Parasitic Infection: Pick any four symptoms (Gm’s choice)

Malaise: A weaker form of Nausea, more as a general feeling of sickness. A Character suffers a –1 penalty to Dexterity, A Easy willpower roll is required every time a character is in a situation that requires fast motion. If roll is failed, see vomiting.

Memory Loss: Victims of this condition must succeed on a Moderate willpower roll to remember even the most basic of Knowledge skills. If the roll is failed apply a –1D+1 penalty to all Knowledge, Technical, and related skills when trying to use skills that require memory.

Mental and Emotional Breakdown: A Very Difficult willpower roll must be made every round that an affected character is engaged in combat. Failure to make the required willpower roll indicates the character’s nerve breaks and they begin a blind retreat in a randomly determined direction. Multiple-action penalties apply when making the willpower roll. -2D to All Knowledge and Technical rolls.

Minor Parasitic Infection: Pick any three symptoms (GM’s choice)

Muscle Spasms: A Difficult stamina check. If failed Muscle spasms travel throughout body. A Difficult Strength roll to hold on to anything the character is holding. (firearms, comlinks, swords, etc.) Move is reduced by half. Any Dexterity skills are reduced by -2D for duration of spasm.

Muscle Weakness: -1D+1 to Strength and related skills

Nausea: -2 penalty to Dexterity, A Moderate willpower roll is required every time a character is in a situation that requires fast motion. If roll is failed, see vomiting.

Nervous Twitches: A moderate stamina check. If failed twitches travel throughout body. A moderate Strength roll to hold on to anything the character is holding. (firearms, comlinks, swords, etc.). Any Dexterity skills are reduced by -1D for duration of twitch.

Numbness: numbness in the extremities. -2 to Dexterity in fine motor activities.

Painful Stomach Cramps: Move is reduced by 2.

Panic Attack: A Moderate willpower roll must be made every round that an affected character is engaged in combat. Failure to make the required willpower roll indicates the character’s nerve breaks and they begin a blind retreat in a randomly determined direction. Multiple-action penalties apply when making the willpower roll.

Paralysis: Character is rendered completely immobile, though they remain conscious. If the character does not receive medical attention, the paralysis becomes permanent after the

effect duration elapses.

Paralysis (Crippling): Characters muscles spasm and seize up reducing movement to zero. Airways close and lungs do not function If victim is not hooked up to a breathing device after

3D minutes they will die of asphyxiation.

Paranoia: The affected character believes they are the subject of a conspiracy. Character must make a Moderate Perception roll to refrain from attacking fellow squad members. All multiple-actions penalties apply.

Parasitic Infection: Pick any two symptoms. (GM’s choice)

Partial Paralysis: Character loses the use of a limb. (Choice of GM). Paralysis in a leg reduces movement to 5. Paralysis in arm reduces Dexterity by -2D.

Permanent Nerve Damage: Character suffers a loss of motor control. Dexterity and related skills are all permanently reduced to 1D and can not be improved.

Permanent Psychosis/Dementia: Character’s Perception, Knowledge, Technical, and Mechanical attributes and skills are permanently reduced to 1D and can not be advanced.

Psychosis/Dementia: Perception, Knowledge, Technical, and Mechanical attributes and skills are reduced 1D for effect duration. The character suffers no permanent mental damage, recovering completely after the effect’s duration has elapsed.

Rash/Burning Skin/Irritation: Creates a distracting itch, -1D to Perception and related skills.

Reduced Circulation: Some diseases or conditions reduce blood flow or otherwise prevent the blood from adequately oxygenating the body. Characters suffering from reduced circulation will immediately feel fatigued and experience chills.

Respiratory Ailment: Character has extreme difficulty breathing. Move is reduced by 2. If bacta treatment is not received before 24 hours has elapsed, the character suffocates.

Ringing in the Ears: Difficulty for any auditory-based skill or attribute checks is increased by two Difficulty levels.

Severe Allergic Reaction: must succeed at a Moderate Strength check. Failure indicates that the character’s throat swells shut, impairing breathing. If not treated with the appropriate anti-toxin, the character will suffocate. Even if the Strength check is successful, the character will be stricken with severe headache and stomach cramps which penalizes all the character’s actions by -1D for twenty hours. This illness can be cured by administering the appropriate antitoxin.

Shortness of Breath: Move reduced by 1. Spleen Failure: When you make any sort of physical effort i.e. running, jumping, dodging, you feel a degree of exhaustion. In this case, roll a Moderate stamina skill or else a -1D to All skills and attribute rolls, except STR when taking damage. This exhaustion-caused damage is cumulative and you are subjected to -1D to all skills each time you fail the roll.

Stiffness: Move reduced by 3. Strange Sensation of Hands Fading Away: In periods of stress, character feels like their hands are disappearing. Character must make a Moderate willpower must be made every round that an affected character is engaged in combat. Failure results in character dropping whatever they are holding.

Stupor: All attributes and skills reduced to 1D for the entire effect duration unless the character receives immediate medical attention (Heroic first aid or Very Difficult (A) medicine roll)

Sweats: -2 to stamina rolls.

Swelling of Fingers: Reduce all attribute and skill checks involving the use of fingers by -1D.

Swelling of Tongue: Reduce all speaking based attribute and skill checks by -1D.

Syncopated Breathing Rhythm That Sometimes Causes Ventricular Fibrillation of the Heart: During periods of extreme physical or emotional effort. A Difficult stamina roll is required. If failed roll a die, if it comes up odd then the character suffers a heart attack. 5D damage.

Systemic Shutdown: Character has suffered irreversible physical damage and cannot survive without permanent medical attention (life-support apparatus and so on). All attributes and skills reduced to 0D. In the field, the character can be sta bilized by a Heroic first aid or Very Difficult medicine roll; if the character does not receive the required medical attention, death occurs after the effect’s duration had elapsed. Tissue Liquefaction: The character’s skin tissues break down rapidly, causing extreme pain, bleeding and-if medical treatment (a Very Difficult (A) medicine roll) is not received before the effect’s duration elapses-death. Character’s attributes, skills and movement are all reduced to 0D.

Total Organ Failure: Movement reduced to 0, character requires immediate attention or will die in 1D rounds.

Toxin Intolerance: This condition limits the safe and effective removal of toxins from the victim’s body. Characters suffering from toxin intolerance incur a -2D penalty to all stamina rolls against poisons and drugs.

Tremors/Convulsions: Character experiences seizures. Seizures inflict the character’s Strength +1D damage. During the seizure and for 1D rounds after, the character’s skills are all reduced by -3D (minimum of 0D). Strength is not affected for the purposes of resisting damage, and in this case armor bonuses apply.

Vertigo: -1D+1 climbing/jumping, running and dodge skills.

Voice Loss: Difficulty for any speaking based skill or attribute checks is increased by two Difficulty levels. If using against an NPC such as a bargain roll. Modify the NPC roll by +10.

Vomiting: Character must make a Very Difficult stamina check every 1D hours to prevent vomiting. The attack lasts for 1D minutes, and reduces all skills and attributes by -1D for 3D

hours.

Weight Loss: -1 to stamina

Welts: Creates a painful and distracting itch. -2D to Perception and related skills.

Step 3: Determining Damage

If a character successfully hits their target, they may have done damage to it. To determine the damage done, roll the damage die code for the weapon. Some weapons list their value as STR plus a die code; in this case, add the attacker’s Strength die code to the listed die code, then roll this total to figure out the damage. Unless a skill or special ability alters it, normal humans have an unarmed damage die code equal to their Strength.

The damage total is then compared to a resistance total and checked on the Wound Level table to determine how much damage was done. If the resistance total is greater than (but not equal to) the damage total, the defender incurs no injuries (beyond an annoying bruise, a shallow scrape, a light burn, or dented armor).

Wound Levels

Damage Total ≥ Resistance Total By:	Effect
0-3	Stunned
4-8	Wounded
9-12	Incapacitated
13-15	Mortally Wounded
16+	Killed

Note: Penalties imposed by each level are not cumulative and they are not included when determining the resistance total or damage done by non-Strength-based weapons.

Stunned: –1D for all remaining actions this round and next round; a second stun moves the injury status to “wounded.”

Wounded: –1D to all actions until healed; a second wound or stun on top of this makes the character “wounded twice” for a total of –2D on all actions.

Incapacitated: The character is severely injured. As a free action before losing consciousness, they may try to stay up with a Moderate (15) stamina roll. If the character succeeds, they may continue to act, but all actions have a –3D penalty. If they fail, they are knocked out for 10D minutes.

Mortally Wounded: The character is near death and knocked unconscious with no chance to keep up. Roll the character’s Strength each round, the character finally dying if the roll is less than the number of rounds a character’s been mortally wounded. Another other wound level also can kill the character.

Killed: The character is toast. Sorry.

Resistance Total

The resistance total equals the target character’s Strength plus any bonuses from armor or special abilities minus any modifiers from disease or ingested poisons. Do not include any wound level modifier when attempting to resist damage.

Some feats can help with resisting damage.

Stun Damage

For weapons that do stun damage, after the number of wounds have been determined but before applying them, reduce the weapon’s damage by two wounds levels, with a minimum level of stun. If the victim suffers at least one wound, that character is also knocked out for a number of

minutes equal to the difference between the resistance total and the damage total.

If the fight isn’t finished after one round, then return to Step 1 and do it all over again. Repeat these steps until the fight is resolved in favor of one side or the other.

Step 4: Repeat the Steps, if Necessary

If combat is not fully resolved and still ongoing, then repeat the steps, starting with step 2. Initiative will hold where it was previously listed, unless factors during the last round moved the order around.

Healing

There are many different ways that characters can regain their health.

Natural Healing

A character can heal naturally, but this process is slow. The character must rest for a specified amount of time and then can make a healing roll: roll the character’s full Strength and find the result on the chart related to the character’s current wound level to see if the character heals.

Healing characters can do virtually nothing but rest. A character who tries to work, exercise, or adventure must subtract -1D from their Strength when they make their healing roll. Any character who opts to “take it easy” and do virtually nothing for twice the necessary time may add +1D to their Strength roll to heal.

Wound Levels and NPCs

To reflect the average nonplayer character’s relative unimportance to the universe, gamemasters may wish to eliminate one or more of an NPC’s wound levels. Pure cannon fodder might take one wound before keeling over, while the main villain and their most important henchperson should get the full complement.

Healing Charts

Natural Rest Period

Level of Wound	Rest Period
Stunned*	1 minute
Wounded	3 days
Wounded 2x	Twice 3 days
Incapacitated	2 weeks
Mortally Wounded	5 weeks

*A stunned wound is automatically recovered after one minute (2 rounds) of complete rest.

Wounded

Strength Roll	Result
Critical Failure	Character worsens to wounded twice.
2-5	Character remains wounded.
6+	Character is fully healed.

Wounded Twice

Strength Roll	Result
Critical Failure	Character worsens to incapacitated.
2-5	Character remains wounded twice.
6+	Character improves to wounded.

Incapacitated

Strength Roll	Result
Critical Failure	Character worsens to mortally wounded.
2-7	Character remains incapacitated.
8+	Character is improves to wounded twice.

Mortally Wounded

Strength Roll	Result
Critical Failure	Character dies..
2-7	Character remains mortally wounded.
8+	Character is improves to incapacitated.

Assisted Healing

Injury Level	Difficulty
Stunned, unconscious	Easy (10)
Wounded, Wounded Twice	Moderate (15)
Incapacitated	Difficult (20)
Mortally Wounded	Very Difficult (30)

Using Skills to Heal

Characters can heal others or themselves with some basic field procedures for treating wounds. Such attempts don’t require a med kit. Simply roll first aid or medicine (or Technical) to treat wounds in the field, and find the results on the Assisted Healing chart. A successful roll heals the character up one level: for instance, a successful medicine roll on someone who’s wounded would bring them back to stunned. A character using a med kit may add its bonus to the roll.