Character Injury and Advancement

Damage
When struck with a weapon, or otherwise injured, a character takes Damage. Like abilities, Damage is measured in dice and is subtracted from Action and Defense Rolls (but not from Second Rolls).

Damage is the total of the below 4 values. The main difference between these different types of Damage is how rapidly they can be healed. Also, recovery from Wounds and LTD requires a Healing Roll.


 * Stun is momentary disorientation. All Stun is removed immediately after Action Rolls are made.
 * Fatigue is reduced by 1 die after each turn of rest or 3 turns of very light activity (eg. unburdened walking).
 * Wounds gets a Healing-Roll every every third dawn.
 * Long-Term-Damage (LTD) gets a Healing-Roll every 21 days. All Wounds must be healed before LTD begins to heal.

Recovery
Stun and Fatigue are recovered automatically and without a need for die rolls. Wounds and LTD, however, need more attention.


 * Accelerated Healing: If Bob devotes the full day to healing (under reasonable conditions) that day will count as three days for purposes of healing Wounds or LTD.


 * "Injury Dice" (a term used in Healing Rolls) is the total of all current Wounds and LTD, but does not include Stun or Fatigue.


 * Healing Roll is (Hit-Points  minus Injury Dice) vs. Injury Dice. Normal success heals 1 Wound or LTD. Each Wound "healed" is transformed into 1 Fatigue; each LTD healed is transformed into 1 Wound.


 * Healing Conditions: every Healing Roll requires attention to injuries and access to medical supplies (splints, bandages, clean water, alcohol, etc.) If attention and supplies are not provided the Healing Roll is at Disadvantage or Double Disadvantage.


 * First Aid is a special Healing Roll for fresh Wounds (but not LTD). First Aid must be applied immediately after combat. Without a Healing Kit, the First Aid roll has Disadvantage


 * Healing Kit: A Healing Kit contains various medicines plus bandages, alcohol, sterile knives and scissors, needle, thread, and clean water. A healing kit has a limited number of times it can be used. Each use prevents infection and allows a chance of faster healing. With a Healing Kit, a Healing Roll result of 3 victories can heal 2 Wounds and 5 victories can heal 3 Wounds.

System Shock and Death
System-Shock occurs when total Damage >= Hit-Points; Bob falls unconscious immediately and must make a Healing Roll on the table below at the end of the combat. Automatic death results when Wounds + LTD >= Hit Points.

Ghosts and Reincarnation
When Bob dies or retires he has several options:

1. If dead, Bob may continue to play as a ghost. Bob may at any time choose to change from ghost to one of the other after-death options.


 * A ghost perceives only what the other PCs perceive.
 * A ghost can cast his own spells through another PC; this action takes the place of the PC's action.
 * A ghost can lend lend the die value of a Narrow Skill to replace that of a PC.
 * A ghost cannot earn any experience points.

2. If an appropriate NPC is available, Bob's player can take control of that NPC as his new incarnation. Bob may cultivate a henchman to be his successor.

3. Bob's player can create a new PC. This new PC will have certain advantages.
 * The new PC starts with ½ (round down) the previous incarnation's values for Narrow Skills with >= 4 dice.
 * The new PC starts with ½ (round down) the previous incarnation's values for General Skills and Attributes (with a minimum of 3 dice).

Ancestral Boon: Upon the death or retirement of a PC, that PC incarnation bestows an Ancestral Boon on all future PC's of that player. The player chooses one of his Narrow Skills to become an Ancestral Boon. The Boon allows subsequent incarnations to use that Narrow Skill once per day with the dice from the ancestor's Basic Die Pool. Choosing a second Ancestral Boon for the same Narrow Skill will replace the existing Ancestral Boon.

Character Advancement
To increase an ability Bob must pick his field of study before each session of play. At the end of that session he will receive experience points in that ability.

When Bob has earned enough experience points in an ability, he gets a permanent increase of 1 die. Narrow Skill cost is based on the number of dice to which the skill is being raised. Attribute and General Skill cost is based on the total value of all Bob's Attributes or all Bob's General Skills. The only limit on ability increases is that neither MUS nor NER can exceed the greater of 7 or 2 x SPI.