Wound System

Design Decision: Pools + Structural Damage

No hit points. Instead, wounds are dynamically generated from attack inputs and produce effects across three trackable pools (Blood Loss, Pain, Stress) plus persistent structural impairments on specific body regions. Each wound is a unique narrative event with specific mechanical consequences.

Core Principle

Wounds should feel real and consequential. A bullet to the thigh is not “-15 HP.” It’s a muscle tear with moderate bleeding, sharp pain, and a limp. The VTT generates, tracks, and displays all of this. Players never do wound math — they see their character’s condition and act accordingly.

The Three Pools

These are running totals tracked by the VTT in real time. They represent your character’s overall physiological and psychological state.

1. Blood Loss

Starts at 0%. Increases over time based on active, untreated bleeding wounds. Each bleeding wound contributes a bleed rate that feeds this pool continuously.

Threshold	Effect
0-25%	Functional. No mechanical penalties.
25-50%	Lightheaded. Minor penalties to Focus-dependent actions (aiming, hacking).
50-70%	Seriously weakened. Major penalties across all actions. Movement reduced. Risk of passing out (Endurance check when exerting).
70-90%	Critical. Losing consciousness. Endurance check each round to remain awake. Cannot sprint.
90-100%	Dying. Unconscious. Death without immediate intervention.

Treatment: Bandages and hemostatic agents reduce or stop bleed rates on individual wounds. Tourniquets stop limb bleeding entirely but the limb becomes unusable. Blood transfusion items (if available) directly reduce the blood loss percentage. A medbay can restore blood volume fully.

2. Pain

Starts at 0. Spikes with each wound. Slowly decays over time (adrenaline, your body adjusting) but remains elevated while wounds are untreated. Each wound adds a pain value based on type and severity.

Threshold	Effect
Below tolerance	Functional. Character is hurting but operating. Minor penalties to fine motor tasks.
At tolerance	Impaired. Actions take longer (channel time costs increase), accuracy drops, movement penalized.
Above tolerance	At risk of incapacitation. Willpower check to continue acting each round.
Far above tolerance	Incapacitated by pain. Cannot act until pain is managed.

Pain tolerance is stat-based — derived from Endurance and combat experience. Veterans can take more punishment before it degrades their performance. Rookies have lower thresholds.

Treatment: Pain stims and analgesics push the tolerance threshold up temporarily. Consumable, limited supply. Side effects when they wear off (crash, jitteriness, dependency with repeated use). A medic can administer stronger pain management.

3. Stress / Morale

Accumulates from combat events — not just wounds. Taking fire, seeing allies hurt, horrific sights, extended combat without rest. Decays with rest, safety, and distance from combat.

Threshold	Effect
Below threshold	Alert, focused. Normal operation.
Approaching threshold	Shaken. Player can SEE the meter climbing. Minor penalties. Warning zone.
At threshold	At breaking point. Next shock event triggers a Willpower check to avoid panic.
Above threshold	Breaking. Severe penalties. May freeze, flee, or act irrationally.
Far above	Broken. Cannot function in combat. Must be removed from the situation.

Stress is visible and predictable. The player always sees where they are on the meter. They can choose to fall back, take cover, catch their breath. Stress is a resource they manage, not a surprise that steals agency.

Stress tolerance is primarily experience-based. Hardened veterans may have near-immunity to combat stress. Rookies break faster. Specific traits can modify this (Iron Will, etc.).

Stress sources: Taking wounds (severity matters), seeing allies wounded, seeing allies killed, being suppressed (pinned by fire), horrific sights, extended combat, isolation.

Stress reducers: Rest, safety, successful actions (killing a threat, reaching cover), ally support/encouragement, specific items (mild sedatives — with tradeoffs).

Structural Damage (One-Time Events)

Beyond the three pools, each wound can cause structural damage to the body region it hits. These are persistent impairments that last until healed.

Body Region Structures

Each body region contains anatomical structures at different depths:

Depth	Structures	Hit Severity Required
Surface	Skin, superficial tissue	Any hit
Shallow	Muscle, tendons, minor blood vessels	Low-moderate
Deep	Bone, major blood vessels, nerves	Moderate-high
Critical	Organs (torso), CNS (head/spine), major arteries	High-extreme

The wound’s severity (determined by penetration that got through armor, weapon damage type, and hit quality) determines how deep the damage goes. A grazing hit damages surface tissue. A full-penetration rifle round reaches deep structures. A railgun round reaches critical structures.

Structural Damage → Effects

When a structure is damaged, it automatically contributes to the pools AND creates persistent impairments:

Structure Damaged	Pool Contributions	Persistent Impairment
Skin/surface tissue	Minor pain, minimal bleed	None
Muscle	Moderate pain, light-moderate bleed	Reduced function of affected limb/region
Tendon	Sharp pain	Severe impairment to affected limb
Minor blood vessel	Moderate bleed	None (bleed is the issue)
Bone (fracture)	Severe pain, stress	Limb partially usable but movement restricted
Bone (break)	Extreme pain, high stress	Limb immobilized
Major blood vessel	Heavy-arterial bleed, shock	Rapid blood loss — minutes to treat
Nerve	Sharp pain then numbness	Loss of sensation/control in affected area
Organ (non-vital)	High pain, internal bleed, stress	Debuffs until surgical treatment
Organ (vital — heart, brain)	Catastrophic bleed, extreme pain	Near-instant incapacitation, death without extraordinary intervention
Eye	High pain, stress	Partial/full blindness
Ear	Moderate pain	Hearing impairment

Limb Loss / Traumatic Amputation

At extreme severity (catastrophic weapons like railguns, explosions at close range), a hit can cause traumatic amputation:

Immediate massive blood loss (arterial bleed + volume)
Extreme pain spike
Extreme stress spike
Permanent loss of limb function until augmentation/prosthetic
Can be stabilized with tourniquet + trauma care, but the limb is gone

Wound Generation Pipeline

When a hit penetrates armor (from the Attack Resolution system):

Inputs

Damage type: Kinetic, thermal, plasma, electrical, chemical, explosive
Remaining penetration: How much energy got through armor
Body region: Which silhouette zone was hit
Hit quality: Grazing, solid, critical (from how centered the cone sample was)
Environmental conditions: Atmosphere, pressure, suit integrity

Processing

Determine severity from remaining penetration + hit quality → maps to a depth (surface → critical)
Check structures at that depth in the hit region
Generate structural damage based on damage type (kinetic → impact/fracture, thermal → burn, etc.)
Compute pool contributions: Each damaged structure adds to Blood Loss rate, Pain value, and Stress value
Generate impairments: Persistent effects from structural damage
Check environmental secondaries: Suit breach? → chemical/vacuum/thermal exposure as additional damage event
Output: Narrative wound description + pool updates + impairment list + healing requirements

Output Example

Input: 7.62mm kinetic round, moderate penetration (armor partially stopped), left thigh, solid hit.

Generated wound: “7.62mm GSW, left thigh — deep muscle damage, minor femoral vein involvement”

Pool contributions:

Blood Loss rate: +Moderate (active bleed from vascular damage)
Pain: +35 (deep tissue + vascular, sharp)
Stress: +10 (wound shock)

Persistent impairments:

Left leg: Limping (movement speed reduced ~40%, cannot sprint)

Treatment needed:

Field: Hemostatic agent + pressure bandage to stop bleed. Pain stim for function.
Medbay: Vascular repair + tissue regen. Full recovery in days.

Input: Railgun round, full penetration (armor failed), center chest, critical hit.

Generated wound: “Railgun penetration, center chest — catastrophic thoracic trauma, heart perforated, bilateral lung collapse”

Pool contributions:

Blood Loss rate: +Catastrophic (heart perforated, massive internal hemorrhage)
Pain: +100 (system shock, beyond pain threshold for almost anyone)
Stress: +50 (mortal wound)

Persistent impairments:

Incapacitated (unconscious within 1 round)
Fatal without extraordinary intervention within 1-2 rounds

Damage Types

Different weapons produce different damage profiles:

Damage Type	Primary Effects	Secondary Effects
Kinetic (ballistic, railgun)	Tissue penetration, bone fracture, organ damage	Fragmentation (if round breaks up)
Thermal (fire, plasma)	Burns (surface to deep), tissue charring	Pain spike, potential cauterization (may reduce bleed)
Electrical	Electrical burns, nerve disruption, cardiac risk	Muscle spasm, temporary paralysis
Chemical	Chemical burns, systemic poisoning	Ongoing damage if not decontaminated
Explosive	Fragmentation + concussive force, amputation risk	Wide area of structural damage, hearing damage

Environmental Secondaries

When a wound breaches protective equipment in a hostile environment:

Environment	Secondary Effect
Chemical atmosphere	Chemical burns on exposed wound, potential systemic poisoning
Vacuum	Decompression injury, rapid heat loss, suffocation risk
Extreme cold	Frostbite on exposed tissue, hypothermia acceleration
Extreme heat	Thermal burns on exposed tissue
Radiation	Radiation exposure through breach

Treatment Items (Examples)

Item	Effect	Notes
Bandage/dressing	Reduces bleed rate on a wound	Basic, common
Hemostatic agent	Stops bleed on a wound rapidly	Faster than bandage, limited supply
Tourniquet	Stops all bleed from a limb	Limb becomes unusable, time-limited before permanent damage
Pain stim	Raises pain tolerance temporarily	Side effects when it wears off. Diminishing returns on repeated use
Blood transfusion pack	Directly reduces blood loss %	Heavy, bulky, valuable
Combat surgery tools	Can address deep structural damage in field	Requires Medicine skill, takes significant time
Bone stabilizer	Immobilizes fracture, reduces pain from movement	Doesn’t heal — prevents worsening
Burn gel	Treats thermal/chemical burns, reduces ongoing pain	Specific to burn wounds
Decontamination kit	Clears chemical exposure	Prevents ongoing chemical damage

Interaction with Other Systems

Attack Resolution: Provides hit region, penetration, damage type, and hit quality. Wound system takes these inputs.
Action Economy: Wounds degrade action economy — pain increases channel time costs, physical impairments restrict what actions are available, blood loss limits exertion.
Initiative: Turn order is NOT affected by wounds (design decision). Wounds affect what you can do, not when you act.
Reactions: Wounds may reduce reaction budget (if wounded character is impaired/slowed).
Medical skills and items: Treating wounds consumes action economy (Hands + Focus for medical tasks). Skilled medics do it faster and better (proficiency compresses time, may not need Focus).

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