Physical Health

The galaxy is a dangerous place, and when you face the risks, you will inevitably get hurt.

Damage Points

All physical harm is measured in damage points. These points are cumulative and recorded on your character sheet. Damage points are characterized as fatigue, bruises, bumps, sprains, minor cuts, dings and dents, and similar hurts that, while painful, do not significantly impair or threaten your life or functioning unless they accumulate to a significant amount. Any source of harm that inflicts a large amount of damage points at once, however, is likely to have a more severe effect (Wounds).

Damage points are reduced by rest, medical care, and/or repair (Healing & Repair).

Damage Value

Weapons and other attacks inflict a number of damage points equal to their Damage Value (DV). Most DVs are presented as a variable amount, in the form of a die roll; for example: 3d10. In this case, you roll three ten-sided dice and add the results (counting 0 as 10). Sometimes the DV will be presented as a dice roll plus modifier; for example: 2d10 + 5. In this case you roll two ten-sided dice, add them together, and then add 5 to get the result. Superior results, ammunition types, firing modes, and other factors may increase an attack’s DV.

For simplicity, a static amount is also noted in parentheses after the variable amount. If you prefer to skip the dice rolling, you can just apply the static amount (usually close to the mean average) instead. For example, if the damage were noted 2d10 + 5 [16], you could simply apply 16 damage points instead of rolling dice.

Durability

Your physical health is measured by your morph’s Durability stat. For biomorphs, this represents the point at which accumulated injuries overwhelm and incapacitate you. Once your total damage points equal or exceed your Durability, you immediately collapse from exhaustion and physical abuse. You gain the unconscious condition and cannot be revived until your damage points are reduced below your Durability, either from medical care or natural healing.

For synthmorphs, Durability represents structural integrity. You become physically disabled when accumulated damage points reach your Durability and your software mind-state crashes.

Even if you are unconscious/disabled, your mesh inserts may still function (Damage and Infomorph Riders).

Wounds

Wounds represent grievous injuries: bad cuts and hemorrhaging, fractures and breaks, mangled limbs, broken systems, and other serious damage that impairs your ability to function and may lead to death or long-term impairment.

Any time your character sustains damage, compare the amount inflicted from a single source (after it has been reduced by armor) to your Wound Threshold. Wound Threshold equals your morph’s Durability ÷ 5. If the modified DV equals or exceeds your Wound Threshold, you have suffered a wound. If the inflicted damage is double your Wound Threshold, you suffer 2 wounds; if triple your Wound Threshold, you suffer 3 wounds; and so on.

Wounds are cumulative and must be marked on your character sheet.

Note that these rules handle damage and wounds as an abstract concept. For drama and realism, GMs may wish to describe wounds in more detailed and grisly terms: a broken ankle, a smashed servo, internal bleeding, a lost ear, and so on. The nature of such descriptive injuries can help the GM assign other effects. For example, a crushed hand may mean you can’t pick up a gun, excessive blood loss may leave a trail for your enemies to follow, or a cut eye might inflict an additional visual perception modifier. Likewise, such details may impact how you heal or are treated.

Wound Effects

Each wound applies a cumulative −10 modifier to all tests and −1 to Initiative. A character with 3 wounds, for example, suffers −30 to all actions and −3 to Initiative.

Some traits, ware, drugs, psi sleights, and pools allow you to ignore wound modifiers. These effects are cumulative, though a maximum of 3 wounds worth of modifiers can be negated (−30 to actions and −3 to Initiative).

Knockdown: Any time you receive a wound, make an immediate SOM Check. Wound modifiers apply. If you fail, you are knocked prone and must expend a quick action to stand up/reorient. Shells (bots and vehicles) moving at speed must make an Athletics or Pilot Test to avoid crashing.

Unconsciousness: If you receive 2 or more wounds at once (from the same attack), you are automatically knocked prone and must make a SOM Check; wound modifiers apply. If you fail, you are knocked unconscious until you are awoken or heal. Synthmorphs and cyberbrained characters are knocked offline in a similar fashion. Shells moving at speed that take 2 or more wounds at once automatically crash.

Bleeding Out

Biomorph characters who have suffered a wound and taken damage equal to or exceeding their Durability are in danger of bleeding to death. Make a SOM Check to self-stabilize; wound modifiers apply. Apply a +30 if healing spray or meds are applied. Medichines automatically stabilize you and put you in stasis. If you fail, you incur 1 additional damage point per wound per action turn until you receive medical care or die. Others can attempt to stabilize you with a Medicine: Paramedic Test; the same modifiers apply. If successful, you no longer accumulate damage from bleeding out.

Death Rating

An unhealthy accumulation of damage points will threaten your character’s life. If the damage reaches your Death Rating, your body dies (biomorphs) or is destroyed beyond repair (synthmorphs).

Death Rating is based on Durability × 1.5 for biomorphs and Durability × 2 for synthmorphs.

Death

In Eclipse Phase, death is not the end of the line. If your cortical stack can be retrieved, you can be resurrected and downloaded into a new morph (Resleeving). This requires either backup insurance or the good graces of whomever ends up with your body/stack.

If your cortical stack is not retrievable, you can still be re-instantiated from an archived backup. Again, this either requires backup insurance or someone who has your backup and is willing to revive you.

If your cortical stack is not retrieved and you have no backup or alpha fork floating around somewhere, you are completely and utterly dead. Be smart: back up.