Combat Mechanics: Just a Flesh Wound

As flames engulf the goblin, Boris deals the final 7 hit points of damage with his broadsword. Collapsing to one knee, Boris hungers catches his breathe. “Are you wounded?” Veronica calls out, rushing to her ally’s side. Barely able to muster his poor Westish, he groans, “I am alright. Just… got to.. take a break… for a moment,” Boris rolls onto his back. Veronica, looking down over him, begins to lecture, her finger wagging just inches from his face. "You are lucky that flask was filled with oil. Next time, let us be more discrete around 'weakling goblin caves'. Are we agreed?” Wounded, Boris nods affirmative, saving his words for a fight he can win.

Dangerous and decisive combat is one of the hallmarks of tabletop roleplaying games, whether it be living out the fantasy of swashbuckling swordsman or describing the piercing chill of an undead grasp. The Gamemaster has the task of weaving combat into an engaging scene, combining player choice with dice rolls and assigning such input value within the combat narrative. While Hits, Misses, and Critical Hits can help the battle take form, the Gamemaster’s flavorful description is the invocative engine that drives the story onward. In RISE, this engine runs best on a mastery of hit points, both as a concept and as a mechanic. If used well, the visceral danger of combat will come alive. Used only mechanically, however, hit points quickly become an absurdly abstract measure of mortal wounds or an excuse for excessive descriptions of bloodshed, making combat unmotivating, repetitive, or even ridiculous. Just imagine an old-school video game RPG, where a hit caused a health bar to go down and naught else. Next turn! (Back in the day, there was no health bar. You just clicked FIGHT). Conversely, you have games that are simply displays of gore with no true narrative. Table-top roleplaying combat should be much more engaging and, dare I say, far more realistic, linking choices to results.

King Arthur still fighting with 1 hit point. (Arthur Rackham 1917)

In RISE, the first discussion of hit points comes under the auspices of Strength and Resilience, two of the physical attributes that describe every creature and contribute heavily to a character’s hit point total. How strong one is and how resilient one is are easy conceptualizations for any gamer. If my character is tough, she can survive longer bouts of combat. If she is strong, she can survive more intense clashes. These two concepts form part of the abstract measure that encompasses hit points. I am intentionally not saying that she can survive more physical damage, as hit points and mortal wound tolerance are not one and the same. Hit points are better thought of as an abstraction of sustainability. This means that hit points represent not only the endurance of cuts and bruises, but probably more importantly, fatigue, adrenaline, combat insight, hope, martial skills, and a host of other concepts that factor into surviving. As hit points are reviewed in detail, RISE defines hit points as a combination of modalities to keep you alive. Some modalities are more meaningful than others, and hence characters will have differing hit point values as their players focus on different goals. This also means that you might, now and again, find that a sage in your party has significantly more hit points than your party’s ranger. While some themes or races have bonuses to hit points, individual choices are key in determining your hit points (and there are plenty of methods to increase your hit points as the game progresses).

It should be stated that 1 hit point to the bard who possesses 12 hit points has greater weight than 1 hit point to the barbarian with 45. The barbarian is more equipped at surviving, particularly in combat, whereas the bard likely hasn’t considered survival as his main occupational focus: hence, when history, songs, and philosophy are brought to bear against steel or fire, the match-up is a bit lop-sided. As a Gamemaster, you need to know the hit point totals of your player characters as fluidly as you know those of your villains. Take, for example, a successful hit from a greatsword, which has a damage range between 2-12. If a hit caused 12 points of damage against the bard from above, such a hit should be described in a dire fashion, as it would be enough to at least incapacitate the bard, while against the barbarian, it may be a sound, but surmountable blow. While both instances are an excellent roll for the greatsword wielder, the effect on each character would be radically dissimilar. The bard would, at the least, be unconscious— barring any other influences— whereas the barbarian would be ready and likely eager to retort. If hit points are just “flesh damage,” we can conceive that the bard would be upon the ground, possibly with a grievous injury. Describing 12 points of Weapon damage done to the barbarian shouldn’t involve a detailed description of a deep gash or a gaping wound or any other type of visible lasting injury because after a rest, if nothing else occurs, the barbarian would be back to full hit points and ready to face his foes again. The barbarian would not be Unconscious or suffer Dying. A better method of describing the hit against the barbarian would be an unstable blow, a body check that parried the swing, or even a hammering with the handle of the massive blade: painful, but not incapacitating or requiring significant medical care.

Knowing the hit point totals of all combat participants gives the Gamemaster better control of the combat encounter, allowing the injection of drama into appropriate moments while maintaining control of the narrative experience. To mechanically assist in imagining when combat turns deadly, RISE features two states, Wounded and Injured.

When Wounded, a character is at half of their maximum hit points. At this point, the stakes of the battle change. A Wounded character is worn down and physically harmed, potentially bleeding (though mildly), breathing hard, or on the ground, but able to rise. Being Wounded demonstrates when a character has suffered from battle in a more meaningful manner than simply hit point loss. When half of a character’s hit points has been damaged, defeat shifts from a potential to an evolving reality. As a state, Wounded is able to signal other changes, such as triggering greater damage from assassins, or lowering defenses when against skilled fighters. Being Wounded is very dangerous; as a game mechanic, Wounded helps create the narrative experience necessary to forward an encounter, encouraging the player to make defensive or decisive choices. Winning a battle at one hit point may still be winning, but it is not the same as winning with all of your hit points. There are costs to combat.

Clearly, we have ourselves an Injury! Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan on November 16, 1581, by Ilya Repin (1885)

In addition to supporting more narrative and visceral combat, being Wounded may cause an Injury, which is a lasting form of damage no single rest can resolve. Becoming Wounded, suffering a critical hit, or suffering Dying, triggers a character to make a saving throw. If that roll fails, that character suffers an Injury. The severity of that Injury is based upon what combination of events triggered the saving throw. Injuries can include concussions and lacerations, broken limbs, punctured lungs, amputations, catastrophic burns, or even insanity, depending on the cause. Injuries take a long time to heal, usually between 10 and 30 days of rest, with some injuries being permanent without the assistance of powerful magic, rituals, or fantastic interventions. Injuries are important swings in battle, prompting a re-evaluation of the combat encounter and maybe even a retreat. While the greatest fighter should be able to fend off tens of goblins, a knife between plates of armor into the axilla can still happen, encouraging any player think twice before initiating battle, as even the seemingly simplest instance of combat is never a sure victory.

With hit points, the Wounded state, and injuries, the combat tales of your adventures can progress beyond the robotic hack-and-rest formulas of classic rpgs and rise to the narrative roleplaying that turns any game into an epic.

Unless of course, you are into Pas d'armes silliness.