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CoC: DCotE based Damage System


Link6746

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So I played through part of Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth (A PC FPS Horror game that I quite liked and which was full of awesome ideas) and came up with a base idea for a damage system based on this.

It can be summed up in 7 parts:

1: All direct, instant damage is completely locational.

2: Locational damage can result in 3 grades of injury- to treat these, in order, Bandages (minor) Stitches (medium) and Splints (major) are required.

3: after treating the locational injuries, damage to general HP pool persists for a little bit, weaning itself down.

4: damage to the general HP pool is the only thing that can kill the character under most circumstances

5: damage to the general HP pool can be temporarily nullified through drugs like morphine.

6: over time, wounds will go down in grade, major to medium to minor to none, on limbs.

7: All damage to the general HP pool is done over time, a bit each round.

I have no idea how to actually implement this in BRP. Anyone want to help? Note that it will be under similar licenses to my existing work (Free to use, even in monographs, but requiring credit where it is due)

My ideas I've come up with so far on implimentation:

1: General HP damage from bleeding is equal to damage dealt, divided by (four minus severity) as a base. Severity dictates how long the wound lasts before progressing to a lesser grade.

2: Severity is dictated by two things: Weapon type and the success level of the attack skill check

3: on a chart, severity and location are used to determine the amount of damage that being shot in a particular limb causes or nullifies in addition to the base to gen. HP each round

Edited by Link6746
obvious error was obvious
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My favorite implementation of locational damage is Hero's. In Hero the part of the body that's hit determines a multiplier to the damage that's inflicted to the general HP pool(s). You might want to further develop this very cool ;t) idea of yours in that direction: assign to each location three tresholds, one for Bandages, one for Stitches and one for Splints; if the damage dealt (in the standard way) by an attack matches or exceeds a threshold (for example, the one for Stitches) but is under the next higher threshold (for example, the one for Splints), the former threshold determines the condition of the part and the multiplier that's applied to the amount of damage before subtracting it from the general HP pool*. As in Hero, multipliers should vary from location to location**. However, since in CoC there are hordes of creatures of all sizes and shapes, you should either locate only the damage dealt to the investigators or make a list of abstract locations (appendage, body, vitals) applicable to most creatures - not to all, of course! Then again, this system would not be able to account for all the details of your idea (e.g. the gradual bleeding / HP loss), unless for example you state that a character that needs Stitches loses say 1 HP per turn until treated, and 2 HPs per turn if they need Splints - with the possible effect of making the system deadlier than it already is.

* Instead of using thresholds, you might have the condition of the part hit be directly determined by the level of success of the attack: success -> bandages, special succ. (=1/5 of skill) -> stitches, critical succ. (=1/20 of skill) -> splints, using only the multipliers corrisponding to the conditions as modifiers of the damage rolled on the dice (discarding impaling damage). This solution might be more compatible with the introduction of bleeding damage.

** For example:

APPENDAGE: Bandages=x0.25 / Stitches=x0.5 / Splints=x1

BODY: Bandages=x0.5 / Stitches=x1 / Splints=x2

VITALS: Bandages=x1 / Stitches=x2 / Splints=x4

Edited by MatteoN
Additios and clarifications
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  • 2 weeks later...

Okay, system is as follows:

*WARNING! REQUIRES USING BRP's OPTIONAL LOCATIONAL DAMAGE*

[Terms of Use]

This Material is free to use for both home use, and monograph authors, and is my contribution to BRP's Community.

Distribution Requirements (Home Use): This material must be distributed as a download in it's complete, final form, and as a PDF, only. Each website which wishes to host this material must

apply to me (with the exception of BRP Central). If I do not respond, in 1 (one) year, the material may be posted on your website in accordance with Home Use distribution requirements.

Distribution Requirements (For Monograph Authors and authors of any BRP-Compatible materials): You have immediate and complete access to this subsystem, including alterations. However,

both myself and any known direct contributors to the project must be credited in the acknowledgements section of your monograph or other Book/Project, and you may NOT copyright or trademark

any part of these materials (Belonging to this subsystem) if the subsystem is used. If these rules (belonging to this subsystem) are used to inspire your own system that works differently enough (30% or more difference in mechanics or feel)

Setup:

*Using the Locational damage system included with the BRP gold book, determine each location's hit points and percentile/1d10 results on the table. Put these on a second sheet included with the character sheet.

*add check-marks for locational wound penalties

*Remember that general HP is not directly damaged by blows.

*Remember that armor is locational.

Fixed Weapon Bonus: Max Weapon Damage on the weapon's entry

Fixed Armor Bonus: Static Armor Bonus for the location

AP Factor: AP of the Weapon/Ammo combination

Blow Severity: Attacker rolls against the resistance table. Depending on the difference between success levels between active and passive on the chart, this results in:

*Active (Attacking): (STR+SIZ)/2+FIXED WEAPON BONUS

*Passive (Defending): (CON+SIZ)/2+FIXED ARMOR BONUS-(AP Factor)

*same success level: a MODERATE WOUND requiring STITCHES if the roll is successful, or else a MINOR WOUND requiring BANDAGES;

*difference = 1: a MAJOR WOUND requiring SPLINTS if the roll is successful, or else a MINOR WOUND requiring BANDAGES;

*difference = 2: a MAJOR WOUND requiring SPLINTS if the roll is successful, or else a MODERATE WOUND requiring STITCHES;

*difference = 3: a FATAL WOUND if the roll is successful, or else a MODERATE WOUND requiring STITCHES;

*difference = 4: a FATAL WOUND if the roll is successful, or else a MAJOR WOUND requiring SPLINTS.

Healing Requirements by Blow Severity for successful Treatment:

*Minor: Bandages

*Moderate: Stitches

*Major: Splints

*Fatal: Hospital Treatment

Damage/Round By Blow Severity: This ignores armor.

*APPENDAGE: Minor=1 / Moderate= 1d2 / Major= 1d3 / Fatal: 1d4

*BODY: Minor=1d2 / Moderate=1d3 / Major=1d4 / Fatal: 1d6

*VITALS: Minor= 1d3 / Moderate= 1d4 / Major= 1d6 / Fatal: 1d8

Bleeding Duration Prior Treatment by Location and Blow Severity: After this the blow's severity degrades due to clotting

*APPENDAGE: Minor=1d2 Rounds / Moderate= 1d4 rounds / Major= Until Treated / Fatal: Until Hospitalized

*BODY: Minor=1d3 Rounds / Moderate=1d6 Rounds / Major=Until Treated / Fatal: Until Hospitalized

*VITALS: Minor=1d4 Rounds / Moderate=1d8 Rounds / Major=Until Treated / Fatal: Until Hospitalized

Bleeding Duration at 1/2 Damage Post-Treatment: After this the blow is healed.

APPENDAGE: Minor=1 Round / Moderate=1d2 rounds / Major=1d3 rounds / Fatal: Amputation of limb, EASY Stamina check vs death

BODY: Minor=1d2 rounds / Moderate=1d3 rounds / Major=1d4 Rounds / Fatal: 1d6 month recovery, Stamina check vs death

VITALS: Minor=1d3 Rounds / Moderate=1d4 rounds / Major=1d6 Rounds / Fatal: 2d6 Month recovery, HARD Stamina check vs death

Credit:

Link6746: General idea and an implementation based on the ideas presented by those credited below

MatteoN: Implementation ideas based on wound severity, new blow->wound severity method

Edited by Link6746
Changes to blow severity system
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Hi. The system seems fun :D. However I don't get whether and how you account for weapon and armor; is the damage per round additional damage?

Maybe it would be possible to combine this idea of yours with my idea of using the pitting the attacker's fixed damage rating the defender's fixed protection rating on the Resistance Table:

in case of successful attack the attacker's (STR+SIZ)/2+FIXED WEAPON BONUS (or fixed WEAPON RATING in case of firearms etc.) might be compared to the defender's (CON+SIZ)/2+FIXED ARMOR BONUS on the resistance table. Depending on the difference between the success levels previously scored by the attacker and the defender, a roll against the percentage shown on the table would determine:

[same success level] a MODERATE WOUND requiring STITCHES if the roll is successful, or else a MINOR WOUND requiring BANDAGES;

[difference = 1] a MAJOR WOUND requiring SPLINTS if the roll is successful, or else a MINOR WOUND requiring BANDAGES;

[difference = 2] a MAJOR WOUND requiring SPLINTS if the roll is successful, or else a MODERATE WOUND requiring STITCHES;

[difference = 3] a FATAL WOUND if the roll is successful, or else a MODERATE WOUND requiring STITCHES;

[difference = 4] a FATAL WOUND if the roll is successful, or else a MAJOR WOUND requiring SPLINTS.

Edited by MatteoN
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Hi. The system seems fun :D. However I don't get whether and how you account for weapon and armor; is the damage per round additional damage?

Maybe it would be possible to combine this idea of yours with my idea of using the pitting the attacker's fixed damage rating the defender's fixed protection rating on the Resistance Table:

How I implimented it I forgot one detail: Location-based armor. That said, the bleeding damage needs to be adjusted for that too. I was originally going to use your fixed damage for a pool that would deplete with bleeding, but thought it was too complex. This is a good addition.

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