Grisly Injuries

These optional rules for 4th edition should make tive description of the attack or is rolled randomly
the consequences of going into battle a little more using a chart detailed later on in the article.
dire. Using this system, even if you come out on
top, there could be a few lingering effects after- The character is under the effects of whichever
ward; a day in the life of an adventurer. stage he or she is currently on. When a charac-
ter progresses up or down the injury track, they
In these new rules, a new status effect is intro- take the new effects of the injury. In other words,
duced called simply injuries. Injuries are granted progression (or even regression) on the track su-
to a character when they drop to 0 hp or below. persedes the original effect--effects do not stack
Injuries work almost like diseases: they go unless they come from different sources.
through different phases of how their injury af-
fects them. An orc might’ve torn a huge gash in a A character cannot be injured in the same place
warrior’s leg, but it’s not going to get better imme- twice.
diately. The wound may be treated and dressed,
but moving around with it is still going to cause
some pain. Healing Injuries
After a character has been injured, they can be
Being Injured healed in a few different ways. Primarily, they can
be healed either by themselves or by other al-
An injury takes its effect immediately after a char- lies using the Heal skill. Healing an injury can be
acter has dropped to 0 hp or below. When this done during a short rest--injuries need more time
happens, the character starts at the beginning and precision to be healed, something a combat
stages of the injury track according to the narra- situation just does not offer. During a short rest, a
character can use
a Heal check (with
only one other al-
ly’s help in the form
of aid another) to
beat an injury’s
Improve DC. If the
improve DC is not
beaten, then the
injured character
does not advance
nor go down a
stage. They just
stay where they
are. Typically, a
heal check against
an Injury can be
made only one
time per hour.

Another form of
healing an injury is
just to take an extended rest. Taking an extended
rest cures a character from injuries, erasing it
from his condition.
Lastly, a character may use the gusto of being a
hero and prevail against the odds, ignoring the
brutal wound he might have acquired during the
course of battle. If an injured character spends an
action point and uses that extra standard action
to spend his second wind, he may ignore the ef-
fects of his injury, no matter the stage, for the rest
of the encounter. After the encounter is over, the
injury’s effect take hold again as normal.
Injuring body parts
ArMS
An injury to the arms can hinder a character’s
abilitiy to wield certain weapons and shields in
battle. Additionally, they can take penalties to at-
tacks due to the injury their arm has. Long term
effects could include a stiffness in limbs.
Legs
An injured leg can lead to strained movement,
hampering a character’s ability to move efficiently
through the battlefield. A character with a wound-
ed leg could become a liability in chase scenes
or retreating. Long term effects of an injured leg
could be a limp or stiffness in limbs.

Only certain body parts can be injured to have

a real effect on adventurers. They are the head,
the torso, the arms, and the legs. With new races
come new body parts that could be damaged
(such as dragonborne with the scion of Arkho-
sia paragon path or the ashemi who would both
be very susceptible to damaged wings), but for
simplicity’s sake, we’ll worry about the body parts
that everyone has.

Head
When the head is damaged in battle, vision could
go fuzzy. Short term memory loss is totally pos-
sible depending on the blow. When the head
is damaged in this way, the injured character
doesn’t have a tight grasp on what’s going on
around him, thus preventing him from taking op-
portunity attacks. Long term effects can include
short term memory loss, the need for visual aids,
and a general uneasy feeling.

Torso
When the torso is wounded, either through a
large gash on the chest or a stab in the gut,
breathing becomes harder and everything is a
strain on the body. Torso injury can lead to bleed-
ing out. In some cases, the pain can be utterly
paralyzing. Long term effects can include nausea
or internal pain.
Injury Tracks
Arm Injury Heal DC 13 + half level
Ending Stage: The The injured character can Starting Stage: The injured
character is no longer wield two-handed weapons, character cannot wield
injured. ◄ use off-hand weapons/ ◄ two-handed weapons, wield
implements, and use off-hand weapons/
shields. They take a -1 implements or gain benefit
penalty to attack rolls. from a shield. They take a
-2 penalty to attack rolls.

Head Injury Heal DC 15 + half level

Ending Stage: The The injured character can
character is no longer make opportunity attacks
injured. ◄ normally. He cannot target ◄
creatures from 5 squares
away.
Leg Injury Heal DC 13 + half level
Ending Stage: The The injured character
character is no longer ◄ cannot move their full
◄
injured. speed. They can shift as
normal.
Starting Stage: The injured
character must make a
saving throw before he can
make an opportunity attack.
Creatures more than 3
squares away have con-
cealment. Creatures more
than 5 squares away have
total concealment.
Starting Stage: The injured
character is slowed. Addi-
tionally, they cannot shift.

Torso Injury Heal DC 15 + half level

Ending Stage: The The injured character loses Starting Stage: The injured
character is no longer a healing surge every two character loses one healing
injured. ◄ hours. ◄ surge every hour. Addition-
ally, the target must make
a saving throw or be immo-
bilized until the end of their
next turn.

When a character falls below 0 hp...

01-25% The character sustains no real injury.

26-50% The character’s torso is injured. Remember... be INVENTIVE with botched Heal
51-70% The character’s arm is injured. checks. ;)
71-90% The character’s leg is injured.
91-00% The character’s head is injured. Written by CJ Lewis (ekiatoui@gmail.com)