Chapter VI: Combat, Damage & Movement
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S piky clubs and razor-sharp swords are not the only way to die in the Warhammer World. The Old World has everyday hazards as well, such as fire, suffocation, and disease. These are collectively known as natural damage and they are dealt with in this section. Poison, which could also be considered natural damage, is detailed in Chapter 5: Equipment . f Ire Characters take damage each round if exposed to fire. Generally speaking, fires range from Damage 1 (a small campfire) to Damage 10 (a raging inferno). The GM should determine the damage based on the fire’s size and ferocity. If a character is exposed to the same fire source for two or more consecutive rounds, he must make an Agility Test each round or catch on fire. Once blazing, a character loses 1d10 Wounds (with no reduction for armour or Toughness Bonus) each round until the fire is extinguished. s uffoCaTIon There are many ways to suffocate. Drowning is the most common, but the inhalation of smoke and certain gasses also does the trick. When in danger of asphyxiation, a character must make a Toughness Test once per minute, with a cumulative –10% penalty for each previous test. The third Toughness Test, for instance, would suffer a –20% penalty. A character falls unconscious once he has failed two tests. If not rescued within two more minutes, the character suffocates and dies. d Isease the unwashed and the unlucky are frequent victims of disease. When exposed to a disease, a character must make a successful Toughness Test or contract it. The disease lasts for a set number of days, modified by the results of a second Toughness Test. Each degree of success shortens the duration by one day, while each degree of failure lengthens it by one day. Once every three days, a character with the Heal Skill can attempt to aid the character as well. A successful test shortens the duration by one day. When the duration drops to 0, the character recovers from the disease. d Isease f ormaT Name: Self-explanatory. Description: How foul is the disease exactly. Duration: The average number of days the affliction lasts. Effects: Victims suffer these penalties whilst diseased. T he b loody f luX Description: The Flux is a common term for any illness that causes the sufferer to void large amounts of matter from their person in a short time. Privy doors flap when the Flux comes to town. The Bloody Flux is a particularly unpleasant strain, often believed to be a punishment from the Gods to the impious. The cures for it are certainly foul, including the inhalation of Plague and pestilence are facts of life in the Empire. The common folk suffer yearly outbreaks and epidemics of many types. Some choose to trust to Shallya to heal their ills, whilst others prefer to place their faith in doctors and quackery. Whatever the case, the old, the young,
sulphurous fumes, feeding up with blood sausage, “stopping” with cork and wax or greasing with linnet and pork fat. Duration: 3 days. Effects: Severe dehydration causes the character to suffer a –10% penalty to the Characteristics on his Main Profile. T he g allopIng T roTs Description: This vigorous, smelly, and messy affliction is quite common amongst those who pay little care to the cooking and cleanliness of their food. Known in Altdorf as “Rumsters Revenge” after the cheap and dubious “meat” pies sold by Halfling merchants for a penny each, many hungry visitors to the capitol end up “spending a penny twice”. Rest, clean water and plenty of privy rags are the only cure. Duration: 5 days Effects: The wracking intestinal pain causes the character to suffer a –20% penalty to the Characteristics on his Main Profile. T he g reen p oX Description: This horrid disease is the ravager of many a face. It first manifests cold-like symptoms of sneezes and shivering, but soon shows its true colours. The victim is usually bed-ridden by the time the first boils begin to swell. Over the course of ten or so days, the victim becomes studded with large, penny- sized sores that weep green-coloured pus. A high fever rages, and a distinctive smell arises from the sufferer’s body. Should they survive the pox, the victim will be covered with large greenish-grey scars about the face, throat Duration: 14 days. Effects: Each day the character has the Green Pox he must make a Toughness Test or lose 5% from every Characteristic on his Main Profile. If Toughness is reduced to 0 or less, the character dies. If the victim survives, he must make a Toughness Test or suffer a permanent –10% penalty to Fellowship Tests reliant on physical appearance or good looks. k ruTs Description: Legend has it that Dwarf herdsmen brought down this itching, crepuscular rash from the mountains. Maddening, painful and embarrassing, this sickness tends to gather about the thighs, groin and torso. Transmitted by touch, this highly infectious rash is quite a social stigma. Sometimes associated with goats, and other livestock, folk medicine recommends shaving the afflicted area and painting it with turpentine. Duration: 5 days. Effects: The constant irritation causes the character to suffer a –10% penalty to his Agility and Fellowship. During combat he must make a successful Will Power Test each round at the beginning of his turn or spend a half action itching and scratching. n eIglIsh r oT Description: This insidious disease is rightly the most feared of all the Empire’s ills. Whilst most sicknesses destroy the body, this and shoulders. The Green Pox can recur at any point in the victim’s life from then on, increasing the density and brightness of the pox marks each time. Only heavy make-up can disguise the distinctive marks.
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