Harm & Healing

Player characters and their followers often find themselves in danger, exposed to injury and harm. Seeing them get hurt and then seeing how they deal with it is a big part of playing to find out what happens.

There are basically four types of harm that a character can suffer:

• Damage to their Hit Points (HP)
• Debilities
• Fictionally problematic wounds
• Death or a lethal wound

Any time a character (PC or NPC) is hurt in the fiction, they suffer some or all of these types of harm. Each affects a character in different ways.

Hit points and damage

Every character (PC, NPC, and monster) has Hit Points (HP). When a character gets hurt, knocked around, roughed up, or otherwise takes abuse, they lose HP. This is called "taking damage;" when you do it to someone else, it's called "dealing damage."

When someone is reduced to 0 HP, they are out of the action and quite possibly dead or dying.

HP are a game element: they don't represent any one particular thing in the fiction. They're a combination of fighting spirit, determination, pluck, luck, and skill; the ability to turn what should be a lethal blow into a graze. HP definitely are not a measure of how injured or uninjured a character is.

Mechanically, HP serve as plot armor and as a pacing mechanism. A PC with 20 HP can be confident that they'll survive the first exchange in a fight. But once a PC has only 5 or 6 HP remaining, any blow from any foe could take them out—and that makes everything more tense and dangerous.

PCs generally have more HP than NPCs or monsters. That's because they're the protagonists; we're telling their story, so they get more lucky breaks and near misses.

Damage

Taking damage means losing HP, potentially being taken out of the action. A character takes damage when...

• a player-facing move specifically says that they do;
• you hurt them (they take damage along with the fictional hurt);
• you use up their resources, and HP are the resource you use up; or
• you make any GM move that involves them getting hit, knocked around, roughed up, suffering pain, etc.

If you make a GM move and that move could theoretically kill, disable, or knock out a normal person, then deal damage as well. Dealing damage should almost never be your move, but it will often be part of your move.

How much damage?

If the source of the damage is a prepared danger, use the danger's stats.

For example, if your move is to have a hagr pluck a PC up from the ground and start choking them, then you'd deal the hagr's

1d10+3 damage.

When multiple combatants deal damage at the same time, roll the single highest damage die among them and add +1 for each additional combatant. The tags from all the combatants apply. So if six coedwig (thorn-spirits, dealing d6 damage, 1 piercing) and a birdwraig (tree spirit, d8+3 damage, forceful) all pound on the Heavy at once, the Heavy is taking d8+9 damage (1 piercing, forceful)—and probably having a very bad day.

If the damage isn't associated with a prepared danger, then ask yourself what it could likely do to a normal person. If the worst it's likely to do is…

• cause bruises and scrapes, pain, or light burns, it inflicts d4 damage.
• cause nasty flesh wounds, bruises, or burns, it inflicts d6 damage.
• break bones, cause deep/wide burns, or debilitate with pain, it inflicts d8 damage.
• cause death or dismemberment, it inflicts d10 damage.

Armor

Subtract the victim's armor rating from the damage they take. This can reduce the damage to 0, meaning they don't lose any HP. Good for them! They still got hit/ tossed around/whatever, but it hasn't used up any of their vitality, luck, or plot armor.

If the attack has the "[n] piercing" tag, ignore [n] points of armor for that attack.

So, if you deal 5 damage (1 piercing) and the target has 2 armor, their armor is effectively only 1 for that attack; they lose 4 HP (but their armor value is still 2 against future attacks).

If the attack "ignores armor," then the armor doesn't apply. They take the full damage. Apply this tag on the fly when the fiction dictates: chainmail doesn't help when you're engulfed in flames, and no amount of physical armor protects you from a psychic assault.

A handful of player-facing moves tell the player to "lose [n] HP" (as opposed to "take [n] damage"). Armor never applies to this sort of HP loss.

Taking damage

When a character takes damage, they reduce their current HP by that amount. If they are reduced to 0 HP, then they are out of the action.

When a player character is reduced to 0 HP and the source of the damage was potentially lethal, then the PC is at Death's Door and makes that move accordingly. If the source of damage isn't likely to kill anyone, then the PC is simply out of the action: unconscious, gasping for breath, panicking, trapped, etc.

Consider asking the player how or why they're taken out. A character disabled this way can't save themselves; they remain disabled until someone helps them, or until you say otherwise.

When an NPC or monster is reduced to 0 HP, their fate is in your hands. If the source of damage was potentially lethal, then they're probably dead or will be soon. Otherwise, they're out of the action and no longer in the fight, but you get to say how. Remember, though: it's not your job to protect your NPCs or monsters. Let things burn.

Followers are NPCs, so you get to decide what happens to them at 0 HP. You can, however, choose to have the player roll Death's Door for them.

If you hurt them, then the lost HP are part of the fictional harm. Otherwise, taking damage means scratches and bruises, sore muscles, rattled teeth, cut lips and bleeding noses, loss of breath, dizziness, pain and weariness and fatigue. It's the wear and tear that grinds someone down but doesn't take them out of a fight.

Regaining hit points

A PC or follower regains HP when...

• they Recover;
• they Make Camp, and choose to regain HP;
• they're at Death's Door and roll a 10+;
• they have a few days of downtime and Convalesce;
• another move says that they do; or
• you offer them an opportunity to regain HP and they take it.

Non-follower NPCs and monsters regain

HP when you decide that they do. Use the player moves as guidelines: a few minutes of rest and access to supplies will restore 3-5 HP; a night's rest will restore HP equal to half their maximum; a few days of rest and recovery will restore them to full HP. The fiction, of course, takes precedence. A supernaturally tough and resilient creature might restore its HP more quickly; a magical construct might not regain HP unless someone or something repairs or recharges it.

Remember, HP aren't "meat points."

Regaining HP doesn't mean that wounds have closed or bones have knitted; it means they've grown accustomed to the pain, gotten the bleeding to stop, caught their breath. The injuries are still there until they heal. It's just that the character has more fight back in them, and is once again further away from a lethal blow.

Debilities

Player characters can suffer up to three different debilities:

• Weakened: the character is fatigued, tired, sluggish, shaky. They suffer disadvantage when rolling +STR or +DEX.
• Dazed: the character is out of it, befuddled, not thinking clearly. They suffer disadvantage when rolling +INT or +WIS.
• Miserable: the character is greatly distressed, grumpy or angry, unwell, in pain. They suffer disadvantage when rolling +CON or +CHA.

In addition to the mechanical penalty, debilities have fictional consequences. A miserable character is miserable, and you should weave that into your descriptions and your GM moves. A debility might mean that someone has to Defy Danger when they otherwise wouldn't need to.

Marking Debilities

Players mark debilities on the character sheets to indicate that their character suffers from them. Player characters might mark a debility because...

• they trigger a player move, and that move says that they mark a debility;
• you hurt them, and the harm you inflict includes them marking a debility;
• you demonstrate a downside, or offer an opportunity with a cost, or tell them the consequences, and the downside/ cost/consequence is them marking a debility; or
• you make any other GM move that involves them becoming weakened, dazed, or miserable, and have them mark that debility.

In other words: marking debilities is both prescriptive and descriptive. Prescriptive:

a move says they mark the debility, and they then suffer that condition in the fiction. Descriptive: something happens in the fiction that would leave the character weakened, or dazed, or miserable, and thus the character marks the debility and suffers the mechanical penalty.

If a move tells the player to "mark a debility," they can choose the debility to mark.

Ask them what that looks like in the fiction. The Lightbearer's invocation leaves them miserable? Why that debility? What are the symptoms? What does this look like to everyone else?

If a move causes a player to mark a specific debility, and it's already marked, then they caught a break. Maybe the condition gets a little worse in the fiction, but the mechanical penalty stays the same. If marking the specific debility is an optional choice, and it's already marked, then they can't choose that option.

If a move requires that a PC marks a debility as part of its trigger, and the debility is already marked, then they can't trigger the move. For example, if the Heavy already has all three debilities marked, they can't trigger Unfettered.

Clearing debilities

A player character can clear a debility when...

• they Recover, and explain how they're treating the debility;
• they Make Camp, and choose to clear a debility;
• they have a few days of downtime to Convalesce;
• another move says that they do; or
• you offer them an opportunity to clear a debility, and they take it.

Clearing a debility means: they erase the mark on their character sheet, they no longer take the mechanical penalty, and their character is no longer actively distressed by the effects in the fiction.

Clearing a debility doesn't mean that any accompanying injury is healed—it means they've treated it as best they can and it's no longer actively hindering them. If they marked weakened because of a torn bicep, clearing the debility probably means it's bandaged and the arm is in a sling. It'll still take time to fully heal.

NPCs, monsters, and debilities

Monsters and NPCs don't mark debilities, and player-facing moves never allow PCs to inflict them on NPCs or monsters.

Monsters and most NPCs don't roll for moves, so suffering disadvantage on two stats doesn't make any sense.

So: if a monster suffers an effect that would leave them weakened, they don't mark weakened—you just describe them as being slower or shaky. Maybe you offer the PCs an opportunity as a result?

Followers can trigger player moves. If you want, assign a debility to a follower as a temporary tag (weakened, dazed, or miserable), imposing disadvantage on any relevant rolls. But mostly, you should reflect a follower's current state in how you portray them, and how they act, and what they're capable of or willing to do.

Problematic wounds

A problematic wound is one with lasting fictional consequences. Characters suffer them when you hurt them or make another GM move that involves a character getting hurt in a specific, consequential way.

Simply describe the wound in the fiction.

It's now true! A twisted ankle can't bear weight. A blow to the head leaves them staggering and dizzy. A severed hand is severed, and they're probably bleeding out (and in shock). These sorts of problematic wounds should be particularly common when messy attacks are involved.

Problematic wounds often involve PCs marking debilities and always involve taking damage (i.e. losing HP). If an NPC breaks a PC's fingers, the PC can't make a fist, is probably weakened or dazed or miserable from the pain, and is going to take 1d8 damage (ignores armor). The damage won't kill them if they drop to 0 HP, but it could take them out of the action.

How do you decide?

The PCs have just suffered an attack, ignored a threat, or rolled a 6- and you think you're going to do harm.

Do you deal damage? Do you have them mark a debility? Do you inflict a problematic wound and if so, how bad do you make it?

There's no hard-and-fast rule, but you should follow your principles and make a GM move that flows from the fiction. Often, you'll pick a GM move (like put them in a spot or a monster move like bash prey to the ground, senseless), and the specific fiction of your move means that they also take damage or mark a debility.

Other times, you'll know that you want to do something harmful, but won't have a specific move in mind.

In that case, have the player roll the damage taken and let that inform the nature and severity of your move. See Running the Game for more guidance.

Keep in mind the tags of the attacks involved. Messy attacks are especially destructive, and should often hurt them or use up their resources (destroying shields, weapons, or gear).

Forceful attacks knock victims around; even if they do no damage, they should still change the momentum or positioning of the fight.

When the PCs or followers deal damage to monsters, use the description of their attack, the amount of damage dealt, how many HP the foe has left, and the tags on the attack to inform the fictional results.

Announce trouble (future or offscreen): "Andras is white as a sheet, and that snake bite is red and swollen and you see angry red lines following his veins up his arm. What do you do?"

Reveal an unwelcome truth: "Oof. Yeah, Blodwen, you peel the bandages back from Garet's wound, and… it's not good. It smells bad, the flesh is kind of black, and there's a greenish pus. It's infected, and it's going to get worse. What do you do?"

Put someone in a spot: "It claws at your face before you hurl it away. Take d6 damage. You're still up? Okay, I think it gashed your forehead and blood starts pouring into your eyes. You can't really see, but you hear it scuffling about, getting ready to pounce again. What do you do?"

Problematic wounds in play

Incorporate problematic wounds into the fiction and into your GM moves. When a player rolls a 7-9 or a 6-, maybe use the problematic wound to justify the result.

Use your moves to bring an injury to the forefront of the story or to have it complicate the situation.

Use up their resources: "You make it up and out of that gulley, but the wound in your side is still bleeding. You get a wave of dizziness as you stand. It passes, but take another 1d6 damage, ignoring armor. You still up?"

Demonstrate a downside: (after rolling a 7-9 to Defy Danger and escape from a hagr) "Like you said… you duck under the log as he swings it and rush past him before he can recover. But about five strides away, your knee buckles and you collapse to the ground. It's that injury from earlier. Your knee is just this burning mass of pain, and you hear the hagr grunt and pull the log free and start to lumber toward you, what do you do?"

Tell them the consequences: "You're just gushing blood. If you don't put a tourniquet on it soon, you're going to bleed out. Of course, your hands—well, hand—is shaking and everything feels numb. Mark weakened, and you'll be Defying Danger to do anything involving fine motor control. What do you do?"

Tell them the requirements: "If you want to walk on that ankle, you'll need to splint it and find a cane or a crutch. And something to dull the pain would be good, too. What do you do?"

Death and dying

When a PC is reduced to 0 HP by an attack that could kill them, they're dying and must make this move. They might also be dying because the fiction demands it: if they fall

100 feet onto rocks, they don't take damage, they're at 0 HP and on Death's Door.

and recovery

The following moves deal with regaining HP, clearing debilities, and treating or recovering from problematic wounds.

They've dispatched the bears in the cave but Caradoc got himself smacked around in the process. He's lost 9 HP and he's dazed—he got swatted on his shield and slammed against the cave wall. He's out of breath and sore but I never established a specific injury.

While the others investigate the cave, Caradoc asks "Can I Recover?" Sure, but I ask what that looks like, what sort of supplies he's using. "I think I'll slump up against the cave wall, drop my shield and spear, take a few deep breathes. Maybe take a shot of whisky, and eat some flatbread." Cool! He marks off a use of supplies and regains 4 HP (the steading's Prosperity is currently 0). I also think that's sufficient to clear his dazed debility, too.

He's still down 5 HP, and asks if he can Recover again. "Nope," I say. "Not until you take more damage."

Garet (one of Rhianna's crew) got his leg slashed open by a feathered drake. He's still conscious, but at 0 HP and bleeding badly. He won't last long.

The fight is over, and Rhianna and Blodwen rush over and see if they can save his life. Blodwen takes charge. "Rhianna, apply pressure above the wound. I'll make a tourniquet. Then, I don't know, stitch him up, I guess?"

She's tending to a problematic wound, which is one of the triggers for Recover. Looking at my list of possible requirements, I think that she's Defying Danger with INT, the danger being that Garet will bleed out and die

before they can staunch the bleeding. Also, they'll need to expend a use of supplies for the tourniquet and stitches. "You do it?" I ask. She does, and reaches for the dice.

She rolls an 8 and I give her a choice between a cost and a lesser success. "You stop the bleeding and save his life, but he's in bad shape. You can spend a second use of supplies to keep him going with some sort of stimulant herb. He'll be awake with 4 HP and able to move about slowly, but he'll be in a lot of pain and likely to hurt himself again. Or you can leave him, stable but flitting in and out of consciousness, unable to walk on his own. What do you do?"

The party is en route to Marshedge and had an almost-disastrous encounter with the nosgolau as they camped near Titan Bones. They got Vahid back (barely) but he's dazed and weakened. He also took a lot of damage, and he's down to 6 of his 16 HP. Caradoc and Rhianna took some damage, too. Blodwen's just fine.

Once they make it back to camp, they all get a few hours of sleep. They ate and drank before the attack, so they each get to make a choice.

Blodwen's already at max HP and has no debilities. "Do I get advantage, then?" she asks. Nope! She might not be beaten up, but she's still sleeping on hard pavestones and huddled in a cloak.

Caradoc and Rhianna each opt to regain HP. Caradoc has 16 HP max, and he's got only 7 left. He regains 8 HP (half of his max) and ends up with 15 HP. He could Recover to get that last 1 HP back, but decides that it's not worth it. Rhianna has lost fewer than half her max HP, so she's back up to full.

Vahid has a tough choice: he can clear one of his debilities or he can recover HP. "How about I regain HP points from Making Camp, and then Recover to clear those debilities?" I ask how he's tends to the debilities. "Oh, I'll eat a huge meal, way more than it seems like I should be able to tuck away."

"Okay, let's say this, then. You'll regain half your max HP, bringing back up to 14. And if you eat 1 use of supplies, you can clear weakened. But you'll still be dazed until you Make Camp again and get some good sleep. Deal?"

Rhianna lost her right arm at Three Coven Lake (and she got off easy; Andras didn't make it home at all). Some quick thinking saved her life, but she's unsure how she'll be an effective warrior and archer. She's not about to retire, though.

So, we Make a Plan. "What do you hope to accomplish? Are you looking to replace or regrow the arm through magic? Or learn to shoot one-handed?" Rhianna's practical to a fault, and doesn't even consider a magical option. I look at the list of possible requirements, and write down:

O You must design and make some prosthetic or device for drawing

& releasing a bow one-handed O You must learn to use the device O It'll take months of practice We decide that a leather mouth-bit attached to the bowstring would let her pull and release. It's a simple thing to make with help from Sawyl the tanner.

Later, I frame a scene with Rhianna practicing her new setup. I ask what it looks like, what she's struggling with. Then Andras's mom comes by and thanks Rhianna for taking him under her wing, saying how proud she was to have Andras protecting the village. Rhianna's left feeling all sorts of bitter over losing him in search of Vahid's damn fire-jewel.

Autumn comes before Rhianna's had the months of practice she needs, and the PCs end up hunting a dark presence that's been stalking the Wood. "For now," I say, "your bow will have the reload tag and you'll Let Fly with disadvantage. But once you get another month of practice, you'll shoot and Let Fly without penalty."