Chaos Fantasy: Source

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Chapter 10: Damage
[ | Taking Hits | Types of Damage | Types of Red Damage | Permanent Injuries | Armour & Penetration | ]
The Red Chart

Every player should have a Red Chart when they are playing the game. There is a small area set aside for the Red Chart on any character template. If you don't have an outline available, simply draw an outline of your character; this can be as simple as a stick figure.

You'll need to make a little circle or mark in each of the outlined areas as they receive Red Damage.

Count up your little marks and when you reach your Red Limit (as indicated by your character sheet), inform the GM. Many large areas can handle up to 4 points of Red Damage, and smaller areas handle only 2 or 3 (neck, wrists, hands, feet, eyes). If an attack is made on a smaller area and it has already taken Red Damage in the past, that area is likely destroyed or rendered useless.

Once a character reaches his Red Limit, that means he has taken all the pain that he can stand. Your character is now out of the scene/combat unless you choose to spend Chakra to keep him standing longer. Your character is also now near death and must roll Resist Death because of the tremendous amount of pain.

You may spend Chakra in response to a failed Resist Death roll.

Reaching 0 Chakra, 0 Blood, or taking damage at the Red Limit: these are the only ways someone can be killed in this game.

General Penalties for Red Damage

Each point of Red damage should mean something to you. Above everything else, it's a symbol of pain. For each point, your character will be feeling a moderate amount of pain. So what does each point mean?

Blood Loss - Do you have a serious injury? You're probably losing blood. Ask the GM when you receive Red damage if the attack causes any blood loss. He'll let you know how much per round or minute you're losing.

Resistance - For each point of Red damage: -10%.

General Penalty - Each point of Red damage will cause -2 to all combat rolls, skill and stat checks, and stats for quick information. The GM may decide that the penalty doesn't apply, depending on what you are trying to do and if you are using an undamaged limb for the action.

Further Red Damage Penalties

Alright, this is a section to help out the GMs. Red Damage may cause blood loss; only use it if the character was cut or stab (or bashed really really hard and now has internal bleeding).

If the character receives 3 or 4 Red to an area, consider getting creative. Make the limb useless in combat, reduce their speed to zero, puncture an organ, or gouge their eyes.

If the character spends Chakra to ignore Red, the Red penalties do not affect him until the Chakra wears off.

Choose a penalty below each time an area listed receives more than 1 Red damage (these penalties are optional; the GM need not enforce them and can simply follow the general rules already stated above). Once the character heals, these penalties may still be around in a subdued form (check Permanent Injuries section).
Head:

-30% to any resist.
Disorient Penalties.
Half PFb.
Blindness.
Chest:

Disorient Penalties.
Internal Bleeding.
-30% to Resist Poison.
-20% Resist Coma. -1 Shock Value.
Arms:

Parlays are impossible with this arm. -20% Balance.
Damaged hand. Skill rolls needing hands are -3.
No damage bonus with this limb.
Awkward Penalties.
Legs:

Awkward Penalties.
Moving speed cut in half. -6 to Initiative.
-30% Resist Balance Loss.
Raise Interval by 1.

So here is how it works: GMs, when you do a point of Red to a character, give him the general penalties stated earlier. For each further point of Red damage done to the same area, you might choose a penalty from the list given and inflict the player's character with it. For your own ideas, the guidelines are simple: damage done to the limbs should reduce the ability to fight, damage done to the chest results in serious and bloody injuries, and damage to the head results in quicker deaths and bad resists and skills.

Remember, if they take 4 points of Red Damage to an area, it becomes completely useless. Also, that much Red Damage to the head or chest will quite likely kill them, regardless of Red Limit.

If the attack was not called, Red damage occurs to the least injured area or is at least much more likely to do damage to a less important area.