3.1.6 Working out consequences from an attack hitting

If an attack hits the defender, the next stage is to work out the consequences of the attack hitting.

The first thing to do is work out whether the attack causes a wound. To do this, the attacker makes a damage dice roll using his/her ST + the damage rating of the weapon maneuver used to make the attack. The attacker gets a bonus of +1/2 on the damage dice roll per point by which the attacker's attack dice roll result exceeded the defender's defence dice roll result. In addition, if the attacker aimed the attack at a specific location of the defender's body, there may be a bonus on the damage dice roll. The damage dice roll result is referred to as the basic damage.

The defender's damage resistance is then subtracted from the basic damage. A character's damage resistance is equal to his/her ST + the protection value of his/her armour, plus possibly an adjustment for any magical damage resistance.

Look up the wound caused on the following table:

Basic damage minus damage resistance Wound caused
Zero or lower None
up to 3 Scratch
between 3 1/2 and 6 Light
between 6 1/2 and 9 Medium
between 9 1/2 and 12 Serious
between 12 1/2 and 15 Critical
15 1/2 or higher Fatal

For example, Cogan easily hits Urlik with his hand-&-half sword, hitting by 6 points. Cogan's hand-&-half has a damage rating of 10 and his ST is +4. His basic value is 17 (10 +4 +6/2). He chooses to risk 15 points to get a dice roll of 5D+2. He rolls a 6, 5, 3, 3, and 1 making a dice roll result of 20, the basic damage. Urlik has a ST of +2 and is wearing light mail (protection value 6), giving him a damage resistance of 8. The basic damage minus damage resistance is, therefore, 12 points (=20-8), and so Urlik will suffer a Serious wound.

Once a wound level has been determined, the defending character may make a Soak (if he/she has sufficient action points to do so) to attempt to reduce the damage by rolling with the blow.

A character who is hit may suffer knock-back (regardless of whether or not he/she is wounded by the attack).

A character who is wounded by an attack may suffer an immediate pain reaction to the wound and may suffer a specific impairment to the location struck by the attack. In addition, all wounds cause an ongoing impairment to the character's effectiveness. Certain weapons may also end up impaling the character. Finally, after the combat has ended, a wound can get worse through shock or infection.

A mounted character may gain a charging bonus on his/her damage dice roll as a result of his/her mount's speed.