DAMAGE
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Exploring the world of Heart & Steel is a dangerous venture, and you will not leave without stories of your scars.
When you suffer any kind of damage, you must mark one of your aspects by an amount equal to the damage you took. Damage cannot be split among aspects; one track takes the lot.
When a aspect's track is fully marked, it breaks and can’t be used until it’s recovered. If the blow deals more damage than the track can hold, you suffer an injury—a temporary track that represents the lingering wound (see Damage Types below for more).
Each blow tells its own tale. The the type of damage you take shapes the wound and lingering marks.
Crush—blunt force. Bones crack, armor dents.
Bleed—sharp edges. Slices deep, leaves bleeding ribbons.
Puncture—penetrating thrusts. Impales and pierces organs.
Corrode—acid burns. Disfigures material and flesh.
Poison—venoms and toxins. Blood sickens and minds falter.
Burn—flames melt. Burns, blackens, and inspires fear.
Freeze—ice bites. Numbs limbs and hinders the desperate.
Shock—lightning sears. Nerves spasm and muscles fail.
Salt—dry crystalline. May leave strange arcane marks on victims.
Psychic—Mind rent open. Fear roots and trauma unravels.
The type of damage you take or deal is important, as you might have Resistance or Vulnerability to it.
Sometimes your character or the target of an attack is particularly weak or has a degree of immunity to the damage.
If you have resistance against a damage type, its impact is weak towards you, and the damage is reduced by 1. If you have two sources of the same resistance, you are completely immune to the damage.
If you are vulnerable to a damage type, increase its damage by 1. If you have vulnerability to the same damage type from two sources, that damage is treated as Ruinous. Any damage you take from these sources completely fills the chain they damage.
Sometimes you are both immune and vulnerable to an effect. When the severity of effects overlaps, treat them as steps on a scale. Immunity and vulnerability to the same effect grant you Resistance. Ruin and immunity make you treat the damage as normal, etc.
Not every danger comes from steel or flame. Disease, fear, exhaustion, and corruption—these perils won’t always strike your chains, but they can still break you. When harm can’t be measured in marks and wounds, we turn to Edges and Curses:
Resistant You gain an Edge on rolls to resist or recover from that danger.
Vulnerable You suffer a Curse on rolls to resist or recover from that danger or gain an Edge against it.
Immune: You are immune to that danger—disease cannot touch you, and fire cannot burn your spirit.
Exposed The threat overwhelms you—you automatically fail unless someone else saves you, or you automatically succeed against it.