Wounds

Tabs and Wounds

Wounds are cards given out that represent an injury, curse or other affliction. The wound card has a description of what the wound is and how it affects you, both mechanically and in terms of roleplaying. The wound will also have a method of treatment if treatment is possible.

Treatments will vary and are specified on the wound cards. Wounds typically have multiple ways to cure them, via skill application, dedicated roleplay, or the application of resources. Certain skills also allow for the Alleviation of wounds - Alleviated wounds no longer inflict a roleplay effect, but remain present.

If your character is incapacitated for 15 seconds or longer during an encounter you must make a wound draw at the end of it, but only once per encounter. You will be dealt a random wound from the wound deck, some of which are regular wounds (marked with a 🩸), and some are Untreatable (marked with a 💀). Around ⅕ of wound cards are Untreatable.

Wounds can also be delivered directly in certain circumstances, most usually as the result of magic going wrong, via the CURSE call, or when Seances and Rituals are not performed correctly.

Wound Tabs & Becoming Terminal

Wounds not treated at the end of the event goes on a player’s Wound Tab, a service provided by the bar to its regulars. Every player character has a Wound Tab, either provided by the bar as standard, or, if they have made certain deals with occult entities (for example, if they wish to start play as Doomed), that entity will provide a similar service. A character without a tab or other guarantee (some NPCs) will become terminal from one untreated wound.

The standard Wound Tab provided by the Basilica is 7 wounds long, meaning the seventh wound placed on a tab makes a character terminal. Wound tabs provided by other entities are typically shorter, but all Wound Tabs will trigger roleplay effects as they are filled. Reaching the end of a Wound Tab will cause the character to become Terminal.

While Terminal you should act as though dying, and can’t take any actions. You can't be healed from this state by any normal means. You can move slowly, or can move at normal speed if assisted, or can be restrained by another character with continuous appropriate roleplay. Becoming Terminal removes any wounds currently on a character.

Certain occult entities appear to Terminal individuals to offer them deals; their immortal souls, in return for living just a little longer. Characters can accept these deals or refuse them; if they accept, they become Doomed, and characters will trade their immortal soul for a new wound tab, which will then be filled by wounds accumulated later as normal. This can only be done once - you only have one immortal soul, after all. Reaching the end of the second Tab results in a character becoming Terminal a second time, this time incurably.

Regardless, if a character reaches the end of their Wound Tab, and cannot or will not make a deal with an occult entity to extend their life, they will die at a dramatically appropriate time of their OC choice before the end of the next interactive they attend.

Example Basilica Tab:

|{ class="wikitable" !Wound !Effect |- |☒ |The Dependency

Your life is protected by the Basilica. You cannot die while your tab is open, excepting at the hands of those creatures stronger than the magic of the bar. |- |☒ |(No additional effects.) |- |☒ |Working It Off

Your debt to the Basilica is metaphysically significant. Complete at least one job ticket per week (this includes Downtimes) or suffer an additional mark against your tab. (The debt weighs on your mind. You can no longer ignore it.) |- | |Etc….. |}

Example ‘Doomed’ Tab:

Wound	Effect
☒	One Last Roll The New Hellfire Club has bought out your tab. You owe them. Complete at least one job ticket for the New Hellfire Club each week, or suffer an additional mark on this ledger.
☒	(No additional effects.)
☒	Compounding Interests Your debt to the Club is piling up, and you can feel the pull of the abyss at your heels. You take any orders from a member of the New Hellfire Club as if they were preceded by Would You Kindly.
	Etc… Death Characters die when they reach the end of their wound tab, either because they choose to die, because they have already sold their immortal soul, or if they are executed. Unresisting characters can be executed. See a ref if you wish to execute a character. NPCs who've been beaten down are unlikely to be in a fit state to oppose the PCs again on a linear even without execution. It's likely that a request for a player character to execute another player character on a linear will be denied. Once a character has gone from terminal to dead, there is absolutely no way to resurrect them.