Contractors have a bad habit of getting themselves shot, stabbed, burned, blasted, and beat up. In The Contract, we track each Injury individually. Most Injuries are dangerous, debilitating, and take a long, long time to heal.
They are the leading cause of death among Contractors.
Injuries have Severity ratings that determine how deadly they are, how difficult they are to stabilize, and how long they take to heal. Injuries of Severity 4 or greater leave Battle Scars that linger after the Injury has healed.
Significant Injuries will degrade unless they are stabilized.
Degradation and Stabilization
Any Injury of Severity 3 (Threatening) or higher requires medical attention. Wounds that are Stabilized are treated, disinfected, and on the road to recovery. Any unstabilized Injury degrades, causing the Character to accrue one Severity 1 (Minor) Injury a day until stabilized.
Severity
Whenever a character takes damage, they receive an Injury at that Severity. For example, taking six damage grants a Severity six, Critical, Injury. Players should record each Injury their character suffers on their character sheet. The Website's Interactive Character Sheets make this easy.
The severity of an injury determines how long it takes to heal, how difficult it is to stabilize, and whether or not it will leave a Battle Scar.
| Severity | Description | Stabilization Roll | Amount Healed in 1 Downtime |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 - Minor | A deep cut, a small fracture, a sprain, extreme exertion. These Injuries can't be ignored, but they don't demand immediate attention. Wounds at this level may leave aesthetic scarring, though they need not be tracked as Battle Scars. When acquired as a degenerative effect from an unstabilized Injury, this represents blood loss or an infection. | N/A | Fully healed |
| 2 - Moderate | A deep gash, a small but severe burn, muscular blunt trauma. These Injuries are easily treated and don't require a roll to stabilize. | N/A | Fully healed |
| 3 - Threatening | A puncture, a medium sized burn, a fracture. These Injuries do not require advanced medical skills to stabilize, but they do demand attention and first aid. | Wits + Medicine Difficulty 5 | Reduced to a Severity one (Minor) Injury |
| 4 - Serious | Maimed hands, punctured lung, shattered ankle. Injuries of this Severity leave permanent Battle Scars that will never fully heal, though they may be more aesthetic than debilitating. | Wits + Medicine Difficulty 6, requires first aid kit | Reduced to a Severity two (Moderate) Injury |
| 5 - Severe | Lost fingers, multiple stab wounds, a nasty gunshot. Injuries of this Severity leave permanent Battle Scars that often have a large impact on performing certain tasks. | Wits + Medicine Difficulty 7, requires well-equipped first aid kit | Reduced to a Severity four (Serious) Injury |
| 6 - Critical | Critical injuries include severed limbs, multiple or severe abdominal stab wounds, body-wide injuries etc. They require advanced medical care to stabilize but can be treated by a well-equipped and well-practiced medical professional. Battle Scars can include lost limbs, loss of athletic ability, chronic pain (requiring Trauma rolls and / or significant medication). | Wits + Medicine Difficulty 8, requires equipped facilities (vet clinic, doc office) | Reduced to a Severity five (Severe) Injury |
| 7+ - Deadly | If you survive an Injury like this, it’s a miracle. Examples: being shot in the head / neck, body-wide compound fractures, severed arteries, etc. Stabilization requires advanced medical facilities and recovery requires massive rehab. These Injuries leave significant Battle Scars such as para or quadriplegia, reduced intelligence, loss of speech, or blindness. | Wits + Medicine Difficulty 8, requires advanced facilities (hospital) | Reduced to a Severity six (Critical) Injury |
Healing
Injuries heal in parallel at the rate specified for their Severity level. If you have three Severity three (Threatening) Injuries, they will have each reduced to Severity one (Minor) Injuries after a single Downtime.
If you care about recovery times in more detail than offered above, use this table.
| Severity | Improvement Time | Full Recovery Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 - Minor | 1 Week | 1 Week |
| 2 - Moderate | 2 Weeks | 3 Weeks |
| 3 - Threatening | 2 Weeks | 5 Weeks |
| 4 - Serious | 3 Weeks | 8 Weeks |
| 5 - Severe | 1 Month | 12 Weeks |
| 6 - Critical | 2 Months | 20 Weeks |
| 7+ - Deadly | 2 Months | 28 Weeks |
Stuns
Characters who suffer an Injury with Severity greater than their rating in Wits must roll Body, Difficulty 9. Wound penalties from the new Injury apply to the roll. If they fail, they are stunned and lose their next Action.
A stunned character loses their next Action, which will be the current round's Action if they haven't already acted, or the following round's if they have.