Just got the PDF! Looking forward to running the game. Can we put rules questions here?
I am a little confused about harm and healing. First, how does Patch Up interact with Critical injuries? The critical injury description on page 60 says they can be “stabilized by patch up,” but the Patch Up move doesn’t actually mention critical injuries in any of its results.
Also, are debilities totally separate from injuries? They way I see it debilities are descriptive, and just become additional potential threats or adversities to overcome. It seems like most injuries, in that case, would also come with the effects of a debility. If you get shot with a gun, you have a major injury, but also I would make the player roll to overcome adversity in a lot of circumstances.
How are injuries and debilities mechanically distinct?
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Hi Chris Wolf. Lemme see if I can answer your questions.
– Patch Up only directly interacts with Critical Injuries if the character has the Surgery skill.
– The “stabilized by patch up” kinda assumes that there will be debilities associated with the injury, since a Critical Injury involves loss of limb or organ damage. On reflection, that phrase could have just been removed, it’s a bit confusing. My bad.
– Debilities are potentially separate from injuries, and can be caused by both injuries and non-injuries. Breathing poison can earn you a debility (Poisoned) as can getting hit with a Shrapnel weapon (Severe Injury + Bleeding). Heck, a night of binge drinking with a potential client (a 7-9 on an Assessment using Physique) will land you with a Hangover affliction.
– Injuries don’t necessarily cause debilities. A Severe gunshot wound might hurt like hell, but not enough to cripple or greatly limit the mobility of a Space Opera hero (depending where it hit). On the other hand, getting shot by an Impact weapon will absolutely have a Broken Bones debility attached. A low roll on Brace For Impact can also result in a debility in addition to the basic injury.
– You are correct; Debilities are character-specific passive Threats, that limit a character’s actions and must be overcome (like Clumsiness, really).
– Injuries are bodily trauma, significant physical destruction. Debilities are insidious effects that limit function and/or threaten degeneration. Put another way: Injuries are damage to the character’s chassis, debilities are character malfunctions.
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