dungeonpunk
mortal wounds
what’s this?
This is a hack for dungeonpunk by Ash McAllan, Sidney Icarus, and Melody Watson, a fiction-telling game about exploring a fantasy world and going on adventures.
Normally in dungeonpunk, damage is represented by Hit Points (HP). As you take damage, you lose HP, and when you have 0 HP or less remaining, you fall unconscious or die. This hack replaces that concept with Wounds and leans on the existing concept of Stress, an abstraction for physical and mental exhaustion.
Instead of HP, a creature has a maximum number of Wounds. When you take damage from sources that can be dodged, deflected, or otherwise avoided, you gain Stress, but when you are encumbered, you are too tired and weighed down to protect yourself and start taking Wounds instead.
In this way, Stress represents minor cuts and bruises as well as physical and mental exhaustion. They’re easy to heal, and after some rest, don’t interfere with your ability to fight, but if you’re too tired to protect yourself, you’re going to start taking real damage in the form of Wounds. Take too many of those and you’re likely to die.
creating a character
When creating a character, instead of HP, you have 1+CON maximum Wounds. Whenever your CON changes, so does your maximum Wounds. Otherwise create your character as normal.
basic moves
basic move: carry (replaces original)
When you carry gear and Stress that exceeds 12+CON+WIS Weight, you become encumbered. While encumbered, you receive a -1 dice penalty to all rolls and cannot push yourself, assist others, or use any move that could make you gain Stress.
basic move: let something go
When you need to drop something in a hurry, such as if you are encumbered and under attack, roll FATE.
- On a success: Choose one:
- It’s damaged or destroyed in the process
- It rolls, slides, or is kicked away and becomes hard to find or reach later
- You let your guard down and take damage from a nearby threat
- On a twist: Choose two.
basic move: rest (replaces original)
When you take time to rest and recover, you lose 1d3 Stress for each hour you spend doing so.
basic move: tend to wounds
When you take time to patch yourself up or have someone patch you up and you rest, you lose 1 Wound for each day you spend doing so.
basic move: damage (replaces original)
When you successfully hurt something or are hurt by something, gain the listed Wounds or give the listed Wounds to the target, as relevant:
- Minor damage: 0 (bumps, cuts, bruises)
- Standard damage: 1 (an attack with a weapon)
- Serious damage: 2 (incapacitation or maiming)
- Deadly damage: 3 (death)
- Catastrophic damage: 4 (capable of destroying a house)
Worn armour reduces physical damage taken by Wounds equal to its weight. If armour absorbs any incoming damage it becomes dented, cracked, damaged, or destroyed, reducing its effectiveness by the number of Wounds it absorbed.
basic move: avoid damage
When you would be hurt by something and the source of that hurt can be dodged, deflected, or otherwise avoided, gain the listed Stress, as relevant, instead of taking any Wounds:
- Minor damage: 1 (bumps, cuts, bruises)
- Standard damage: 1d6 (an attack with a weapon)
- Serious damage: 2d6 (incapacitation or maiming)
- Deadly damage: 3d6 (death)
- Catastrophic damage: 4d6 (capable of destroying a house)
Using a wielded weapon or shield to deflect physical damage reduces the Stress caused by an amount equal to its weight.
basic move: collapse (replaces original)
When you reach your maximum Wounds, you fall unconscious.
basic move: die (replaces original)
When you exceed your maximum Wounds, roll FATE.
- On a success: You fall unconscious.
- On a twist: The GM presents an opportunity to survive, but at a cost.
- On a failure: You die.
converting other rules
For every 4 HP a creature had, give that creature 1 maximum Wound.
For every 1d6 damage or healing something did, convert it to 1d6 Stress or 1 Wound depending on the context.
For every 1 Stress something removed, make it 1d3 Stress.