Injury and Death

Injury

In Legend, hit points represent an abstract resource reflecting stress levels, endurance, and fighting capability. Serious injuries do not generally happen until a creature is on its last few hit points; that is why one can restore hit points with a decent rest and even more with trivial Medicine checks.

Some effects inflict damage that might amount to an injury or particularly serious conditions that can impair a creature’s combat and social abilities. See the Conditions section for these conditions.

Once a creature is on its last few hit points, serious wounds and injuries become a concern. Reducing a creature to exactly 0 HP renders it [Disabled], and reducing a creature to -1 HP or less renders it either [Dying] or [Stable], at the discretion of the creature who dealt the damage.

Damage Types

Damage in Legend breaks down into several categories. Most of the time, these specific categories won't matter, but on occasion (particularly when dealing with [Resistance] they’ll come up. When they do, here’s what you have to remember.

Physical

Damage from attacks made with weapons and unspecified damage from extraordinary abilities and magic items is physical damage.

Energy

Damage from [Acid], [Cold], [Electricity] and [Fire] is energy damage.

Magic

Damage from [Force], [Negative], and [Positive], as well as unspecified damage from spells, spell-like abilities, and supernatural abilities is magic damage.

Additional Damage

Additional damage is damage that is dealt as a part of an attack, ability, condition, or effect and is added to its damage. If the additional damage is originally stated to have a type or associated descriptor that does not match the type or associated descriptor of the attack, ability, condition, or effect's damage, then it is dealt separately as that type with the associated descriptor (if any).

Whenever damage gains a descriptor that is a specific damage type, replace that damage's type with the damage type that descriptor is. That damage then loses any other descriptors that area damage type.

Healing

Whenever an effect heals a specified number of HP, the affected creature increases its current HP by that amount, though its current HP can never exceed its maximum HP. Most forms of healing are prevented by the [Battered] condition.

Natural Healing

After an 8-hour rest, a creature who has at least 1 hit point or has been stabilized with the Medicine skill heals 2 hit points per level, and a day of complete relaxation (with no encounters) counts as two 8-hour rests.

Fast Healing

Some creatures have the incredible ability to heal very quickly, tagged as [Fast healing]. This ability always includes a number, such as "[Fast healing] 3"; a creature with this ability heals that number of hit points every {Bracket|Round}} at the beginning of its turn. The [Battered] condition negates healing from this source while it is active, although the healing resumes once the condition is gone.

Using the Medicine Skill

Healing resulting from the Medicine skill stacks with natural healing. If the Medicine skill is used to stabilize a [Dying] or [Disabled] creature, natural healing resumes normally afterward.

Temporary HP

Temporary HP are "fake" hit points that can bring your total HP above your maximum HP. When you take damage, temporary HP are lost first. Multiple pools of temporary HP do not stack; only the largest source of temporary HP applies at any given time. All of your temporary HP pools are reduced when you take damage, even if they are not being applied to your HP total. Unless otherwise noted, temporary HP last until the end of the [Encounter], though the party should have ample time before that happens to properly heal a creature only kept conscious or alive through temporary HP.

Death

If a creature has HP equal to the negative of its Constitution score or lower, it is [Dead]. At the discretion of the creature who dealt the fatal damage, a creature may be left [Unconscious] and [Stable] instead, with one HP more than the minimum that would kill it.