Health

Health is divided into several elements - Hit Dice, Hit Dice Size, Health, Vitality, HP and VP.

Hit Dice

This is the total amount of Levels or Hit-Dice the character has, regardless of how many Hit Points they currently possess.

A modifier after this adjusts the total number of HP the character has. Every 3 additional HP received from Hit-Dice (but not other sources such as Toughness) increases the character's effective Level for Saves and THAC0 by 1. Inversely, for every -3 HP received, a character lowers their effective Level by 1 for these.

For example, a Hill Giant has 12-1 HD, meaning that, from Hit Dice, it has at most 12 x 8 -1 HP; 95 HP. If they had 12+6 HD, their maximum HP from HD would be 102 and they would Save and Attack as though they had 14 HD.

If a character is described as 0th Level or has a HD below 1 (such as 1/4 HD or 1-1 HD), assume they have

A character may have distinct Hit Dice, due to being a race that has more HD by default or from being a Multi-Class character. Use whichever is highest grants the highest values to determine Saving Throws and THAC0 though remember the source - a Fighter/Thief's Thief Hit Dice cannot grant them the THAC0 from the Fighter table.

Hit Dice Size

This determines the size of the dice used when rolling Hit Dice to determine how many HP a character has. By default, it is 1d8 for 0th Level characters and other characters without class levels.

If a Hit Dice has a modifier to it, it has no effect on Saves or THAC0. A Hill Giant with 12-1 HD has 95 HP normally at maximum due to having a 1d8 HD Size. If their Hit Dice Size were 1d8+5, this would instead be 12 x 13 -1 HP, for a total of 155 HP.

After 10th level, Classes no longer gain any full Hit Dice as HP. Instead, they gain +3 if their HD Size is 10 or more, +2 if it is d6 to d8 and +1 if it is d4 or less.

If a Hit-Dice Size is divided, typically due to Multi-Classing, divide the results accordingly. A Level 10 Fighter/Level 12 Thief, for instance, has d10/2 and d6/2 HD size, meaning for every Fighter level they gain up to 5 HP and for every Thief level they gain 3 HP. As HP gain drops to 2 HP per level for Thieves after 10, this is halved to 1. With maximum HP, they would have 50 + 32 HP, for a total of 82 HP at most.

Toughness

This is a modifier received from Constitution and it is applied to the Hit-Dice Size of the character, for their first 10 HD or Levels. After 10th level, Classes no longer gain any additional bonus HP from Toughness. They still suffer the penalties of low Toughness, however.

Thus, a character with a d10 Hit Dice and +3 Toughness gains d10+3 HP every level. If they were level 5, they would have 5d10 + 15 HP.

Vitality

This is a value, by default, equal to Constitution. It determines the minimum physical presence of a character and is used to determine VP.

HP

HP stands for Hit Points or Health Points. These represent how close the character is to suffering lasting damage - when out of HP, the character is vulnerable and may not even be able to remain standing.

Current, Maximum and Temporary values are listed - when HP is referred to, assume Current HP is referred to. When a character takes damage, their Current HP is lowered. If more damage is dealt than the character has HP, apply the damage, reduce the character to 0 and then do any remaining to VP. Some forms of attacks do direct VP Damage or deal Insidious Damage, which damages HP and VP at the same time.

A character's HP cannot be raised above their Maximum HP. If something specifically describes itself as giving a character Temporary HP, it restores Current HP first and then increases Temporary HP.

Hit Point Increases

A character gains their Hit-Dice Size per Level or Hit Dice. Characters gain fewer HP after Level 10; +3 if their HD Size is 10 or more, +2 if it is d6 to d8 and +1 if it is d4 or less.

In Traditional games, the player rolls their size of Hit Dice and adds this to their Maximum HP; the least they can gain is their Minimum HP, gained from Constitution, prior to applying Toughness. In Heroic games, double Minimum HP is used, up to the maximum they can gain from the Hit Dice's Size. In Epic games, the dice is not rolled - characters automatically gain the maximum HP per Hit Dice.

Note, a character CANNOT decrease in HP from Leveling or taking a Class. If a 0th Level character takes a class with lower Hit Dice Size and this replaces their HD, their HP will not go down. Instead, they use their initial HP gained from Hit Dice. As such, a Level 1 Wizard with -1 Toughness does not have a maximum of 3 HP but a maximum of 7 (1d8-1). At Level 2, they would normally have 6, but in this case their HP remains the same. Only at Level 3, where their HP would equal 3d4-3, do they increase in HP to 9 (12 -3).

Temporary HP

A character may gain Temporary HP from various sources - usually magic. When a character receives damage, Temporary HP is lost before reducing Current HP.

Temporary HP remains until it is lost by damage or until it's duration has expired. If no duration is listed, Temporary HP lasts for 24 hours. Once the duration has expired, 1 point of Temporary HP is converted into Current HP per round. Temporary HP is also converted into Current HP at a rate of 1 point per 10 minutes of rest, regardless of duration.

If a character cannot increase their Current HP with Temporary HP as it has reached Maximum HP and Temporary HP's duration has expired, then 1 point of Temporary HP is lost per round.

HP 0

When a character has 0 HP, all HP damage is dealt to VP. As Insidious Damage does HP and VP damage at HP above 0, this means Insidious Damage now deals double VP damage instead.

HP cannot be reduced below 0.

Consciousness at 0 HP

If a character hits 0 HP, they must make a skill check to remain conscious and active. The character may make a Hard Constitution Feat or Wisdom Feat check. Alternatively, the Character may make a Mental Resistance Check instead - doing so lowers the effective difficulty by one step.

If they attain a Formidable Success, they suffer are neither Dazed nor Knocked Down.

If they attain a Very Hard Success, they are able to remain Conscious but are Dazed or Knocked Down until their HP is raised above 0. Typically the character is allowed to choose which.

If they attain a Hard Success, they are able to remain Conscious but are Dazed and are Knocked Down until their HP is raised above 0.

If they fail, the character is Knocked Down and Unconscious. If something causes them to regain Consciousness, they may make a new roll.

If their HP is raised above 1, they lose Unconscious, Dazed and Knocked Down if caused by 0 HP.

Bleeding at 0 HP

If a character hits 0 HP from an attack that does Crushing, Piercing or Slashing Damage, they must make a Hard Constitution Feat check.

If they attain a Hard Success, they suffer no ill effects.

If they fail, the character suffers Minor Bleeding.

If they fail by 10 or more, the character suffers Major Bleeding.

If they fail by 20 or more, the character suffers Severe Bleeding.

VP

VP stands for Vitality Points.

VP is determined by Hid Dice or Level (whichever is highest) + Hit Dice Size + Vitality by default. For example, Level 4 Fighter with a d10 Hit Dice and a Constitution of 17 has 4 + 10 + 17, for a total of 31 VP. Meanwhile a Level 10 Wizard with a d4 Hit Dice and a Constitution of 6 has 10 + 4 + 6, for a total of 20 VP.

Current, Maximum and Temporary values are listed - when VP is referred to, assume Current VP is referred to. When a character takes damage once HP is 0, their Current VP is lowered. Some forms of attacks do direct VP Damage or deal Insidious Damage, which damages HP and VP at the same time.

A character's VP cannot be raised above their Maximum VP. If something specifically describes itself as giving a character Temporary VP, it restores Current VP first and then increases Temporary VP.

VP Increases

A character gains 1 VP per Hit-Dice or Level they possess. Multi-Class characters divide this between the number of classes they have.

Size Alterations

Size has an effect on the total number of VP's a character has.

VP Modifier per Size Category
Size	VP Modifier
Tiny-	Half VPs for every Size Category below Tiny
Tiny	-1/2
Small	+0%
Medium	+0%
Large	+25%
Huge	+100%
Gigantic	+250%
Colossal	+500%
Colossal+	+250% for every Size Category above Colossal

Temporary VP

A character may gain Temporary VP from various sources - usually magic. When a character receives VP damage, Temporary VP is lost before reducing Current VP. Temporary VP remains until it is lost by damage or until it's duration has expired. If no duration is listed, Temporary VP lasts for 24 hours. Once the duration has expired, 1 point of Temporary VP is converted into Current VP per round. Temporary VP is also converted into Current HP at a rate of 1 point per 10 minutes of rest, regardless of duration. If a character cannot increase their Current HP with Temporary VP as it has reached Maximum VP and Temporary VP's duration has expired, then 1 point of Temporary VP is lost per round.

VP 0

At VP 0, the character is almost always Dead. If they are not, they are considered Unconscious and cannot have this removed until they are above VP 0.

If a character possesses Total Regeneration, they do not become Dead at VP 0 unless Disintegrated or they are dealt damage that reduces them to below 0 of a type that their Regeneration has an Exemption to.

VP can be reduced below 0, but this only makes a difference for purposes of destroying the body and regeneration.

If VP is reduced to -Maximum VP, the character is Destroyed. If this is done to a character with Total Regeneration, this does not Destroy them but instead halves their VP Recovery until they are above this value.

System Shock

A character's System Shock is a percentage used to determine how able they are to endure serious shocks, like massive damage, extreme fright or heart attacks.

Current and Maximum values are listed - when System Shock is referred to, assume Current System Shock is referred to.

If a System Shock roll fails, the character suffers the Shock condition. Regardless of whether or not the character succeeds at the roll, they lose 10 points of their System Shock.

System Shock can be pushed below 0%, but this only effects how long it takes to recover to normal levels.