New Death and Dying
Rules for The Fantasy Trip
(written sometime in 1982)
Note: I’ve used these rules in TFT
campaigns since 1982 and they work well. They also add drama as the medics
desperately try to save lives in the middle of combat!
The rules in TFT for death are harsh, to say
the least. It’s incredibly easy to get killed in TFT. So here are some new
rules to make characters a little easier to survive.
Death
A figure that takes enough damage to reduce
his ST to zero falls unconscious. If the character takes damage that reduces
his ST to a negative number, he must make an immediate 3/ST roll or die. At
negative 10 points he will die.
If the character rolls a 3, 4, or 5 on the ST
roll, he is unconscious but stabilized at that
ST level. No further rolls are necessary, unless the character takes more
damage.
If the character simply makes the roll, he
survives for the turn. Next turn, and every turn thereafter his ST drops by 1.
This loss of ST continues until he dies or is stabilized. And a character whose
ST is below 0 must make a new 3/ST roll or die if he takes any new damage.
A stabilized character is unconscious and may
be carried. He cannot survive rough handling, however. If he is placed on a
horse or similar conveyance, he must make a 3/ST roll each day to avoid tearing
the wound open and taking a point of damage. If this happens, the character
will be dying again and one of his comrades must again try to save the
character’s life.
Saving a Life
A dying character’s his comrades may attempt
to save his life. The comrade desperately plugs his fingers into the gaping
holes and tries to staunch the flow of blood.
For drama, allow the comrade to make the
attempt if he goes prone beside the dying character.
To save someone’s life in this manner, a
character must make a 5/IQ roll. Subtract one die from the test if the
character is a Physicker. Subtract two dice if the character is a Master
Physicker. Subtract one die if a character has a dose of healing potion or
Deathbane to pour on the wound. If used in this manner, healing potion has no
additional healing effect. If the roll is made, the wounded character stabilizes
at his current ST level.
Example
Grom takes a blow that reduces
his ST to -4. Grom (ST 13) must make a 3/ST roll or die. He rolls a 4, so he is
stabilized and unconscious at -4 ST. An arrow hits Grom and does 2 more points
of damage, reducing his ST to -6. Grom must make a new 3/ST roll and rolls a
10. He is now dying and will lose one ST per turn until he reaches -10 and
dies.
Grom lays bleeding for two
turns and his ST drops to -8. At this point, Brunka tries to save Grom’s life.
Brunka has to make a 5/IQ roll reduced by one die because he has a bottle of
Deathbane to pour in the wounds. Brunka rolls a 14, which is more than his IQ
of 8. Grom drops to -9 ST. The next turn, Brunka tries again. He is out of
Deathbane so he must make a 5/IQ roll. Miraculously, he rolls an 8, so Grom
stabilizes at -9.
One attempt may be made per turn to save a
character’s life. The attempt may be made by anyone, but only one attempt per
turn per dying character.