Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Exhaustion and the downward spiral.

This posts proposes ways to deal with the effect of long term exhaustion and exposure to the elements using the GURPS illness mechanics.



Physiological Illnesses

Exhaustion

Trigger - At every event causing the loss of FP at and under starting FP/3
Onset - immediate
Resistance roll - HT-3 (+2 if rested, fed and slept 8+ hours within cycle)
Damage / Cycle : 0FP, 12h, 6 cycles
Other effects - Halve the FP recovery rate, Laziness, Incurious. -1 to resist other Mental and Mundane Illnesses. Critical Failure: Upgrade disease. Exhaustion can be caught multiple times:  Exhaustion I resists at HT-4, FP recovery 1FP/40mins, -2 to resist other illnesses, resistance check and end of cycle downgrades Exhaustion by one level. 
Designer's note:  The purpose of this disease is to cause an incremental condition where FP recovery slows down and vulnerability to other diseases increase in severity. It should be easy to avoid exhaustion unless the PC are either reckless or forced into pushing it for narrative reasons.

Mental Illnesses

Cabin Fever

Trigger - Roll after every week of monotonous, socially isolated (small number of people) routine.
Onset - immediate
Resistance roll - HT-3 (HT-4 if eating bad, boring, or bland food)
Damage / Cycle : 0FP, 12h, 6 cycles
Other effects - Bad temper, Tipsy, Critical Failure: minor delusion (hallucination p.429)

Infections

Common Cold

Trigger - When exposed to infected people (see contagion)
Onset - 3 days
Resistance roll - HT-3
Damage / Cycle : 1HP, 12h, 6 cycles
Other effects -  Affliction (sneezing), Critical Failure : Migraine (-2 to all attributes)

Stomach Flu

Trigger - When exposed to infected people (see contagion)
Onset - 3 days
Resistance roll - HT-4
Damage / Cycle : 2FP, 6h, 4 cycles
Other effects -  Affliction (retching, vomiting), Critical Failure: Dehydration (p. 426, penalty per cycle, not day)

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