Mortal Injury and Stabilization

When a PC is reduced to zero hit points by a lethal attack, they are Mortally Injured. They will die at the end of the sixth round after their incapacitation unless stabilized by an ally or some special ability or cyber. A Mortally Wounded character is helpless, and can take no actions and do nothing useful.

Stabilizing an ally is usually a Main Action that requires a Dex/Heal or Int/Heal skill check. The difficulty is 8 plus the number of full rounds since the target fell. If the medic lacks a medkit or other tools, this difficulty is increased by 2. Only one ally can try to stabilize a victim per round, though others can attempt to aid their check, but attempts may be retried each round for as long as hope lasts.

Once stabilized the victim remains incapacitated for ten minutes before recovering with 1 hit point and the Frail condition. They may act normally after they recover, but if they are reduced to zero hit points again while still Frail, they die instantly. Frailty is removed by a week of bed rest and medical care. A physician can also make one attempt to remove Frailty with a medkit and an hour of work, rolling a Dex/Heal or Int/Heal skill check against difficulty 10.

NPCs and Mortal Injury

NPCs who aren’t important enough to merit a name usually die instantly when reduced to zero hit points.

Catastrophic Damage

Targets reduced to zero hit points by some injury or cause that could not be reasonably survivable are instantly killed. A gunshot might be patched; a direct hit with a rocket-propelled grenade is less survivable. What counts as “not be reasonably survivable” may vary if the target is heavily cyber-armored.

Non-Lethal Incapacitation

If a target is brought to zero hit points by a non-lethal attack, they are incapacitated for ten minutes before regaining 1 hit point. They do not become Frail.