Mekton Zeta Optional Bruise Damage Rules

    Fists From Hell
    As it stands now, human-scale combat in Mekton Z is simply too deadly. Your players should be able to slug obnoxious NPCs without being put on trial for attempted murder (just try to use that spin kick on someone without killing them). In the likely event that you're not running "Fist of the North Star", the new Bruise Damage rules make hand-to-hand combat much more workable. I've been using it for a few months in my game, and it seems to work well.

    BRUISE DAMAGE
    There are two distinct types of damage: Wounds and Bruises. Wounds are the standard type of Mekton Z damage, while Bruises are caused by unarmed combat attacks (punches and kicks), and blunt attacks (clubs, tonfa, sticks, saps, barstools, and thrown bottles). Really big impacts (falling, being run over by a car, or being drop-kicked by a 78-ton Mekton) are still considered Wounds.

    A character can take the same amount of Bruises to a given area as he can Wounds. The difference is that the amount of Hits to the head or torso that would kill a character in Wounds will only render him unconscious with Bruises. Similarly, the amount of Hits that would cause the character to lose a limb with Wounds will only apply cause spraining with Bruises.

    You do not need a separate damage monitor for Wounds and Bruises. They both use the same monitor, and are cumulative with each other. For example: Jeff can take a maximum of 10 Hits of damage to his torso. If he takes 5 Hits of Wounds and 5 Hits of Bruises, he then has 10 Hits of total damage to his torso; this is his maximum, and he is unconscious, but he will not be killed until he has a full 10 Hits of Wounds.

    Wraparound Damage
    For each Hit of Bruises or Wounds that you take to a given location which exceeds the locationÕs damage capacity, one Hit will convert from Bruises to Wounds. You never go into negative numbers until all your Bruises have become Wounds (in which case you either die or lose a limb). For example: Jeff takes the 5 Hits of Wounds and later takes 7 Hits of Bruises; since he only has the capacity to take 5 more Hits of damage, the overflowing 2 Hits of Bruises wrap around and become 2 Wounds. He therefore ends up with 7 hits of Wounds and 3 hits of Bruises, likely rendering him unconscious.

    Before you panic, this isn't as complex as it sounds. This system works work best when you monitor damage with checkboxes; just mark Wounds with X'es and Bruises with slashes. Then, if you get any wraparound, it is easy to just double up the slashes, making them X'es. Simple. When all your checkboxes are full, you're unconscious. If they are all full of X'es, you're taking the long dirt nap.

    Sprained Limbs
    When a character takes as many Bruises to a limb as the number of Wounds that would cause its loss, that limb is Sprained. A character suffers a -3 penalty to all skill rolls involving the use of a Sprained limb, due to the pain, and this penalty is cumulative per Sprained limb.

    Healing Bruises
    Unlike wounds, Bruises heal at the rate of 1 hit for each full hour of rest (remember that that's one per hit location). Rest does not necessarily mean sleep - the injured party cannot be doing anything more strenuous than reading, talking, or watching TV.

    ARMOR AND BRUISES
    Ballistic mesh and most other soft armors offer NO protection against Bruising damage, which makes PC fistfights actually practical.

    Optional: Ballistic Impact Bruises Since mesh armor is designed to prevent bullet penetration, but not their impacts, any ballistic weapon Hits stopped by mesh armor are converted to Bruises (mesh armor will keep you alive, but not necessarily conscious). Any armor designated as padded armor gets half its SP against Bruising damage... in exchange for possibly reducing your mobility. Hardened armor (helmets, polymer plate, stove doors, etc.) can stop impacts, and therefore work as normal against either Bruises or Wounds. Beam weapons, natch, deliver no impact and are not subject to this rule.

    A word of warning: This rule may to make it too easy to drop someone with a gun - some referees might not mind if they are going for a realistic style, but it may be overly nasty for other campaigns. If you feel so, just ignore this optional rule.

    Original Idea by Tom Williams
    Developed & Edited by Benjamin Wright