Health & Environmental Dangers
“Take care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live.” – Jim Rohn
In Reign of Dragons, survival is never guaranteed. Injury, exhaustion, exposure and poison all wear a character down over time. Health represents not only wounds, but endurance… the ability to keep going when the world turns hostile.
Health
Measures a character’s overall survivability
Your Health score is equal to your highest Skill rating…
Because all Archetypes begin with (2) Skills at +2, a starting character will always have at least (2) Health.
Advantages and Disadvantages may modify Health after calculation…
It may never be reduced below (1) by Advantages or Disadvantages.
Loss of Health does not always mean physical injury. It may represent exhaustion, near misses, shock or the effort required to avoid harm.
Death
If a character’s Health is reduced to (0), they fall unconscious.
If they then take additional damage equal to their full Health score, they die.
In the case of repeated Weatherbitten, if accumulated penalties ever reduce a character’s effective Health to (0), death occurs as the body finally gives out.
Environmental Dangers
The world itself is dangerous. Heat, cold, fire, falling and exposure are all treated as environmental hazards.
Environmental damage is divided into passive exposure and active exposure.
Passive Exposure
Represents prolonged exposure to dangerous environments where death is not immediate.
Examples include:
Blizzard conditions in the North
Extreme desert heat
Storms at sea
Forced marches without adequate supplies
The Rules
- (1) Round = (1) Hour
- Characters take (1) Health damage per hour of unmitigated exposure
- Damage continues until shelter or mitigation is found
Mitigation may include:
Proper clothing or shelter
Fire, shade, or water
Reducing exposure time
If damage reduces Health to zero…
Your character falls unconscious
Damage continues at the same rate
Additional Damage = Full Health will result in Death
Survival & Weatherbitten
If your character is rescued after falling unconscious but before death, they gain Weatherbitten which results in the lose of (1) Health level permanently until it is bought off using Improvement Points.
Each instance of Weatherbitten requires a separate exposure and collapse.
Active Exposure
Represents immediate, lethal danger where damage occurs in seconds, not hours.
Examples include:
Falling through a frozen lake
Being left exposed and naked in winter conditions
The Rules
Fire & Heat
- Brief contact with flame = (1) Health per turn
- Sustained fire = (2) Health per turn
Cold & Ice
- Contact with ice or freezing water = (1) Health per turn
- Full immersion in freezing water = (2) Health per turn
Dragonfire
… damage scales by dragon size
- Wyrmling / Drake = (1) Health per turn
- War Dragon / Wyrm = (2) Health per turn
- Great Wyrm = (3) Health per turn
… breath weapons may affect multiple targets
- Wyrmling = (1) target
- Drake = (2) targets
- War Dragons = (3) targets
- Wyrm = (4) targets
- Great Wyrm = (5) targets
Once normal Health is exhausted, a character may still be saved if removed from danger before phantom damage equals their full Health.
Survivors of such exposure gain Weatherbitten
Rescue & Recovery
Falling unconscious does not mean instant death
Rescue must occur before phantom damage equals full Health
Healing and recovery follow standard Health recovery rules
Weatherbitten must be bought off through approved advancement
Final Notes
Environmental danger is meant to be narratively consequential, not arbitrary.
Staff may modify damage based on context, preparation and roleplay.
Reckless exposure should be treated as lethal.