| Site Index > Rules > Gameplay > Damage > Prevention Effects |
| Prevention Effects | |
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| Term Name: | Prevention Effects
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| Description: | Any effect which can prevent either some or all types of conditions or damage.
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| Abbreviation or Synonyms: | Shields
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| Rule Type: | Gameplay |
When a character get's hit by an attack, prevention effects are those things that stop the entire attack completely. You never need to know how much damage an attack did if it is prevented. For non-damaging spells, where they either succeed or they don't, prevention effects are the only protection available.
Damage Types
Each attack that deals damage will always have a type. Even if that type is nothing (aka mundane) damage. For most damage types characters only need to pay attention if they have a special defense that works against that damage type or requires a certain damage type.
A couple of damage types cause conditions: 'Acid!' when it hits a shield; 'Disease!', 'Poison!', and 'Blight!' when they hit characters. Players should pay attention to those specific calls even when they don't have protection that cares about damage types. |
The damage types are:
- 'Acid!' (Causes the Broken condition if it deals 4 damage to a shield)
- 'Blight!' (Causes the Poisoned condition if it hits a character)
- 'Disease!' (Causes the Diseased condition if it hits a character and does body damage)
- 'Elven Steel!'
- 'Magic!'
- 'Nature!'
- 'Poison!' (Causes the Poisoned condition if it hits a character)
- 'Primal!'
- 'Silver!'
Some damage types count as another damage type at the same time. For example 'Elven Steel!' counts as 'Silver!' for anything requiring 'Silver!' damage. You do not need to memorize these, creatures that are vulnerable to the second damage type will list the advanced types associated with it. For example a creature that has a damage requirement for 'Silver!' will say 'Damage Requirement: Silver or Elven Steel' |
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'It's immune to everything!' a character exclaims as they fight a creature they've never faced before. Their party has hit it with every damage type and none of them seemed to work. |
Effect Types
Some attacks have a category of effect associated with them. This is especially true of many tag bag attacks. Much like damage types you only need to know what categories an attack belongs in if you have a relevant defense against that type of thing.
Any spell call can be converted into an 'Acid!' call or a 'Poison!' call by some items. This removes the school normally associated with the spell.
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Blockable (Non-Spell) Attacks: '3!', '4 Acid!', '4 Disease!', '2 Elven Steel!', '1 Pierce!', '1 Poison!', '4 Silver!', '4 Slay!' |
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Acid Calls (all non-spell, shield blockable): 'Acid Charm!', 'Acid Curse!', 'Acid Disengage!', 'Acid Dominate!', 'Acid Enfeeble!', 'Acid Grounding!', 'Acid Memory Loss!', 'Acid Pin!', 'Acid Silence!', 'Acid Terror!', 'Acid Weaken!' |
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Poison Calls (all non-spell, shield blockable): 'Poison Charm!', 'Poison Curse!', 'Poison Disengage!', 'Poison Dominate!', 'Poison Enfeeble!', 'Poison Grounding!', 'Poison Memory Loss!', 'Poison Pin!', 'Poison Silence!', 'Poison Terror!', 'Poison Weaken!' |
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Spell Calls (Cannot be blocked by shields): 'Banish!', 'Charm Humanoid!', 'Charm Wild!', 'Curse!', 'Dispel Magic!', 'Dominate Wild!', 'Enfeeble!', '4 Magic!', '4 Magic Slay!', 'Pin Undead!', 'Pin Wild', 'Silence Humanoid!' |
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Compulsion Spells Calls: 'Charm!', 'Disengage!', 'Dominate!', 'Memory Loss!', 'Pin!', 'Silence!', 'Terror!', 'Weaken!' |
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Circumstantial Calls (blockable non-spells from a weapon, unblockable spells from a tag bag): '4 Nature!', '4 Primal!' |
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Untyped Attacks (non-spells, blockable from a weapon, unblockable from a tag bag): 'Dispel Alchemy!', 'Smite!', 'Torso Wound!' |
Unpreventable Effects
Sometimes effects will duplicate an attack or call, but they will state that they are 'unpreventable'. When this happens even if a character has a relevant prevention effect (either a one-time shield or an immunity) they still take that effect. Absolutely nothing can stop an unpreventable effect.
One-Time Prevention Effects
A one-time prevention effect stops an attack of a particular damage type or effect type. After it has done this once the prevention is done. Whenever a character benefits from a one-time prevention shield they should call 'No Effect!'.
Examples of one time prevention effects include the spells Anti-Magic Shield, Spirit Shield, Ablative Armor, and Enchant Shield. Items that provide one-time shields include Warding Amalgam and Base Paste.
Prevention effects always take place after you check for a relevant immunity, so you'll never lose a shielding effect if you are immune to the type of attack. Also, shielding effects only apply to attacks that could potentially affect you.
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For Example: If you are playing a human character who has Anti-Magic Shield protecting you (which prevents the next spell to hit you), and you are hit by a tag bag that calls for 'Pin Undead!': nothing happens. The spell doesn't affect you because you are not undead. Because the spell doesn't affect you, the shield is not lost. You still call 'No Effect!' because the tag bag does not affect you. |
Immunities
Immunities prevent every single instance of a given type that hits you. Nothing is lost, the immunity remains for whatever the duration of the effect is. When a character benefits from an immunity they should call 'No Effect!'.
Because immunities are very powerful, those immunities that last for a game day (as well as continuous or event duration) are mutually exclusive. Characters have a cap of one of these immunities at a time. If a character would gain another immunity like this when they already have one, they must choose to relinquish one of them before they can benefit from the other.
Characters cannot gain immunities that would make them immune to all damage types. If that situation occurs for some unusual reason, the last immunity to be gained does not work.
Damage Requirements
Some creatures are hard to injure and only vulnerable to one (or more) damage types. We call this mechanic a Damage Requirement which is sometimes abbreviated to 'DR'. When a character has a Damage Requirement they are immune to all other damage types except the ones listed. Only attacks that call for a required type of damage are capable of hurting that character. Characters with Damage Requirements cannot gain an immunity if that immunity would make them impervious to all types of damage.
Kill Conditions
A creature with a kill condition has incredible regenerative abilities. They can heal from most wounds and will return to a battle if not taken care of. When a character with a kill condition is not actively fighting for a full minute (including when they are not fighting because they received a Torso Wound condition) they will heal any lost body points, and lose any Wound conditions (as well as the Bleeding Out condition) they may have suffered.
If a character with a kill condition gains the Dead condition they will stop healing.
Basic Kill Condition
A basic kill condition is any kill condition that can be met by a damage type. These characters are immune to all killing blows that do not have one of the damage types listed. Characters who are immune to killing blows who also have a kill condition will count as having the kill condition met if they are hit by an appropriate attack even if that attack is then prevented because of the immunity to killing blows (they don't become Dead, but they stop healing).
These are the most common kill conditions, and some spells can even temporarily give them to player characters.
Special Kill Condition
A special kill condition is one that requires a particular spell or other unusual circumstance to take place in order for the kill condition to be met. Most often this is "Kill Condition: Reap Spirit", meaning the spell Reap Spirit must be cast on the creature to meet its kill condition.
When the special condition is met, treat it as a killing blow and give the character the Dead condition.
References
Order of Prevention Effects
When you are hit do the following in this order:
- Check for on-going prevention effects (immunities such as the spell Mind Blank).
- Check for one-time prevention effects (effects like the spell Spirit Shield).
- Apply remaining damage to Magic Armor.
- Apply remaining damage to Physical Armor.
- Apply remaining damage to Natural Armor.
- Apply remaining damage to Body Points.
- If any damage remains take a Wound condition in the location hit.
Killing Blows
A special kind of attack, known as a killing blow, is available to characters circumstantially. Killing blows can only be performed if an opponent has the Torso Wound condition. To make a killing blow you role-play giving the character a fatal wound. There is no special call made when you perform a killing blow.
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Sometimes you'll hear someone say 'Killing Blow!' aloud when they perform one, this is incorrect and shouldn't be done. |
A killing blow gives a character the Dead condition.
Categories: Gameplay Rules | Combat Rules | Terminology | Damage Requirements | Kill Conditions | Immunities | One Time Shields
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