Injury, Incapacitation, and Death¶
Design Position¶
Expeditions carry genuine risk. Failure should matter. The model is built around a pressure system that degrades your options before incapacitation becomes possible, a hard carry-loss rule that makes resource decisions meaningful, and a structured recovery path that keeps death painful but not ruinous.
Injury Model¶
Injury is a degrading state that accumulates during an expedition. It is not instant death — it is a pressure system that narrows available outcomes before incapacitation becomes possible.
Injury Grades¶
Each character tracks an injury count from 0 (uninjured) upward. Injuries stack within a grade before crossing into the next.
| Injury Count | Grade | Resolver Effect |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Uninjured | No modifier |
| 1–2 | Wounded | Damage output reduced; minor expedition time extension |
| 3–4 | Seriously Wounded | Outcome band shifts down by one tier; Warden support partially offsets this |
| 5+ | Critically Wounded | Outcome band shifts to Failure regardless of other factors; incapacitation roll applies on each subsequent encounter step |
How Injuries Accumulate¶
- A Poor or worse matchup result in an encounter awards 1 injury to the most exposed character
- Some encounter types (Suohauki ambush, Hjalmarift group, Karnhaunt fear escalation) award 2 injuries in a single step
- Injuries carry forward across all encounter steps within the same expedition — they do not reset between encounters
- A Warden role in the party reduces injury accumulation rate (see
combat-resolution-and-party-logic.md) - Field medicine (Herbalism skill + medicine supplies) can reduce injury count by 1 per expedition step, consuming one medicine unit
Injury Recovery After Returning¶
| Settlement Type | Recovery Rate |
|---|---|
| Trevalkaan (Physician present, medicine band Fine+) | Full recovery from all injuries after one settlement tick |
| Trevalkaan (medicine band Insufficient) | Full recovery after two ticks |
| Village (Herbalist present) | 1 injury count removed per settlement tick |
| Remote settlement or camp | 1 injury count per 2 settlement ticks; only while at rest (no active expeditions) |
Incapacitation¶
When It Happens¶
A character is incapacitated when:
- Their injury count reaches the Critical Wounded threshold and a further harm event occurs
- The expedition enters the
expiredoutcome band while any member is at Critical Wounded - A specific encounter ability (certain boss events, drowning mechanics) directly triggers incapacitation
What Incapacitation Means In-Fiction¶
The character is found, carried out, or recovers barely. Other party members or an NPC escort may be responsible — the exact framing is communicated through the expedition summary. It is never permanent character removal.
Mechanically, the expedition resolution halts at the incapacitation event. The character's personal outcome is incapacitated regardless of the wider expedition's outcome band.
Checkpoint System¶
What Is a Checkpoint¶
The character's last checkpoint is the settlement they most recently returned to and confirmed rest at. Checkpoints update when the character:
- Completes a return to any active settlement (town, village, or named settlement)
- Confirms an overnight rest at an established camp with Campcraft quality Skilled or above
Checkpoints are settlements or established camps — not individual tiles or exploration sites.
Checkpoint List¶
Valid checkpoints at launch:
- Trevalkaan (always valid)
- Any of the 6 villages (after completing their intro arc or reaching Known standing)
- Established guild camps (requires guild camp structure + Campcraft Skilled)
Death and Item Loss¶
What is Lost¶
When a character is incapacitated and returned to their last checkpoint, they lose everything on their person at the time of incapacitation:
| Item Type | Lost? |
|---|---|
| Consumables (food, water, medicine, tools) | Yes — all |
| Harvested materials gathered during the expedition | Yes — all |
| Coin carried at time of incapacitation | Yes — all |
| Equipment in carried slots | Yes — all |
| Equipped loadout items (weapons, armor, focus) | Yes — all |
| Equipped mount (registered in mount slot at expedition launch) | Yes — lost |
| Items stored in settlement, guild storage, or market hold | No — never at risk |
| Knowledge gains (codex, monster knowledge, map reveals) | No — permanent progress |
| Hall rank and renown | No — never lost |
There is no partial-loss model for normal play. If you are incapacitated in the field, everything you had with you is gone. This makes settlement storage a critical piece of the game — players who keep their best gear in storage rather than carrying it on risky expeditions are making a sound strategic decision.
Beginner Protection (Death Modifier)¶
During the beginner protection window (see ../../social/supporting-features.md), the death rules are modified:
- Equipped loadout items are not lost — they are returned to the character at the checkpoint
- Coin loss is capped at 50 coin regardless of how much is carried at time of incapacitation
- Harvested materials and consumables are lost as normal (the risk of the expedition is preserved; only the character's starting kit and savings are shielded)
- Mounts are treated as equipped items: A mount registered in the equipped mount slot at expedition launch is returned alongside other loadout items. A mount carried as inventory cargo (not equipped) is not protected and is lost as normal.
Beginner protection exists to prevent a new player's first death from wiping their starting equipment permanently. Once the window ends, the full loss model applies to everything.
Beginner protection ends permanently when both gates clear: Adventurers Hall rank E and 5 completed orders.
Retreat vs. Incapacitation¶
Players can choose to retreat at any point before incapacitation occurs. Retreating is always better than dying.
| Outcome | Carry items | Equipped gear | Expedition rewards |
|---|---|---|---|
| Retreat | Returned in full (minus consumed supplies) | Returned in full | Not awarded — contract fails |
| Incapacitation | Lost entirely | Lost entirely | Not awarded |
The retreat option is always visible to the player at each expedition step. When injury count reaches Seriously Wounded, the system displays a retreat prompt.
Design Notes¶
Why Lose Everything — Including Gear?¶
Full loss on death makes every preparation decision meaningful. The player who stores their best weapon before a scouting run into dangerous territory is making a correct call. The player who takes their finest armor into an encounter above their rank is gambling it. Settlement storage stops being a passive inventory feature and becomes active risk management.
This model also keeps the economy healthy. Gear must be replaced. Materials must be re-gathered. There is permanent demand for everything crafters produce, and that demand scales with how aggressively players push difficult content.
The beginner protection window exists specifically to prevent a new player's very first death from destroying their starting kit before they understand the system. Once the window closes, the stakes are clear and permanent.
Why Keep Knowledge?¶
Knowledge represents something learned, not something carried. The character lived through the experience — they understand that creature better, they saw that section of the map. Rolling this back would feel arbitrary and would punish players for exploring dangerous zones, which is exactly the behavior the game wants to encourage.