Health, Damage & Healing

Health Levels

Every character has seven health levels. Each represents a threshold of physical damage:

Below Incapacitated: vampires enter torpor (from bashing/lethal) or suffer Final Death (from aggravated).

Damage Types

Bashing

Blunt force: punches, kicks, clubs, explosions. All unarmed combat deals bashing unless using Feral Claws or supernatural powers.

Firearms vs. vampires: Bullets deal bashing to vampires (the body absorbs and closes around the wound). Head shots deal lethal.

• Vampire soak: Stamina (+ Fortitude). After soak, bashing damage to vampires is halved (round down).
• At Incapacitated + 1 more bashing: vampire enters torpor.

Lethal

Edged and piercing weapons, bullets against mortals, head shots against vampires.

• Vampire soak: Stamina (+ Fortitude). Lethal is treated as standard damage for vampires and heals normally with blood.
• At Incapacitated + 1 more lethal: vampire enters torpor.

Aggravated

Fire, sunlight, claws/fangs of supernatural beings (vampires, werewolves, some others).

• Vampire soak: Fortitude only. Vampires without Fortitude cannot soak aggravated damage.
• Healing: One full day of rest + 5 blood points per aggravated level healed. Healing additional aggravated levels on the same day costs 5 blood points + 1 Willpower point each.
• At Incapacitated + aggravated: Final Death.

Applying Damage

Damage fills health boxes from top (Bruised) to bottom (Incapacitated). All damage types coexist, but they are tracked separately:

• Mark bashing: /
• Mark lethal: X
• Mark aggravated: ✦ (or asterisk *)

Aggravated is always marked in the highest available box. If an aggravated wound is added when lower-severity damage already occupies that box, all lower-severity boxes shift down one level.

Overflow: Lethal or bashing damage taken while Incapacitated converts to the next severity level. Bashing → lethal at Incapacitated; lethal at Incapacitated with more damage → torpor.

Vampire Healing

Bashing and Lethal

• Spend 1 blood point to heal 1 health level of bashing or lethal damage.
• Requires rest (not usable in the same turn as physical combat actions, unless the vampire has high enough Generation to spend multiple blood points per turn).
• Multiple health levels can be healed simultaneously if Generation allows multiple blood expenditures per turn.

Aggravated

• Requires one full day of rest and 5 blood points per level.
• Additional aggravated levels healed on the same day: 5 blood points + 1 Willpower point each.
• Cannot be healed in combat.

Healing Summary

Mortal Healing

Mortals heal much slower and cannot regenerate through blood expenditure.

Untreated lethal wounds worsen by 1 lethal level per day. Past Mauled, recovery requires medical treatment. Past Crippled, no recovery is possible without professional medical care.

Torpor

Torpor is a deathlike trance — complete shutdown of the vampiric condition.

Entering Torpor

From wounds: Taking damage past Incapacitated (bashing or lethal) sends the vampire into torpor.

From blood loss: When a vampire’s blood pool drops to 0 through nightly expenditure, they deteriorate:

• 1 health level per day from desiccation
• By the seventh day (at Incapacitated), they enter torpor
• A staked or paralyzed vampire continues burning 1 blood point per night

Voluntary torpor: A vampire may choose to enter torpor deliberately.

Duration

Awakening from Torpor

After the mandatory rest period:

1. Spend 1 blood point and roll an Awakening roll (Humanity or Path, difficulty 8)
2. If blood pool is empty, cannot rise until fed
3. Failed roll: try again the next night
4. Success: rise at Crippled (lowest functional health level)

Voluntary torpor: May rise after half the mandatory period; still requires an Awakening roll.

Torpor state: A torpid vampire ignores the nightly blood expenditure. They are in genuine hibernation.

Torpor and Memory

A vampire in torpor has no sensory awareness. They may have dreams — particularly if blood-bonded, if they have Auspex, or if specific Disciplines or rituals are used on them.

Final Death

Triggers:

• Taking 1 more level of aggravated damage while Incapacitated or in torpor
• Decapitation, explosion, total bodily destruction
• Complete incineration

When a vampire suffers Final Death, the body crumbles: an old vampire turns to ash, a young vampire might simply fall dead. The speed of dissolution correlates roughly with age and blood potency.

Fire

Fire damage is aggravated and automatic (no attack roll required — contact is sufficient). Only Fortitude can soak fire damage.

Fire Soak Difficulty

Fire Damage per Turn

Appearance damage: At Mauled from fire, reduce Appearance by 1 (until healed to Bruised). At Crippled or Incapacitated, reduce Appearance by 2.

Rotschreck: Fire always triggers Rotschreck. See Frenzy & Rotschreck.

Sunlight

Sunlight is more dangerous than fire — it is the most primal of the vampiric vulnerabilities. Damage is aggravated and automatic. Only Fortitude can soak it.

Sunlight Soak Difficulty

Sunlight Damage per Turn

Blindness: Looking directly into sunlight blinds immediately (retinas burned).

Moonlight: Not dangerous. A full moon may cause mild discomfort or difficulty without protective clothing, at Storyteller discretion.

Rotschreck: Sunlight exposure triggers Rotschreck.

Other Environmental Hazards

Staking

A vampire staked through the heart is paralyzed (not destroyed). The vampire remains conscious and can use perception-based powers (Auspex) but cannot move, take physical actions, or spend blood points. A staked vampire still burns 1 blood point per night.

Mechanics: Targeting the heart is difficulty 9. Success requires at least 3 health levels of damage to reach and penetrate the heart. Fortitude applies normally to the damage roll, but staking still paralyzes if the damage threshold is reached.

Removing the stake: Requires the vampire to be held still and someone to physically pull it out (Strength roll, difficulty 6). The paralysis ends immediately.

Electrocution

• Lethal damage each turn until contact is broken (Strength roll, difficulty 5 for vampires, 9 for mortals)
• A botched soak roll converts the damage to aggravated
• Armor does not protect against electricity

Falling

• 1 die of bashing damage per 10 feet / 3 meters fallen
• Soak normally
• Landing on sharp objects may convert to lethal
• At 100 feet / 30 meters (terminal velocity): maximum 10 dice, lethal damage, armor at half rating

Drowning

Vampires do not breathe — they do not drown in the conventional sense. However:

• Complete immobilization in water prevents any action
• Running water affects some vampires supernaturally (Storyteller discretion; not in V20 core)
• Trapped underwater requires escaping the water; the vampire is not harmed by lack of air

Temperature Extremes

• Cold: Severe cold may impose –1 or more to Dexterity-based pools; frostbite is possible with extended exposure
• Heat: Temperatures above 200°F / 100°C may produce fire-equivalent effects
• Vampires otherwise suffer little from temperature variation