When a stalker goes down they are no longer part of the battle or the play situation in general. They might not be dead but the physical threat directed at them was realized. Different threats cause different injuries and conse- quences. Of course, the GM should also apply reason when it comes to de- scribing all earlier wounds and injuries covered by Fitness: they’re there, they hurt and they exact a toll on the stalker even if they are not enough to incapacitate him. But with that final hit, the GM can be just as grittily rea- listic as he wants. An axe blow takes a limb clean off, a bullet exits the chest cavity with a spray of blood and bone fragments, the last scream is sharply cut off as organic tissue petrifies within a shimmering anomaly. Sometimes the stalker can be saved, sometimes not. Everything depends on the circumstances and what kind of help is available. If the stalker can be taken to someplace that’s even approaching a hospital (such as the black clinics in the borderlands), chances are good. Modern medicine can work wonders. At night in the Zone, though, it is back to the Middle Ages and there is not going to be any help from the outside. A stalker who is down can be killed with any weapon, strike or exposure to new dangers. A stalker crawling away and fighting off shock is hardly capable of avoiding the vari- ous hazards of the Zone. He can even crawl straight into an anomaly without noticing it.
Punch or lightweight blunt instrument: The stalker is out for acouple of hours and wakes up afterwards feeling groggy and nauseous.
Heavy blunt instrument: The stalker is unconscious until he receivestreatment or dies. A skull fracture or bleeding from internal injuries will kill him in about 24 hours. The impact may also have broken larger bones.
Light blade: The stalker slumps into the ground, conscious but inca-pacitated. Heavy bleeding. Cannot complete challenges. Crawling or stum- bling forward with some support may be possible. Without treatment, he will lose consciousness in an hour. If the bleeding is staunched, if only with fingers, some have stayed awake for as long as a day. Even if treated, the stalker is bedridden for a week and finds it hard to move for a month.
Heavy blade: Axes, swords and chainsaws can go clean through thebody and even remove limbs. The victim is conscious but helpless for a few minutes and then faints from blood loss. Without treatment, death will result in an hour. Stopping the bleeding from a wound this big is difficult in the field but even a makeshift tourniquet will buy a couple more hours.
Firearm, light calibre: The stalker catches the bullet and remainsconscious if also incapacitated. Depending on hit location, he may retain consciousness for up to several hours but in the end he will pass out and die in about 24 hours unless the bleeding is stopped (tampons are good for this).
Firearm, heavy calibre: There’s a quarter-sized entry wound and afist-sized exit wound. A hit on a limb may have even blown it off when the bullet shattered the bone and its fragments ripped through tissue. The stalker is in shock and loses consciousness in minutes. Without help, he will die in an hour and that help is very difficult to give in field conditions.
Explosives: The stalker is unconscious and suffers from injuries causedby the overpressure and embedded shrapnel. If the explosion happened very close or he was touching a small explosive, he may well have lost a limb and will usually die in the arms of his helpers. In any case, without help he will be dead in an hour.
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THE GAMEMASTER’S BOOK
Falling: The stalker is unconscious and a major bone in some limb isbroken. He will come to in a few minutes but is nearly immobilized. The limb will swell and in case of an open fracture, there will be copious bleeding. Without treatment, he will lose consciousness in a few hours and his life in about 24 hours.
Fire, corrosive substances: The stalker goes into shock, screamingall the while and will die in about 24 hours. His life can still be saved in a hospital but otherwise it is nearly impossible. There will be a lot of scarring and he may have lost fingers or other extremities, or perhaps his eyesight.
Cold: The stalker is incapacitated and falls into a coma. Unless he canbe warmed up, he will die in about 30 minutes. Unprotected skin and lightly clothed or wet extremities suffer frostbite and become gangrenous. They must be amputated during treatment or the victim will die of infection.
Radiation: The stalker will be incapacitated by nausea. Mucous mem-branes and the thinnest parts of the skin will bleed. If he can be removed from the radiation immediately, his life may still be saved in a hospital. Oth- erwise, radiation sickness will kill him painfully over the next day or two. Even survivors will develop tumours over time and susceptibility to new doses of radiation is heightened. Getting children will also become harder but for a stalker that’s nothing new.
Gravity: The stalker crumples down, powerless, with every joint in hisfeet torn. Soft tissue will begin to squash under pressure, pressing down on internal organs. Shock ensues. Then the skull, ribs and pelvis will begin to fracture and depending on the strength of the gravity concentration, death will come from thirty seconds to thirty minutes. Even if the stalker is res- cued, treating this many internal injuries, broken joints and fractures will be very difficult.