This month I'd like to discuss combat, injuries, and healing in a modern fantasy or horror setting. This may be the last modern world development column I'll do for a bit, as I'm finally going to sit down and work on my more traditional fantasy novel. That ought to put me back in the pure fantasy mindset, and I'll definitely be working on world development for the story. In your typical swords-and-sorcery roleplaying game or book, combat is pretty much a given. The heroes are expected to go forth and thwart evil with whatever weapons are in their arsenal. It's what heroes do, and it's what the commonfolk are used to. The heroes might take a few wounds in the process, but if they can't take care of it on their own, they can go back to town and get patched up by the clerics at the local church, and no one really bats an eye. The modern world kind of complicates things, however. Your average person, no matter how heroic they are, isn't allowed to go out and beat up the bad guys. Even police officers need to be careful in their use of the weapons they have at hand, lest they harm an innocent bystander or be accused of brutality. You can still get injured, but then you have to go to the hospital, where they'll ask pesky questions about how and why you were hurt. The biggest complications arise when you've got a fantasy/horror setting where the supernatural is a secret. Just imagine going to the hospital and trying to explain the mysterious lacerations on your body from being attacked by a shoggoth (you have to watch out, they can tear you to a shred). Even relatively "normal" wounds like stabs, gunshots, and burns can be difficult to explain if you got them while battling a cultist or a vampire. You'd have to cook up some sort of story that will not only make sense, but won't send the police looking for assailants that don't exist - you wouldn't want to get charged with making a false report! It's always good for the author or GM and players to keep these things in mind when dealing with modern fantasy and horror. It adds a deeper sense of realism when the characters have to worry about how they're going to explain things to the cops, the doctors, or their family and friends. It adds more challenge to the game when you have to figure out how to stop Great Cthulhu from being summoned, without drawing the attention of the police. Injuries and healing should be given a lot of thought as well. In a fantasy game like D&D, it's pretty easy for the party cleric (or absolutely awesome spirit shaman) to instantly mend a character back to good-as-new status after a battle. In the real world, it can take weeks or even months to recover from an injury. It's also rather unlikely that any "party" is going to have someone who knows how to heal. Unless they have magical powers, you'll be lucky if they know first aid and have a kit handy. They're certainly not going to have full hospital facilities! Of course, I'm sure we've all seen some movies, whether they be sci-fi, fantasy, or just actioners, where for some reason the hero can't go to a legitimate hospital. Instead he finds himself at the mercy of some back-room doctor who works in shoddy conditions. Usually the hero has to chug some whiskey to deaden the pain of the make-shift surgery. Any party could either have someone like this who travels with them, or is a valuable contact. It's not pleasant, but it's easier than trying to come up with an excuse for why you have a broken-off vampire fang lodged in your neck. I'll admit that in my most recent novel, I wrote myself into a corner with this one. My characters ended up in a very serious combat situation, and I knew it would not be believable to have them emerge virtually unscathed. In fact, to really fit with the level of danger, they had to barely escape with their lives. They were absolutely trashed. In fact, I beat them up so much that they were physically incapable of doing some things I'd intended for them to do at the end of the book. As such, I had to change my story, and figure out a way for them to rise to the challenge but still act within their physical limitations. Of course, you can also just cheat, and make all of your conflict non-combat-oriented. I hated the old White Wolf combat rules so much that when I ran Changeling, there was never a single fight. Most players and readers like a little promise of physical danger to build up the tension, however. Happy gaming, everyone!

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Copyright © 2007 By AJ Reardon E-mail AJ at: ErtheFae@aol.com Visit AJ at: www.erthefae.com