This rule replaces the permanent loss of stamina for bleeding out ( Dungeon Crawl Classics (DCC 🔍) p93). It builds on Goblin Punch’s “Death, Trauma, and Retirement: I’m Gettin' Too Old For This Shit." I have only established an algorithm, I have not brought this to the game table.
A character that was bleeding out suffers trauma from their near fatal injuries. Anyone that is saved from bleeding out gains one point of Trauma, adds a question mark to their Trauma score. They also gain a terrible scar from the wound that downed them.
When the characters come to a place they could conceivably retire, the Judge may call for a Trauma check. All characters with a question mark by their Trauma score must roll a d20. If they roll equal-or-less than their Trauma score, the character decides to retire. Otherwise, erase the question mark as the character is ready to continue adventuring.
When a character retires, the Judge records the following:
- The character’s Luck score and modifier
- The character’s Trauma score at the time of retirement
- Complication score - it starts at 0
- A Complication die indicating the potential severity of the complications the character might experience (d3 is minimal, d30 is Orcus knows their true name)
- Possible complications - unfinished business, debts, patron bonds, etc.
Between each session the Judge should check how retirement is treating each retired character.
Retirement & Complication Procedure
Check the character’s Trauma
If the character’s Trauma is greater than 0, roll a Luck check
On success, reduce Trauma by one. If Trauma is 0, reduce the Trauma die by one step.
On failure, roll the character’s Complication die
If the result is 3 or greater add the result to their current Complication score
Otherwise, if the character’s Trauma is 0
Decrease the character’s complication die one-step
Check for any complications
If the complication die is a d3 or greater, roll Luck again, with a
Difficulty Class (DC 🔍) equal to the character’s complication score
On success, no new complications occur.
On failure, if a retired character is Desperate, that characters complications have taken out the character.
Otherwise mark the character as Desperate.
Characters with 0 Trauma are free to begin adventuring again. When a character reaches 0 Trauma, the Judge should ask if the previous player would like to play that character.
There are a lot of moving parts in this algorithm, but the key considerations are:
- What was their trauma when they failed their Trauma check?
- What is their luck score?
I decided that a person still recovering from the trauma of adventuring is ill-prepared to cope with the complications that come from adventuring.
I also wanted a point when desperation sets in for retired characters. Their complications have finally caught up with them. It is a chance for them to reach out to the heroes.
| Staring Complication Die | Uneventful (Average Checks) | Dead (Average Checks) | Checks While Desperate |
|---|---|---|---|
| d3 | 54.9% (7.42) | 45.1% (9.65) | 3.12 |
| d4 | 42.33% (6.96) | 57.67% (7.95) | 2.56 |
| d5 | 34.36% (7.1) | 65.64% (7.08) | 2.25 |
| d6 | 28.8% (7.55) | 71.2% (6.52) | 2.09 |
| d7 | 24.75% (8.17) | 75.25% (6.15) | 1.96 |
| d8 | 22.0% (8.86) | 78.0% (5.84) | 1.87 |
| d10 | 18.78% (9.52) | 81.22% (5.34) | 1.72 |
| d12 | 16.98% (10.3) | 83.02% (4.98) | 1.6 |
| d14 | 15.76% (11.18) | 84.24% (4.71) | 1.52 |
| d16 | 15.04% (12.07) | 84.96% (4.49) | 1.45 |
| d20 | 14.26% (12.97) | 85.74% (4.13) | 1.34 |
| d24 | 13.76% (13.84) | 86.24% (3.9) | 1.28 |
| d30 | 13.44% (14.79) | 86.56% (3.7) | 1.21 |
The average checks in parentheses is the average number of retirement procedure iterations required to get to that state – dead or uneventful.
For those interested, I wrote a Ruby script to simulate through these procedures.