Special Damage

Also see Damage and Injury: Special Damage.

Special Damage

These rules cover attacks that don't simply bash through the target's DR to injure him.

Afflictions

An "affliction" is any attack that causes a baneful effect – blindness, choking, stunning, etc. – instead of damage. Examples include tear gas, stun guns, the Affliction advantage, and most other "nonlethal" weapons and powers.

The target of an affliction always gets a modified HT roll to resist; e.g., HT-3. His DR normally adds to this roll; for instance, DR 1 gives +1 to HT. However, afflictions often have armor divisors or special "penetration modifiers" (see below) that bypass some or all of the target's DR. For example, DR gives no HT bonus against a follow-up affliction if the "carrier" attack penetrates DR.

On a failed HT roll, the victim suffers the effects of the affliction: stunning for high-tech stun guns, choking and partial blindness for tear gas, etc. See Afflictions for descriptions of the most common effects. Since afflictions represent a huge variety of different attacks – from beam weapons to chemical agents to psionic mind blasts – you should consult the footnotes to the relevant weapon table for full details.

Linked Afflictions: Some attacks that inflict ordinary damage have an affliction "linked" to them. For example, a cattle prod does burning damage and requires the victim to make a HT-3 roll to avoid stunning. Anyone hit by such an attack must attempt his resistance roll or suffer the affliction, regardless of whether any damage penetrates his DR.

Side Effects: Certain damaging attacks cause an affliction as a "side effect" ... if they inflict injury. The victim gets a HT roll to resist, but typically at -1 per 2 points of injury.

Special Penetration Modifiers

In addition to armor divisors (see Armor Divisors and Penetration Modifiers) and follow-up attacks (see Follow-Up Damage), there are several other "penetration modifiers":

Blood Agent: The attack must reach an open wound or mucous membrane (eyes, open mouth, nose, etc.) to be effective. If it does not, it has no effect at all. See Blood Agent for detailed rules.

Contact Agent: This is most common for contact poison, nerve gas, and exotic "hand of death" effects. The attack must touch bare skin or porous clothing to have any effect. Any DR stops it, unless the DR is limited with Tough Skin. Exception: If the attack is an Area Effect or Cone, it affects everyone in the area who lacks the Sealed advantage (either innate or granted by a sealed suit).

Respiratory Agent: The attack affects only those who inhale it. DR has no effect – but the attack cannot harm those who are holding their breath, breathing supplied air (e.g., in a vacuum suit), or using a gas mask or respirator. It is also totally ineffective against anyone who has either the Doesn't Breathe or Filter Lungs advantage.

Sense-Based: The attack is channeled through one or more of the victim's senses (e.g., vision or hearing), as specified for the attack. It can only affect someone using the targeted sense. See Sense-Based for details.

See Also

• Damage and Injury: Special Damage.