 Welcome, Roleplayers! My name is Mario, and let's learn about Savage World's damage, shaken, and wounds. On a successful attack roll, the attacker rolls their damage dice and the total is compared against the defender's toughness. If the total does not match or exceed the defender's toughness, then the defender is able to withstand the attack and the attack is resolved. A quick side note, there is an edge called No Mercy that allows a wildcard to spend a Benny to re-roll on a damaged roll. This is the exception, not the rule, but worth mentioning. If the defender's toughness is matched or exceeded, then you need to understand the shaken condition and wounds. While they are related to each other, they are separate from one another. For instance, someone can be shaken but not wounded, wounded but not shaken, or shaken and wounded. A character which is shaken can only take free actions during their turn. However, at the start of their turn, they may make a free spirit roll with a target number of 4 to successfully remove the shaken condition. At any time, even after failing that free roll, the character may spend a Benny to immediately end the shaken condition. Wounds are much more serious. If the character is an extra, like many NPCs, once it suffers a single wound, it is removed from play. If the character is a wildcard, they can suffer a maximum of 3 wounds before they are incapacitated. For each wound a character has, they suffer a penalty to their pace and to trait tests equal to the number of wounds. Thus, if you had 2 wounds, you would suffer a minus 2 penalty to your pace and any trait tests. The facts. Let's see this in action. To demonstrate, let's consider a series of attacks against you. Your character has a toughness of 5, so we will compare their damage rolls to a 5. If the damage roll matches your toughness of 5, you become shaken. This is a success for 0 to 3 damage over the target's toughness. If the damage roll is 4 to 7 points over your toughness, that would be a success and a raise. Much like the rest of Savage Worlds, every 4 over the target number, your toughness in this case, is a raise. In this roll, 9 minus 5 equals 4, therefore a success and a raise. Each raise inflicts a wound on the target. If the target takes a wound, they also become shaken. If they are already shaken, there is nothing to do. You're either shaken or not, it is not stackable. Let's take a look at those same rolls again, but this time let's assume that you are already shaken. With this success roll without a raise, you previously would have become shaken, but since you are already shaken, you instead take one wound and maintain the shaken condition. The result is the same if the attack was a success with a single raise against the shaken target. This attack would cause one wound and the shaken condition. I know, right now you are wondering why the shaken doesn't become one wound in this example as well. The rule is that wounds are only applied by raises and the only exception to this rule is if the target is already shaken and the roll is only a success, then it becomes one wound. As a reminder, at the start of their turn, any character who is shaken makes a trait test, a spirit roll, for free to remove the condition. At any time, they can spend a Benny to immediately remove the shaken condition and if it is their turn, they can then take their full turn. There is another option for spending Benny's related to damage, soaking. To soak is to spend a Benny and attempt to reduce the number of wounds by making a vigor roll. A success in each raise reduced the wounds by one. Soak rolls must occur immediately after the damage roll prior to any further attacks and can only be applied to wounds from that attack. Let's demonstrate the use of soak through another series of rolls. For these examples, you will have both a spirit and vigor die of a D6. You also have three Benny's. You are not currently shaken or wounded. The attacker rolls a 13 versus your toughness of 5. The difference is 8, which is a success and two raises. You would take wounds and be shaken, but you spend a Benny to try and soak the wounds. You roll your D6 vigor and your D6 wild die, taking the higher result. You roll a success which would remove one wound, but you decide to spend another Benny in an attempt to soak both wounds. You can't do worse than your previous roll. You roll again and this time you get a success and a raise, removing both wounds. Since you soaked all of the wounds, you automatically remove the shaken condition as well. You're back to feeling okay, but with two less Benny's. Let's move forward in time. You've taken a wound and chose not to soak it. You're also currently shaken. That means that you suffer from a minus one penalty to your pace and all trait tests. Another attack against you is a damage roll of 9. A success and a raise means one wound. You decide to try and soak the damage, spend your Benny, and your best roll is a 4 on the die, but because of your existing one wound, the result is a 3, a failure. If that roll was instead 5 to 8, you would have been able to soak that wound and also remove the shaking condition. But alas, you now have two wounds. One more attack against you is a damage roll of 15. A success and two raises meaning two more wounds. Since you have two existing wounds and no Benny's to try and soak, you have exceeded the maximum of three wounds for a wild card and you become incapacitated. The player guide has tables and further instructions on how to resolve becoming incapacitated. Congratulations! You now understand Savage World's damage, shaken, and wounds.