Health & Recovery
an arcane spell or a psychic ability (see Chapter 6:
Health measures a character’s fitness and wellbeing. A char-
acter with full Health is vigorous and ready for action. A
character with less than full Health is fatigued or wounded.
A character reduced to 0 Health is dying and may die unless
they receive medical attention.
In Modern AGE, Health and damage are abstract by design.
When a character takes damage from crowbar, for example,
it can represent bruising, fatigue, loss of breath, or cracked
bones—narrate the exact injury to match events during the
game. Just watch your character’s Health, and be careful
when it gets close to 0.
When your character is wounded, there are several ways to
heal. The following rules apply to recover in Pulpy or Cine-
matic game modes. See Gritty Recovery for Gritty games.
• Another character can aid you with a First Aid action,
as described under Major Actions in this chapter. You
can’t benefit from another First Aid action until you take
more damage (there is only so much benefit you can
•
gain from basic care).
You can take a breather after a combat encounter. This
is a 5-minute rest that lets you catch your breath, tend
to minor cuts and abrasions, drink some water, and so
on. After a breather, you get back 5 + Constitution +
Level in Health. You can take only one breather after
an encounter. If you were at 0 Health when the combat
encounter ended, you cannot take a breather at all.
• You can get some sleep. If you can get at least 6 hours
of restful sleep, you gain 10 + Constitution + Level in
Health. In Cinematic games, if you received only stun
damage during the day, you recover all your Health
with a good night’s sleep.
• You receive extended medical attention. Another
character can tend to your injuries with a TN 13
Intelligence (Medicine) test that lasts 1 hour or is
concurrent with sleep as above. The character in charge
of your care must use proper medical tools and supplies
(found easily in any clinic, hospital, or doctor’s office).
Success means you recover an additional amount of
Health equal to 5 + treating character’s Intelligence +
double the result of the Stunt Die.
Gritty Recovery
In Gritty games, a character’s life is in more danger
from injury. If you’re playing a Gritty game, the Health
recovery rates are as follows:
• Extended medical attention and extraordinary
powers work the same as in Pulpy and Cinematic
games. First Aid only heals 1 + Intelligence
(minimum 1) Health.
• You can take a breather after combat if you received
only stun damage; if you suffered any amount of
wound damage, you need proper medical attention.
• After sleep, you recover only 5 + Constitution in
Health of either stun or wound damage.
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• You can be healed by extraordinary powers, like
Extraordinary Powers).
Example
Amy drives off the toughs before Brian dies, and the combat
encounter ends. He is still at 0 Health and dying, so Amy
tries to save him with a First Aid action. She makes an
Intelligence (Medicine) test, which is not her strong suit.
However, she gets an 11 and just manages to save Brian’s
life. She rolled a 10 (3 + 3 + 4) and then added her Intel-
ligence of 1 for a total of 11. Brian gets back 5 Health (the
Stunt Die result of 4 plus 1 for Amy’s Intelligence). Not
much, but better than dying. With Brian saved, Amy can
relax a bit and take a breather. She rests for 5 minutes. She
is level 2 with a Constitution of 2, so she gets back 9 Health
(5 + 2 + 2). Since Brian had 0 Health when the combat
encounter ended, he cannot take a breather.
Exploration
Encounters
Exploration encounters do not normally put the lives of char-
acters in immediate danger, and because they happen mostly
in narrative time, they do not require as many detailed rules
as combat. Much of the time, exploration encounters can be
resolved simply by roleplaying or describing the situation, or
using advanced tests (see Chapter 6: Mastering the Rules).
Exploration stunts are listed in Chapter 5: Stunts, providing
tools to give a more flair and twists to situations that require
more finesse than combat.
Exploration encounters involve searching out an area, inves-
tigating a mystery, making or modifying machines and other
objects, and doing pretty much anything where the focus is
on places, objects, and information, instead of action or social
exchanges. But there’s no strict division between encounter
types, so exploration encounters flow into action encounters
and are punctuated with social situations.
Exploration Stunts
There’s an extensive set of exploration stunts available to
characters, listed in Chapter 5: Stunts. The basic stunts in this
chapter can get you started.
Investigations
Information is power in Modern AGE, and in contemporary
settings, finding information will often consume the lion’s
share of an adventure. Note that some investigations have
social components, and will mix with a social encounter.
Simple Investigations
Some investigation scenes are very simple. Succeed at an
ability test against a TN set by the GM, and you win the
information you need. You just need to be in the right place
at the right time. In some cases, a roll won’t be required. The
Chapter 2: Basic Rules