INJURIES Copy link

[Token Add: Optional — 1]

An Injury represents something the Hero survived but never completely left behind. It may be physical damage, chronic pain, psychological trauma, supernatural exposure, or another lasting fracture that has permanently changed how the Hero responds to pressure.

Choosing an Injury is optional.

An Injury adds a specialized Injury Token to the Hero’s Performance Bag. The token reflects the adaptation that came from living with that burden: the Hero has learned new discipline, instincts, habits, or methods of survival because of what happened to them.

But an Injury is still an Injury.

When circumstances go badly, the old fracture may return.

Injury Tokens Copy link

Choose either a Control Injury or an Impulse Injury.

Injury Type	Token	When Drawn	On Failure
Control Injury	2 Control	Contributes 2C normally.	Gain 1 Fatigue and the Injury Flares.
Impulse Injury	2 Impulse	Contributes 2I normally.	Gain 1 Fatigue and the Injury Flares.

If the Performance succeeds, the Injury causes no additional penalty. In that moment, the Hero successfully compensates for, works through, or draws strength from what they have endured.

If the Performance fails and the Injury Token was part of the draw, resolve the Performance’s normal Impact first. Then the Injury Flares: gain 1 Fatigue and allow the Injury to influence how that failure is described.

This fits the existing health structure of Rhuna, where failure already creates Impact and hardship progresses through Fatigue → Strain → Wound.

On success, the Injury represents what surviving taught you. On failure, it represents what surviving cost you.

Injury Flares Copy link

An Injury Flare is primarily a narrative consequence attached to the failed Performance.

The WorldKeeper should use the Injury to help describe why the failure affected this particular Hero the way it did. Whenever possible, the Flare should be woven into the existing Impact rather than treated as a completely separate event.

A Flare does not automatically inflict another Wound, Bane, lost action, forced behavior, or loss of player agency unless another rule already calls for such a consequence.

For mental and emotional Injuries especially, the player retains control over how their Hero reacts. The WorldKeeper may introduce the sensation, memory, fear, voice, instinct, or emotional pressure—but the player decides what the Hero does with it.

CONTROL INJURIES Copy link

Physical Fractures That Hardened the Hero Copy link

Control Injuries represent lasting physical damage, chronic pain, scar tissue, impaired movement, or bodily trauma the Hero has learned to carefully manage.

Living with the Injury has made the Hero more deliberate. They conserve movement, brace themselves correctly, anticipate pain, and rely upon discipline rather than ease.

A Control Injury Token provides 2 Control when drawn.

If the Performance fails while that token is part of the draw, gain 1 Fatigue and allow the Injury to Flare.

Control Injury	Narrative Effect
Collapsed Lung	You conserve breath carefully and avoid unnecessary exertion.
Frozen Shoulder	One arm lacks its former range of motion.
Shattered Jaw	Extended or forceful speech may become painful.
Damaged Knee	Sudden pivots, sprinting, or heavy landings aggravate the joint.
Nerve-Burn Scars	Contact can cause flashes of pain, numbness, or sensory distortion.
Iron Brace	A reinforced joint or limb limits natural movement.
Clouded Vision	Exhaustion or pressure causes your sight to blur.
Split Tendon	Precise movement requires conscious control.
Cracked Sternum	Heavy impacts awaken lingering pain through the torso.
Tremoring Hands	Fine control becomes less reliable under pressure.
Withered Limb	One limb remains weakened or partially unresponsive.
Threadbite Scarring	Thread resonance can cause old scars to burn or spasm.
Chronic Vertigo	Height, speed, or sudden movement can destabilize you.
Ruptured Ear	Balance and orientation occasionally become unreliable.
Burned Nerves	Particular temperatures or sensations provoke painful responses.
Fused Fingers	Strong grip remains possible, but delicate manipulation is difficult.
Exhausted Heart	Sustained exertion drains your endurance unusually quickly.
Bone-Locked Spine	Twisting, crouching, or rapid changes of posture are difficult.
Half-Healed Fracture	An old break still flares under strain or impact.
Scarred Reflexes	Your body instinctively hesitates before familiar physical danger.

A Control Injury should never make the Hero incapable of adventuring. It establishes what their body requires them to respect.

IMPULSE INJURIES Copy link

Inner Fractures That Changed the Hero Copy link

Impulse Injuries represent lasting psychological trauma, metaphysical instability, intrusive resonance, fractured memory, emotional conditioning, or experiences the Hero has never fully reconciled.

The Hero has learned to survive through heightened instinct. They react quickly, notice danger early, recognize emotional shifts, or act before uncertainty can overwhelm them.

An Impulse Injury Token provides 2 Impulse when drawn.

If the Performance fails while that token is part of the draw, gain 1 Fatigue and allow the Injury to Flare.

Impulse Injury	Narrative Effect
Thread Echoes	Emotional resonance lingers in places long after events have passed.
Future Fracture	Brief impressions sometimes seem to arrive before their moment.
Night Terror Syndrome	Sleep is often restless, fractured, or difficult to trust.
Paranoid Reflex	Your instincts rapidly search for betrayal or hidden danger.
Emotional Flooding	Powerful feelings become difficult to quiet once awakened.
The Hollow Silence	Stress may produce moments of emotional distance or detachment.
Voice in the Static	A recurring whisper offers warnings, guidance, or temptation.
Identity Drift	Under pressure, your sense of self can become strangely distant.
Survivor's Burden	Survival carries memories of those who were not as fortunate.
Catastrophic Imagination	Your thoughts instinctively race toward dangerous possibilities.
Wither Touched	Corruption feels disturbingly recognizable to your instincts.
Dream Leakage	Dreams occasionally leave impressions upon waking reality.
Fractured Trust	Reliance upon others rarely comes without hesitation.
Compulsive Vigilance	Relaxation can feel more dangerous than remaining alert.
Memory Bleed	Sensations or circumstances can unexpectedly awaken the past.
Divine Static	Spiritual or cosmic resonance can overwhelm ordinary thought.
Rage Flash	Anger can arrive suddenly and with startling intensity.
Obsessive Focus	Once something captures your attention, releasing it can be difficult.
Fear Conditioning	Certain sensations or situations provoke immediate emotional reactions.
The Unanswered Call	Something unknown seems to continually pull at the edge of your awareness.

Impulse Injuries should create pressure and characterization without dictating the Hero's choices. They describe what intrudes upon the Hero's mind—not what the player is forced to do.

Recording an Optional InjuryCopy link

An Injury is not mandatory for a new Hero. My Heroes retains its description and selection, but the specialized Injury token requires manual modeling; a generated ordinary bag is not a claim that those effects are automated. Apply the Injury’s own stated consequences alongside the current Performance rules. Physical Clash uses the current armor, Position and Health procedure, not an additional generic Impact Bag draw.