>>7137307So I'm just going to explain the entire mechanic as half of this was written out, then I can refer people back to this when needed.
There are three types of damage in nWoD/CofD you've got Bashing, Lethal, and Aggravated. When you take damage you add it to your left most Health box that doesn't contain more severe daamge type. If there is already damage in that box you move that over to the next one along. So if you a mix of all damage types Bashing is always on the right, Aggravated is always on the left, and Lethal is always between those two.
Bashing damage is represented by a slash [ /], Lethal damage is represented by an cross [x], and Aggravated damage by an asterisk [ *]. These shapes are so you can easily upgrade them as you take damage, if you have Bashing in a box you need to put Lethal in you just add a slash in the other direction, if you need to make it Aggravated you draw a line down the middle.
Here is a visual representation of someone with no damage and 10 Health.
>[_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_]If they take 2 Bashing damage you'd place them at the far left, and there Health track looks like this
>[ /][ /][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_]If they then take a Lethal damage you'd place it at the far left and move the rest up, making it look like this
>[x][ /][ /][_][_][_][_][_][_][_]If they take 2 points of Aggravated damage they'd then look like this.
>[ *][ *][x][ /][ /][_][_][_][_][_]If you take 2 Lethal and 1 Bashing you'd overwrite the 2 Bashing you already have, move them across, and then add 1 more Bashing so it'd look like this.
>[ *][ *][x][x][x][ /][ /][ /][_][_]If your Health track is already full up instead of adding a new point of damage you start upgrading existing damage. If a character’s Health track is filled with Bashing damage, meaning that the right most box has Bashing in it, then each point of further Bashing or Lethal damage upgrades the leftmost point of Bashing damage to Lethal. So if it looked like this.
>[ *][ *][x][ /][ /][ /][ /][ /][ /][ /]And you take 2 Bashing, you upgrade the 2 leftmost Bashing to Lethal like this
>[ *][ *][x][x][x][ /][ /][ /][ /][ /]If a character’s Health track is filled with Lethal damage, each point of further damage upgrades an existing point of Lethal damage to Aggravated. If there is Bashing damage in the rightmost box you might pass out, if there is Lethal you're bleeding to death and take a point of damage each minute, if there is Aggravated you're just dead.
When your Health track is filled with Bashing damage you have to make a Stamina roll each turn to remain conscious. If your Health track is full of Lethal you're now bleeding out, every minute that passes in which you don't receive medical attention upgrades a point of Lethal to Aggravated. When your Health track is full of Aggravated damage, well, then you're dead. Those are the rules for mortals at least, some supernaturals will modify these things. Full Aggravated is always death though, even if the supernatural in question doesn't actually stay that way.
Additionally, the last three boxes in your Health track being filled with any type of damage imposes a "Wound Penalty". If the box third-to-last is filled then you take a -1 penalty, if it's the second-to-last that's a -2, and the last box is a -3. This penalty applies to all actions you take, including initiative, but doesn't apply to the Stamina roll you make to stay conscious.
And just to be extra super complete. Bashing damage is blunt force, it's stuff that causes bumps and bruises. Thinks like fists, clubs, and getting tossed into walls deal Bashing damage. Stuff you can pretty much just walk off, mortals recover a point of Bashing damage every 15 minutes. Lethal damage is cuts, puncture wounds, or burns. Stuff like knives, guns, or getting crushed between two things deal Lethal damage. Lethal damage takes 2 days per point. Aggravated damage is grievous stuff like flesh melting acid burns, or serious organ damage, but also supernatural stuff like silver vs werewolves. Supernatural sources or just horrific mundane sources can cause Aggravated damage. It takes a whole week to recover from a point of Aggravated damage. You heal damage from the right most box first, so if you have Aggravated damage it doesn't start healing until you heal all your Bashing and Lethal.
Unless I missed something that is a comprehensive Health breakdown. Some of that stuff may be modified for Supernaturals, or with the use of certain Merits or magics. The only tricky part is just learning the notation but after a few sessions most people have that down. Feel free to ask any questions.
