Damage reduces a character's Stamina. If a character's Stamina score is reduced to zero or below, the character is dead. Defensive suits and screens can protect characters from injuries, and a freeze field or staydose injection will preserve a dead character's body so it can be revived at a medical complex.
Shock and Unconsciousness. Whenever the roll to hit in combat is 01-02, the target is immediately knocked unconscious for d100 turns. Stimdose can awaken the character sooner.
Variable Power Settings. Laser pistols, Iaser rifles and heavy lasers can be adjusted to fire shots that cause from 1 to 200 points of damage. Players can change the setting at the beginning of every turn. More information on variable power settings is included in the descriptions of laser weapons in the Equipment section.
Burns. Acids, fire and extreme heat cause burns, which are very painful. If a character suffers damage from burns that is more than half his Stamina score, the character is completely incapacitated and unable to do anything until treated at a hospital. Wounds caused by lasers are not burns.
Avoidance Rolls
Characters can avoid or reduce the effects of some weapons by leaping or twisting away from the attack, or by resisting its effects. When a character is attacked with one of the weapons listed below he gets to make an avoidance roll on d100. If the result is equal to 0; less than the indicated ability score, the character has avoided or resisted the attack.
| Weapon | Avoidance Roll | Result
| electrostunner | sonic stunner stunstick anesthetic needles doze grenade tangler grenade fragmentation grenade incendiary grenade current STA or less | current STA or less current STA or less current STA or less current STA or less RS or less RS or less RS or less no effect | no effect no effect no effect no effect no effect 1/2 damage 1/2 damage | |||
A character who passes an avoidance check against a fragmentation, incendiary or tangier grenade must move 3 meters to get out of the blast area. If the character has nowhere to move to, he can not try to avoid the blast. A character can tryto avoid only one grenade per turn.
Defenses
Two types of defensive armor are available in STAR FRONTIERS games: suits and power screens. Only one suit and one screen can be worn at the same time. Each suit or screen protects the wearer from one type of weapon. The effects of these suits and screens are summarized below. (They are described in more detail in the Equipment section.)
Albedo Suit. An albedo suit can absorb up to 100 points of laser damage. When it is hit by a laser, the damage is subtracted from the suit's total of 100 points. The suit is destroyed and does not protect the wearer after it has absorbed 100 points of damage.
Albedo Screen. Like an albedo suit, the screen absorbs laser beams. Absorbing a laser beam uses a number of SEU equal to 1/5 the number of damage points caused by the beam, rounded up. For example, absorbing a beam that caused 11 damage points would use 3 SEU.
Skeinsuit. Skeinsuits absorb one-half of the damage caused by projectile and gyrojet weapons, fragmentation grenades; explosives and melee weapons. The suit is destroyed when it has absorbed 50 points of damage.
Inertia Screen. Inertia screens do the same thing skein-suits do. The screen uses 2 SEU every time it is hit.
Gauss Screen. A gauss screen absorbs all the damage caused by electrostunners, shock gloves, stunsticks and other electrical attacks. It uses 2 SEU every time it is hit.
Sonic Screen. Sonic screens act as sound barriers, absorbing all sound that hits the screen. They absorb all damage from sonic stunners and disruptors. Absorbing a hit uses 2 SEU, and the screen itself uses 1 SEU every minute it is on.
Recovering From Wounds
Wounds heal naturally at a rate of 1 point for every 20 hours the wounded character spends resting. Resting means doing nothing more strenuous than taking short walks. A hospital can heal up to 20 Stamina points per day, at a cost of 1 Credit per Stamina point healed, plus 50 Cr per day.
Biocort. Biocortizone is a healing drug. An injection of biocort heals 10 points of damage immediately, when it is given by a medic. (Biocort has no effect if given by a non-medic.) Only one dose of biocort can be given in a 20-hour period; additonal doses have no effect unless given during surgery.
Field Surgery. A medic can perform minor or major surgery on a wounded character to heal more than 10 points of damage. Surgery is described in detail under SKILLS: Medical.
Stimdose. Stimdose is a stimulant. If given by a medic to an unconscious character, the character will wake up immediately.
In the Expanded Game, a stimdose will restore 10 Stamina points if the points were lost to poison, disease or infection. These 10 points are restored even if the character is unconscious. If the character's Stamina has been reduced to -10 or less, however, the stimdose will not save him, because only one dose can be given effectively in a, 20-hour period. The stimdose will not restore Stamina points unless the poison, disease or infection has been neutralized or cured with the proper drug, or has worn off.
Life-Saving Drugs and Equipment
A character whose Stamina has been reduced to O or less is dead, but he can be revived if his Stamina has nol gane below -30. The body can be preserved with drugs or a freeze field, and revived at a hospital.
Staydose. An injection of staydosewill bring a deed character backto life, butwill slowdown the body'sfunctions so it can survivewith Oor fewer Stamina points. Staydose must be given within one minute ( 10 turns) of death or it will not work. A staydose injection will keep a character alive for 20 hours. After 20 hours, the body can not be revived and further injections will have no effect. Only a medic can administer staydose effectively.
Freeze Field. A freeze field is a device that places a body in stasis, a sort of suspended animation. The device is fastened directly to the body. Only medics are trained to activate freeze fields correctly.
A freeze field must be activated within two minutes of death, or the body can not be revived. Activiating the field takes five turns. Each freeze field device contains enough power to operate for 200 hours. If the power runs out, the body can not be revivied.
Freeze fields can be removed safely only at hospitals. A hospital charges 200 Credits to remove the field. The character then must pay normal costs to be healed.
Biocort. Biocort can be used to bring a character's Stamina score back above O if his score was not reduced below -9.
Field Surgery. Field surgery can save a character whose Stamina was not reduced below -30 if a staydose was used to preserve the character; surgery will not help a dead character.