Lethal Electrical Damage

High-power shocks cook flesh and
inflict real damage; they can even stop
the victim’s heart! This is called “lethal
electrical damage.” Examples include
power mains, lightning bolts (natural
and magical), and cinematic electric
fences.
Lethal electric shocks inflict burning
damage: only 1d-3 to 3d around the
house, but 6d on up for lightning, trans-
mission lines, etc. A victim who suffers
any injury must make a HT roll at -1 per
2 points of injury suffered. On a failure,
he falls unconscious for as long as the
current is applied, and for (20 - HT)
minutes afterward, with a minimum of
1 minute. He will be at -2 DX for anoth-
er (20 - HT) minutes when he recovers.
Failure by 5 or more, or any critical fail-
ure, results in a heart attack; see Mortal
Conditions (p. 429). Lethal electrical
damage also causes “surge” effects in
victims who have the Electrical disad-
vantage (p. 134).
Localized Injury: Attacks that don’t
affect the target’s entire body – includ-
ing most magical electricity attacks –
cause pain and burns, but not uncon-
sciousness or cardiac arrest. Treat this
as normal burning damage, except that
the victim must make a HT roll at -1 per
2 points of injury suffered. On a failure,
he is stunned for one second, after
which time he may roll vs. HT once per
second to recover. If the injury is to the
arm or hand, he must also make a Will
roll or drop anything carried in that
hand.