Damage and Defences
Damage Types
In Utopia, damage comes in several types that determine how it affects creatures and what defenses apply.
Primary Damage Types
The following five damage types are most commonly encountered:
- Physical - The most common damage type, typically dealt by attacks, brute force, and physical impacts
- Energy - Energy-based damage from electrical, magical, or technological sources
- Heat - Fire-based damage and thermal effects
- Chill - Cold-based damage and freezing effects
- Psyche - Mental and emotional damage affecting consciousness
Creatures will have varying degrees of resistance to these damage types based on their species, equipment, and abilities.
Special Damage Types
Kinetic Damage
Kinetic damage occurs when a creature abruptly begins or ends motion, such as hitting the ground after falling at high speeds. This damage has special properties:
- Deal 1d10 damage for every 10 meters per second of travel speed (10 m/s = 60 meters per turn)
- Damage has no type and ignores all resistances
- Damages DHP directly
- Cannot be blocked, dodged, or reduced in any way
| Height | Damage |
|---|---|
| 5-10 meters | 1d10 damage |
| 10-30 meters | 3d10 damage |
| 30-60 meters | 6d10 damage |
| 60-100 meters | 10d10 damage |
Pure Damage
Pure damage is typeless damage that bypasses all flat resistance:
- Ignores creature resistances to any damage type
- Can still be reduced or negated using block or dodge actions
- Typically results from magical effects or special abilities
Defenses
Each creature can avoid certain damage, using it's active and passive defences. All of them can be increased using talents, items, or even using spells of Alteration.
Flat resistance
Each creature has flat resistances that reduce the damage of its respective type. By default each creature has 1 for each of Basic Damage Type - Physical, Energy, Heat, Chill, and Psyche.
This value reduces the damage by flat amount before you actively defend from the incoming damage. If there are multiple damage types, they are reduced separately by your respective flat resistance. It is important, since it can affect the success of your Active Defences.
Active defence
When you defend from the damage source you are aware of (that you have seen or felt coming your way), you may try to block that damage or dodge it. They have different mechanics, but both require 1 Interrupt Action. Block offers a more reliable way to defend yourself, while dodge has larger dice, but a bit risky.
Block Rating
When taking Block Action, you roll your Block Rating to defend from the incoming damage, that you are aware of. This damage is reduced by the result.
Dodge Rating
When taking Dodge Action, you roll your Dodge Rating to try to avoid all incoming damage, that you are aware of. To do that you need to roll equal to or more than the damage you would have received. If you rolled lower, you receive the full damage instead.
It means that you first reduce the incoming damage by your Flat resistance, and only then see if you rolled higher.
You are about to receive 10 Physical Damage. When you decide to dodge that, you roll your Dodge Rating.
First you reduce the damage by your flat resistance to Physical Damage (let's say, 2). THis means that to avoid getting hit, you need to roll 10 - 2 = 8 or higher.
The damage you are about to receive is 5 Physical and 5 Fire, and you have 2 in both of the resistances. In this situation you reduce the 5 Physical damage by 2, and 5 Fire damage by 2. As a result, you need to roll (5 - 2) + (5 - 2) = 6 or higher.