Recently, I participated in a game where I had a number of stun boxes from a Flashbang. Ironically, I had a headache while playing it. I then thought about how a Flashbang would probably give my character a headache, and I know that eventually, you get drained from continuous pain. I then thought of this idea for a houserule. Basically, if you have any damage on your condition monitors, you have a chance to "bleed out" per se. This makes Shadowrun slightly more lethal, and I'm curious as to what everyone thinks about it. The Stun damage rule focuses on your force of will, as well as your body's ability to resist pain. The Physical damage rule focuses on just how strong your body is and how fast it can heal, when you are bleeding out, it doesn't matter about your willpower.
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Stun Damage
If you sit around with Stun Damage on your Condition monitor for a certain amount of time based on the following table, you have a chance to accumulate more stun damage through sheer fatigue of headaches, bruises, etc.
Make a Body + Willpower test with a threshold equal to your wound penalty. Any effects that boost, or lower, these attributes factor into the test. If you fail to meet the threshold, then you take Stun damage equal to the Threshold minus your hits. A glitch forces you to take at least 1 Stun box (cumulative with additional if you fail the test). A critical glitch, along with the additional Stun Box from a glitch and the boxes you take from missing the threshold, means that you must immediately make another test. If you succeed on the test, you no longer have to make any more tests unless you gain more Stun damage through external means.
So, for example, a Human with 6 Stun Damage has sat around for 1 hour. He must make a test. He rolls Body 3 + Willpower 3. His threshold to meet is 2. He rolls 2 hits on 6 dice. He takes no boxes of damage. He does not have to make another test, unless he gains more Stun damage through external means.
A Troll has 10 boxes of Stun Damage, and has sat around for 30 minutes. He rolls Body 7 + Willpower 5. His threshold is 3. He rolls 2 hits. He takes one more Box of Stun damage, putting him at 11 boxes of Stun. He does not need to make another test for 30 minutes.
Time Interval between Tests:
1 to 3 Stun Damage - 2 hours
4 to 6 Stun Damage - 1 hour
7+ Stun Damage - 30 minutes
Damage Compensators treat your Stun damage for the threshold and time intervals as # of Stun Boxes minus the rating of your Damage Compensators. Pain Editor completely negates this accumulation of damage, as you feel no fatigue.
This damage can never overflow into your Physical Monitor or Overflow Monitor, although it can cause you to fall unconscious. Symbiotes have no effect on this test.
The Allergy Quality applies a dice pool penalty to the resistance test according to it's severity. -2 for Mild, -4 for Moderate or Severe, and -6 for Extreme. This only activates if the allergen is present.
Any painkillers that are taken may halt the accumulation of Stun Damage in this manner. The GM can decide how long these painkillers last.
Taking a short rest (as per the rules to recover Stun Damage), even with the Insomnia Quality or if you fail to get any hits on your healing tests, stops this accumulation of Stun Damage. Any time spent while resting (as per the rules to recover Stun Damage) pause the time until the next test (similar to registering Sprites and their OS score), however, if you are interrupted, the timer resumes.
Physical Damage
If you sit around with Physical Damage on your Condition Monitor for a certain amount of time based on the following table, you have a chance to accumulate more Physical damage due to your body being severely damaged.
Make a Body x 2 test with a threshold equal to your wound penalty. Any effects that boost these attributes factor into the test, and wound penalties are the only ones that apply. If you fail to meet the threshold, then you take Physical damage equal to the Threshold minus your hits. A glitch forces you to take a box of Physical Damage (cumulative with any boxes that you may accumulate if you fail the test). A critical glitch, along with the additional Physical Box from a glitch and the boxes you take from missing the threshold, means that you must immediately make another test. If you succeed on the test, you no longer have to make any more tests unless you gain more Physical damage through external means.
For example, a Human with 4 Physical Damage has gone for 90 minutes without the boxes being removed. He rolls Body 3 x 2. His threshold to meet is 1. He rolls 0 hits on his 6 dice. He takes one box of Physical Damage. He does not need to make another test for 45 minutes.
A Dwarf has 8 boxes of Physical Damage, and has gone for 15 minutes without the boxes being removed. He rolls Body 7 x 2. His threshold to meet is 2. He rolls 2 hits, but also glitches. He takes one box of Physical Damage. He does not need to make another test unless he gains more Physical damage through external means.
Time Interval between Tests:
1 to 3 Physical Damage - 90 minutes
4 to 6 Physical Damage - 45 minutes
7+ Physical Damage - 15 minutes
Damage Compensators, Pain Editor, and Symbiotes have no effect on this test. Platelet Factories may trigger, as usual.
The Allergy Quality applies a dice pool penalty to the resistance test according to it's severity. -2 for Mild, -4 for Moderate or Severe, and -6 for Extreme. This only activates if the allergen is present.
The Weak Immune System Quality applies a -2 penalty to the test, to represent the body's weakened ability to handle infection and general health.
This damage can go into Overflow, and eventually kill you.
A Medicine + Logic [Mental] test with a Time Interval equal to the number of Physical Boxes divided by 3 (rounded up) in minutes may be performed to stop this accumulation of damage. This is to represent applying pressure, and torniquets, etc. that can be used to allow a body to begin to heal itself.
Taking a long rest (as per the rules to recover Physical Damage), even if you fail to get any hits on your test, stops the accumulation of Physical damage. Any time spent while resting (as per the rules to recover Physical Damage) pause the time until the next test (similar to registering Sprites and their OS score), however, if you are interrupted, the timer resumes.
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So, what do you guys think? This is, admittedly, a very rough first draft, and it may be confusing in some places. Feel free to point out any places that are lacking in clarity. I also realize that this makes Shadowrun much deadlier, but it is a house rule for a reason. I also think it fits in with "real-life" stuff, especially the stun damage part. I cannot tell you how many times I've been unable to function at anything due to a headache (the equivalent of stun damage) until the pain got so pervasive I had to sleep it off.