Pain and Intoxication
Damage and injuries cause pain, weakening healing and combat. Some pain relief also increases intoxication. Pain relief, stabilising injuries, lowering intoxication and restoring Health address different problems and cannot replace one another.
Contents
What to do now
The healing salve is not a painkiller and cannot replace direct pain relief. It helps damaged body parts recover. If an injury is still adding pain, stabilise it too. Pain relief, injury treatment and Health recovery serve different purposes.
| Problem | What to do | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Pain is impairing combat or healing | Use pain relief, such as an ether inhaler | Ether also increases intoxication; check that meter before taking more |
| An unstable injury keeps adding pain | Use a splint to stabilise the injury, then help the body part recover | Stabilisation stops this pain source, but injury penalties remain until recovery |
| Intoxication is rising | Avoid adding more; an antidote syringe can lower intoxication | The syringe temporarily causes confusion; passive recovery depends on Immunity |
| Health is low | Treat your wounds and rest when allowed | Pain and intoxication weaken healing; pain shock and deadly intoxication block Rest Mode |
Common treatments
Values below are per use. Antitoxin is a consumable item; Intoxication Resistance is a character attribute. Antitoxin directly lowers Intoxication by 20 and also roughly halves the remaining duration of current Hangover and drug Aftermaths.
Timed effects are listed in turns. Positive values increase a meter or attribute and negative values lower it; side effects are included.
| Item | Use | Per use | Duration / uses |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ether Inhaler | Pain relief | Pain −50; Intoxication +25; Situational Sanity +6 | 120 turns: Pain Resistance +75 percentage points |
| Herbal Extract | Pain relief | Pain −30 | 40 turns: Intoxication Change +0.5/turn |
| Soporific Sponge | Pain relief and forced sleep | Intoxication +5; Sleep for 10 turns | 20 turns: Pain Change −1/turn; Pain Limit −25 |
| Antidote Syringe | Lower intoxication and remove Poisoning | Intoxication −75; removes Poisoning; Confusion for 10 turns | 360 turns: Intoxication Resistance +75, Poison Resistance +50, Energy Restoration −5 percentage points |
| Antitoxin | Lower intoxication and shorten after-effects | Intoxication −20; Immunity −2; roughly halves current Hangover and drug Aftermaths | 30 turns: Fatigue Change +0.1/turn; also 60 turns removing 1 extra turn of Drunkenness each turn |
| Splint | Stabilise an injury | Selected injured body-part condition +35, and converts the injury to its stabilised state | One-time effect |
| Healing Salve | Restore a body part; no direct pain relief | Selected body-part condition +12; halved to +6 when injured; restores 3% maximum Health | One-time effect |
Effects of pain
Damage and unstable injuries increase pain. Stabilising an injury stops it adding more pain, but does not immediately remove existing pain or injury penalties. Lower Health allows a higher pain limit.
These are each stage's own modifiers. The stages replace one another rather than stacking. Percentage points add directly: a base 10% Fumble Chance becomes 15% with Pain's +5 points. From a base 100% Healing Efficiency, the stages give 85%, 70% and 50%; other effects can change the final result.
Base thresholds are 25/50/75, and a stage begins at or above its threshold. Falling below the current threshold downgrades the stage; falling below the first removes the pain state. Asceticism raises all three pain thresholds by 5; Wild Hunt adds a level-based modifier. Pain naturally falls by 0.04 per turn above 95% Health, or by 0.01 above 80% Health or while no physical debuff is active. Pain above the Pain Limit falls by an additional 0.25.
Morale and Sanity changes apply to their situational components each turn; other effects and component limits affect the final values. Pain Shock cumulatively reduces maximum Health, using the maximum at each trigger rather than a fixed initial maximum.
| Stage | Threshold | Healing and accuracy | Fumbles and spellcasting | Per-turn effects and extra risks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pain | ≥ 25 (base) | Healing Efficiency −15 percentage points; Accuracy 0 percentage points | Fumble Chance +5 percentage points; Backfire Chance +5 percentage points | Situational Morale −0.05 points/turn; Situational Sanity −0.025 points/turn. |
| Severe Pain | ≥ 50 (base) | Healing Efficiency −30 percentage points; Accuracy −5 percentage points | Fumble Chance +15 percentage points; Backfire Chance +15 percentage points | Situational Morale −0.1 points/turn; Situational Sanity −0.05 points/turn. |
| Pain Shock | ≥ 75 (base) | Healing Efficiency −50 percentage points; Accuracy −10 percentage points | Fumble Chance +30 percentage points; Backfire Chance +30 percentage points | Situational Morale −0.2 points/turn; Situational Sanity −0.1 points/turn. Every 4 turns, add a maximum Health penalty equal to 1% of maximum Health at that time. Each turn has about a 9.9% chance of 3 turns of Confusion. Rest Mode is blocked. |
Intoxication: effects and treatment
Some painkillers, some alcoholic drinks and poison damage increase intoxication. An ether inhaler relieves pain but also adds intoxication. Base stage thresholds are 25/50/75, and reaching a threshold replaces the current state; dropping below a threshold downgrades it, and dropping below the first removes the intoxication state. Wild Hunt raises thresholds based on level.
Passive recovery per turn is 0.002 × Immunity × Immunity Influence; Adaptability multiplies this step by 1.5. Recovery consumes the same amount of Immunity, so it slows as Immunity is depleted, and new sources can still offset it.
Intoxication, Severe Intoxication and Deadly Intoxication weaken healing and reduce maximum Health and poison resistance. Deadly intoxication further erodes maximum Health, can cause vomiting and blocks Rest Mode. Vomiting during sleep deals significant damage, so sleeping is not a safe answer to severe intoxication.
Both the Antidote Syringe and Antitoxin directly lower Intoxication. The syringe temporarily causes Confusion; Antitoxin also shortens Hangover and drug Aftermaths.
| Stage | Threshold | Health and healing | Resistance and Sanity | Extra risks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intoxication | ≥ 25 (base) | Max Health −5%; Healing Efficiency −15 percentage points | Poison Resistance −7.5 percentage points; Situational Sanity −0.05 points/turn | — |
| Severe Intoxication | ≥ 50 (base) | Max Health −10%; Healing Efficiency −30 percentage points | Poison Resistance −15 percentage points; Situational Sanity −0.1 points/turn | — |
| Deadly Intoxication | ≥ 75 (base) | Max Health −25%; Healing Efficiency −50 percentage points | Poison Resistance −30 percentage points; Situational Sanity −0.25 points/turn | On entry, Max Health is −25%. After the first 2 turns, that penalty is replaced with 1% of maximum Health at that time, then accumulates every 2 turns; it does not stack on top of −25%. below 25 Hunger, each turn first has about a 1% Vomiting chance, then about a 5% chance of 5 turns of Confusion if Vomiting did not trigger. Rest Mode is blocked. |
Drunkenness and hangover
Drunkenness is a timed drinking effect separate from the intoxication meter. Its stage is chosen from remaining duration when a higher stage is first reached. Once reached, the highest stage persists until the effect ends even as duration falls.
Random-state chances vary with remaining Drunkenness duration; Vomiting at stages 3 and 4 also depends on Hunger. The table gives the exact duration after a trigger.
Higher stages of drunkenness lead to a hangover when they end. Greater intoxication can prolong it. Hangover increases pain and thirst and drains Morale and Sanity, so drinking for pain relief also carries a later recovery cost.
| State | Stage / duration | Numeric effects | Risks / per-turn changes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drunkenness 1 | Remaining duration < 120 turns when first reached | Weapon Damage +5 percentage points; Situational Morale/turn +0.01 points; Dodge +1 percentage points; Pain Resistance +5 percentage points; Accuracy −3 percentage points | No extra random state |
| Drunkenness 2 | Remaining duration 120–239 turns when first reached | Weapon Damage +10 percentage points; Critical Chance +3 percentage points; Miracle Chance +3 percentage points; Pain Resistance +15 percentage points; Dodge −5 percentage points; Accuracy −5 percentage points; Fumble Chance +5 percentage points; Backfire Chance +5 percentage points | Each turn can cause 2–3 turns of Confusion |
| Drunkenness 3 | Remaining duration 240–299 turns when first reached | Weapon Damage +5 percentage points; Pain Resistance +25 percentage points; Dodge −15 percentage points; Accuracy −15 percentage points; Fumble Chance +15 percentage points; Backfire Chance +15 percentage points | Each turn can cause 2–3 turns of Confusion or 1 turn of Vomiting |
| Drunkenness 4 | Remaining duration ≥ 300 turns when first reached | Pain Resistance +33 percentage points; Dodge −30 percentage points; Accuracy −30 percentage points; Fumble Chance +30 percentage points; Backfire Chance +30 percentage points | Each turn can cause 2–3 turns of Confusion, 1 turn of Vomiting, or 10–16 turns of Sleep |
| Hangover | After stage 3 or 4 ends: 1200 × (1 + Intoxication × 0.01) turns | Cooldowns Duration +20, Fumble +10, Ability Energy Cost +20, Backfire +10 percentage points | Situational Morale −3 on application; Pain Change +0.1, Thirst Change +0.04, Situational Morale −0.02, Situational Sanity −0.01, all per turn |
Separate your recovery goals
Less pain does not mean an injury has healed, and less intoxication does not mean a hangover has ended. Recheck body parts, Health and active effects after treatment to see what still needs attention.
In-game help
The in-game Medicine tutorial also explains pain, intoxication and injuries; read it alongside item descriptions.
Scope and modifiers
Tables show current-version base thresholds and per-use treatment effects. Talents, active states and other sources can still alter thresholds, resistances or final changes; use the character sheet's current values in play.