Damage Resolution

Damage in ShadowRealms is not represented by a single fixed number that is automatically deducted from a character whenever an attack hits. Instead, every damaging attack combines several distinct elements:

The dice used to determine damage
The physical or supernatural strength of the attack
The type of damage being inflicted
The target’s natural Toughness
The protection provided by armor
Differences in size and physical scale
The number of successful Damage Dice generated

These elements are summarized through the attack’s Damage Code and then resolved through an attacker-facing Damage Roll.

The attacker performs the roll, while the defender contributes the appropriate modifiers from their Toughness and armor. This allows the system to account for the weapon, the strength of the wielder, the quality of the hit, the resilience of the target, and the type of protection being worn without requiring complicated weapon-versus-armor tables.

Damage Resolution

The dice used to determine damage
The physical or supernatural strength of the attack
The type of damage being inflicted
The target’s natural Toughness
The protection provided by armor
Differences in size and physical scale
The number of successful Damage Dice generated

These elements are summarized through the attack’s Damage Code and then resolved through an attacker-facing Damage Roll.

How Damage Is Represented

A successful attack does not automatically inflict a predetermined amount of damage.

Instead, the attack generates a number of Damage Dice. Those dice are rolled against a Damage Target determined by the attack’s strength and the defender’s resistance.

This creates two separate measures of an attack’s destructive potential:

Attack Strength determines how difficult the attack is to resist.
Damage Dice determine how many opportunities the attack has to produce damage successes.

An attack can therefore be dangerous in different ways.

A precise or exceptionally well-placed hit might generate numerous Damage Dice even if the weapon has only moderate Attack Strength. A massive weapon might have tremendous Attack Strength but generate relatively few Damage Dice from a poor hit. An exceptionally dangerous attack might possess both high Attack Strength and numerous Damage Dice.

Each successful Damage Die contributes toward the amount or severity of damage inflicted.

The Damage Code

Every weapon, power, and damaging attack has a Damage Code.

The Damage Code is a compact description of how the attack causes damage. It contains three parts, separated by slashes:

Damage Dice / Attack Strength / Damage Type

A Damage Code might appear as:

A/2M8/Slh

Each part communicates a different piece of information needed to resolve the Damage Roll.

First Component: Damage Dice

The first component identifies the source of the attack’s Damage Dice.

In the example:

A/2M8/Slh

The letter A indicates that the Damage Dice come from the attack’s Attack Dice.

The attack roll therefore determines not only whether the attack successfully reaches the target, but also the dice that will be used to determine how damaging the hit proves to be.

Other attacks may draw their Damage Dice from different sources. A magical, supernatural, or Realm-based attack might use Realm Dice instead of Attack Dice. Powers and special abilities may also identify another dice source when appropriate.

The first component does not normally describe the attack’s raw power. It identifies the dice that are carried into or used for the Damage Roll.

Second Component: Attack Strength

The middle component is the attack’s Attack Strength.

In the example:

A/2M8/Slh

The Attack Strength is:

2M8

This means:

Twice the wielder’s Might, plus 8

Attack Strength represents the attack’s ability to overcome bodily resilience and protective armor. It accounts for such qualities as:

The wielder’s Might
The weapon’s weight
The leverage provided by the weapon
Whether the weapon is used with one or two hands
The concentration of force
The destructive nature of the attack
Any supernatural power reinforcing the attack

Attack Strength does not determine how many Damage Dice are rolled. Instead, it lowers the Damage Target those dice must meet.

The greater the Attack Strength, the easier it becomes for each Damage Die to succeed.

Third Component: Damage Type

The final component identifies the attack’s Damage Type.

In the example:

A/2M8/Slh

The abbreviation Slh means that the attack inflicts Slashing damage.

The Damage Type determines which of the defender’s armor ratings applies to the attack.

The three principal physical Damage Types are:

Slashing
Impact
Puncture

Armor can provide a different degree of protection against each type.

A suit of armor may be excellent at stopping Slashing attacks but less effective against concentrated Puncture attacks. Another form of protection might absorb Impact effectively while providing comparatively little defense against blades.

Bullets and other high-velocity projectiles are treated as Puncture attacks unless a specific weapon, ammunition type, or special rule states otherwise.

Reading a Complete Damage Code

Consider the following Damage Code:

A/2M8/Slh

This is read as follows:

A: The Damage Dice are derived from the attack’s Attack Dice.
2M8: The attack has a Strength equal to twice the wielder’s Might plus 8.
Slh: The attack inflicts Slashing damage.

If the wielder has Might 3, the attack’s Strength is:

2 × 3 + 8 = 14 Attack Strength

The attack would then use the relevant Attack Dice as its Damage Dice and resolve them against the target’s Slashing Damage Target.

The code therefore contains nearly everything needed to begin resolving the attack’s damage.

The defender only needs to contribute their natural Toughness and applicable Slashing armor.

The Base Damage Target

All Damage Rolls begin from the universal Target Number of 20.

The attack’s Attack Strength is subtracted from 20 to determine the attack’s Base Damage Target:

Base Damage Target = 20 − Attack Strength

A stronger attack produces a lower Base Damage Target.

Because Damage Dice must meet or exceed the Damage Target, lowering the Target makes the attack more likely to cause damage.

For example, an attack with Strength 14 has a Base Damage Target of:

20 − 14 = 6

This does not mean that the Damage Dice will necessarily be rolled against Target 6. The defender’s Toughness and armor must still be added.

The Base Damage Target represents the attack before the target’s personal resistance is considered.

The Defender’s Damage Modifier

The defender increases the attack’s Damage Target through natural Toughness and armor.

The Final Damage Target is calculated as follows:

Final Damage Target = Base Damage Target + Toughness Modifier + Applicable Armor Rating

The defender does not make a separate resistance roll.

Instead, the defender tells the attacker the appropriate defensive modifier. The attacker adds that modifier to the attack’s Base Damage Target and rolls the Damage Dice against the resulting Final Damage Target.

This keeps damage resolution attacker-facing while still allowing the defender’s resilience and equipment to matter.

Toughness

Toughness represents the defender’s natural resistance to physical injury.

It includes such qualities as:

Physical resilience
Endurance
Bodily durability
Pain tolerance
Resistance to trauma
The ability to remain functional after being struck

Toughness is expressed as a modifier added to the attacker’s Damage Target.

The universal baseline of 20 is already included in the attack’s Base Damage Target. The defender therefore adds only their Toughness modifier, not another complete Target Number.

For example, a peak human might have a Toughness modifier of +9.

That does not mean the defender adds 29 to the attack’s Damage Target. The defender adds only +9 because the universal 20 has already been accounted for.

Armor Ratings

Armor does not possess one universal Armor Rating.

Each type of armor has a separate rating against the three primary physical Damage Types:

Slashing
Impact
Puncture

Only the rating corresponding to the incoming attack is added to the Damage Target.

If an attack has the Damage Code:

A/2M8/Slh

then the defender adds their Slashing Armor Rating.

Their Impact and Puncture ratings do not apply to that Damage Roll.

If the attack instead inflicted Puncture damage, the defender would use their Puncture rating.

This allows different types of armor to possess meaningful advantages and weaknesses without requiring a table comparing every individual weapon against every individual suit of armor.

The Final Damage Target

The complete formula for resolving the Damage Target is:

Final Damage Target = 20 − Attack Strength + Toughness + Applicable Armor

Using the example Damage Code:

A/2M8/Slh

Assume the following:

The attacker has Might 3.
The defender has Toughness +7.
The defender has Slashing Armor +4.

The attack’s Strength is:

2 × 3 + 8 = 14

The Base Damage Target is:

20 − 14 = 6

The defender then adds Toughness and Slashing Armor:

6 + 7 + 4 = 17

The attacker therefore rolls the appropriate Damage Dice against:

Damage Target 17

Each Damage Die that meets or exceeds 17 counts as a damage success.

The exact number of Damage Dice would be determined by the first part of the Damage Code and the results of the attack.

Might and Close-Combat Weapons

Most close-combat weapons include the wielder’s Might as part of their Attack Strength.

Might represents the wielder’s ability to put physical force behind the weapon. The weapon’s flat bonus represents qualities belonging to the weapon itself, such as:

Weight
Balance
Reach
Leverage
Edge or striking surface
Concentration of force

A one-handed weapon will commonly use a Strength expression based on:

Might + weapon bonus

This may be written compactly as:

M3

In a complete Damage Code, it might appear as:

A/M3/Slh

This means that the attack uses Attack Dice for damage, has an Attack Strength equal to the wielder’s Might plus 3, and inflicts Slashing damage.

Because the ordinary human Might range is relatively narrow, the wielder’s strength matters without overwhelming the weapon’s own characteristics.

A typical human adult may possess Might between 1 and 3. Exceptionally powerful characters may reach Might 4 or 5.

Two-Handed Weapons

Two-handed weapons gain more benefit from the wielder’s Might because they allow greater leverage, control, and commitment of body weight.

A two-handed weapon may therefore use:

Twice Might + weapon bonus

This is written as:

2M8

The expression does not simply mean that an extra hand adds a fixed amount of damage. It represents the increased ability to apply the wielder’s strength through a larger weapon using both hands and the entire body.

A complete two-handed Damage Code might therefore be:

A/2M8/Slh

A character with Might 1 would produce Attack Strength 10.

A character with Might 3 would produce Attack Strength 14.

A truly exceptional character with Might 5 would produce Attack Strength 18.

The two-handed weapon naturally gains more from a powerful wielder, but the controlled Might scale prevents the multiplier from producing unreasonable numbers.

Damage Dice

Damage Dice represent the number of opportunities the attack has to produce actual harm.

Where Attack Strength determines the Target Number, Damage Dice determine how many dice are rolled against that Target.

These two values must remain distinct.

A weapon does not necessarily roll more Damage Dice merely because it has greater Attack Strength. Likewise, an attack that generates numerous Damage Dice does not automatically possess a greater ability to penetrate Toughness and armor.

The first part of the Damage Code identifies where the Damage Dice come from.

For example:

A/2M8/Slh

uses Attack Dice as its source.

Another attack might use Realm Dice, indicating that its damage is derived from supernatural power rather than an ordinary weapon attack.

Additional effects can also increase or decrease the number of Damage Dice without changing Attack Strength.

Size Differences

Relative size modifies the number of Damage Dice rather than directly changing Attack Strength.

This reflects the increased mass and scale involved when a larger creature strikes a smaller target.

When the attacker is larger than the defender, the attack may gain additional Damage Dice.

When the attacker is smaller than the defender, the attack may lose Damage Dice.

This keeps physical size separate from personal Might.

A giant does not need an impossibly high Might score simply because it is enormous. Its Might measures its strength within the Attribute scale, while its greater size supplies additional Damage Dice when it attacks a human-sized target.

Similarly, a smaller creature may possess enough Attack Strength to overcome a larger creature’s Toughness, but its reduced physical scale may leave it with fewer Damage Dice.

This allows ShadowRealms to represent size differences cleanly without requiring separate weapon statistics, enormous Attribute values, or extensive weapon-versus-size tables.

The exact number of Damage Dice added or removed for each difference in size can be established separately.

Resolving a Damage Roll

A Damage Roll is resolved through the following process:

Read the attack’s Damage Code.
Identify the source of its Damage Dice.
Calculate its Attack Strength.
Subtract the Attack Strength from 20 to determine the Base Damage Target.
Add the defender’s Toughness modifier.
Identify the attack’s Damage Type.
Add the defender’s applicable Slashing, Impact, or Puncture Armor Rating.
Apply any other modifiers to the Damage Target.
Adjust the number of Damage Dice for relative size and other applicable effects.
Roll all Damage Dice against the Final Damage Target.
Count each die that meets or exceeds the Target as one damage success.
Use the number of damage successes to determine the amount or severity of damage inflicted.

Complete Example

A warrior with Might 3 attacks using a two-handed Slashing weapon with the following Damage Code:

A/2M8/Slh

The code indicates:

Damage Dice come from Attack Dice.
Attack Strength equals twice Might plus 8.
The attack inflicts Slashing damage.

The warrior’s Attack Strength is:

2 × 3 + 8 = 14

The Base Damage Target is:

20 − 14 = 6

The defender has:

Toughness +7
Slashing Armor +4

The Final Damage Target becomes:

6 + 7 + 4 = 17

The attacker rolls the appropriate Attack Dice as Damage Dice against Target 17.

If the attacker is larger than the defender, the attacker may receive additional Damage Dice. If the attacker is smaller, the number of Damage Dice may be reduced.

Every Damage Die that rolls 17 or higher produces one damage success.

Those damage successes are then converted into the appropriate amount or severity of damage.

Core Design Principle

Each part of the ShadowRealms damage system has a separate purpose:

The Damage Code summarizes how the attack causes damage.
The first component identifies the source of the Damage Dice.
Attack Strength represents the attack’s ability to overcome resistance.
Damage Type determines which armor protection applies.
The universal 20 provides the common mathematical foundation.
Toughness represents the defender’s natural resistance to injury.
Armor protects differently against Slashing, Impact, and Puncture attacks.
Damage Dice represent the quality, force, and opportunities for the hit to cause harm.
Size differences change the number of Damage Dice without inflating Might.
Damage successes determine the actual severity of the resulting injury.

The result is an attacker-facing damage system capable of representing weapons, physical strength, armor, bodily resilience, supernatural attacks, and differences in size without relying on large comparison tables.