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Archives of Nethys

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Chapter 8: Tactical Rules / Injury and Death

Taking Damage

Source Starfinder Core Rulebook pg. 250
The most common way that your character gets hurt is to take damage and lose Stamina Points or Hit Points.

Stamina Points

Stamina Points represent the ability to turn a serious blow into a less serious one or to shrug off some attacks through sheer toughness. They act as a buffer that absorbs damage before it starts to deplete your Hit Points. When you take damage, you lose Stamina Points first, then you subtract any leftover damage from your Hit Points. If a creature doesn’t have Stamina Points, damage is subtracted directly from its Hit Points.

Hit Points

Hit Points measure your ability to take physical punishment and keep going. Running out of Hit Points can be deadly.

Effects Of Hit Point Damage

Damage doesn’t affect you until your current Hit Points reach 0. If you take damage to your Hit Points equal to or greater than the Hit Points you have remaining, you are reduced to 0 HP, and you’re knocked unconscious and dying (see below). It doesn’t matter how many Stamina Points you later regain (see Recovering Stamina Points on page 251) if you’re out of Hit Points. You can’t be reduced to fewer than 0 HP (however, see Massive Damage below).

For example, suppose Navasi has 17 HP and 1 SP. She takes 12 damage, is now at 6 HP and 0 SP, and can function normally. On the next enemy’s turn, that enemy deals 15 damage to her, reducing Navasi to 0 HP. Navasi falls unconscious and is dying.

Massive Damage

If you take damage from a single attack that reduces you to 0 HP and there is damage remaining, you die instantly if the remaining damage is equal to or greater than your maximum Hit Points. If you take damage from a single attack equal to or greater than your maximum Hit Points while you have 0 current HP, you die.

Suppose Navasi has a maximum of 22 HP, but she currently has 5 HP and 0 SP. She takes 30 damage from an enemy. Navasi is reduced to 0 HP, with 25 damage remaining. Since this damage is greater than her maximum Hit Points, Navasi dies.