Character Injuries & Illnesses

The often-violent life of the criminal will also often lead to injuries, some of them serious and potentially life-threatening. Any character involved in a conflict of any type might be injured (if not killed outright), a condition which might have serious ramifications. The health of a Character is governed largely by his Stamina Characteristic, and by his age (see the separate page within this Chapter on the subject of 'Character Age'). A Character's Stamina is used to determine both the chance of contracting or developing an illness as well as how quickly he will recover from such, while his current age has an important modifying effect in both situations. Stamina and age are also used to determine the rate of recovery from gunshot wounds. Note that if a Character's Stamina is too low, or his age too high (or worse, both), he will be more likely to die even from an injury or illness from which healthier and / or younger characters might in fact recover. Injuries and illnesses might be classed as Mild, Serious, Severe, Mortal (if an injury) or Terminal (if an illness). The latter two, Mortal & Terminal, indicate that this Character is almost certainly going to die from his injury or illness - it's only a matter of time. Any injury or illness might however improve or deteriorate in condition. For example, a character with a terminal heart condition might just be lucky enough to still be around when a cure for his particular condition is discovered, saving his life just in the nick of time and giving him a few more years than he might otherwise have had. However, some terminal illnesses will remain incurable for the entire time period (1920-1970) covered by the game. In all cases of being injured or suffering from an illness, the Character's weekly 'Mode' will be shown on his 'Character Profile' screen as 'wounded / ill' instead of one of the usual Modes of Operation. His real 'Mode' will be whatever is being suggested by the 'Alertness' level set by the Boss for all of your Characters. The 'Time Points' of a 'Wounded' Character will however be lower than might normally be expected, with the seriousness of his injury or illness being suggested by just how low are his actual available Time Points. Any Character beyond the age of 35 has a chance of developing a terminal illness. (It is also possible for a younger character with extremely low Stamina to become ill and for this to gradually worsen until it kills him, but this will only ever be a rare occurrence.) The chance of developing a terminal illness is determined by his Stamina and current age, and by the current era. Each decade in the game is one 'era' (1920s, 1930s, etc.), with each era having a better Life Expectancy than the previous era. In general this means Characters have less chance of developing a terminal illness later in the game than in an earlier era. Everyone will eventually die one way or the other, but later in the game most will at least live longer due to the steady - and occasionally, spectacular - advancement of medical science. At the age of 65 and beyond the chance of developing a terminal illness increases considerably, and then just keeps on climbing. Although a Character's rate of recovery from a non-fatal injury or non-terminal illness is determined largely by his Stamina and age, his available 'Free Time' will also play a part. As the Boss you have control over how many of each Character's available Time Points are allocated to Free Time, and how many to such as Business Operations and carrying out your Orders. Allowing an injured or ill Character more Free Time would generally allow for a swifter recovery. In some cases, not giving enough Free Time might actually cause a steady deterioration in his condition. This might occur for older characters, for those with low Stamina, or simply due to the current era of the game. In all cases the current seriousness of his condition is the overriding factor. The seriousness of a Character's injury or illness will also have a direct affect on some of the Orders he is given, and on operating some of the Rackets under his control. While his Time Points have already been reduced to take his poorer health into account to some extent, there are also some situations in which he should simply not be placed if injured or ill - though you'll have to use your commonsense to determine what these might be. Obvious clues would be speed of reaction, physical or violent activities, and any perception of weakness on the part of those he might have to deal with in his daily life, where such might be important in some way. Age is taken into consideration for all Characters in the game, including NPC 'Civilians' such as politicians & police officers. Likewise, all Characters in the game will eventually die from terminal illnesses associated with old age, if by no other means at an earlier age. This is important to bear in mind, such as before spending a fortune gaining influence with an aging character.