Hey,

What happens when monsters and NPCs take stress and fatigue? I thought I read somewhere that they take a wound instead.

Don

Yes you're correct. No stress or fatigue for monsters. Give them a wound instead. Similarly critical hits convert into wounds according to the severity for all but your bigger nemeses' or key NPCs.

I have to start using that. There have been way too many "epic boss fights" that have lasted just one or two turns because the players produce so much damage when adding the crit severity to attacks. In addition, Stress/Fatigue effects sort of loose their point when they when they are just extra damage.

Rather than allowing stress fatigue to do extra wounds, have stress be subtracted from their cunning budget and fatigue subtracted from their aggression budget and then their expertise budget, I find it's a handy way of making stress and fatigue count for that little bit more.

Yes you're correct. No stress or fatigue for monsters. Give them a wound instead. Similarly critical hits convert into wounds according to the severity for all but your bigger nemeses' or key NPCs.

Where does it say this in the rules? I know that is what the rule is, but I can not seem to find it!

Page 46 of the Tome of Adventure says (2nd column under Wound Threshold) that effects causing fatigue or stress instead cause wounds. The same is said in the hardback GM's guide, page 48.

The optional rule to instead take Fatigue from A and Stress from C is in the Creature Guide at page 6. Once those gone, then wounds. I use this rule and also allow creatures/NPCs to recover A and C on effects that recover Fatigue or Stress.

If the question was about critical wounds becoming normal wounds = severity, that in RAW only applies to henchmen groups. Otherwise NPC's take normal critical wounds. This makes crits less effective (sometimes it matters such as misfortune dice on a stat being used and sometimes not 'oh look monster will take longer to heal') but I view that as fine and a reason to take those options like Vicious weapon - more chance to deal a critical that matters.

Rob

I tend to apply the criticals rule when the PC's are dealing with mooks. You know, it's not a henchman, but it's not exactly the black cowl either.

For characters I want them to have a hard time with, definitely, apply crits.

Understood, there is that 'middle rank' of one or two skull creatures that once players have 3+ ranks are a bit blah.

Or I've done that thing where I only have a MtG hit dice to track wounds for several monsters of the same type and I'll be b*llocksed if I'm tracking crits for those goons...