Character Health Levels

Player characters and important NPCs usually have ten health levels. Most human peasants, villain henchmen, and friendly red shirts have five health levels.
Characters that are injured begin to lose health levels and accrue penalties.
Important Character*: OK, OK, OK, -1, -1, -2, -2, -3, -5, Incapacitated
Expendable Character*: OK, -1, -1, -3, -5
OK "Bruised": Superficial Damage
-1 "Injured": Noticeable injury, no movement impairment. Character has a one die penalty on all dice rolls.
-2: "Wounded": Obvious injury, movement rate is halved. Character has a two-dice penalty on all dice rolls.
-3 "Mauled": Critical injury, movement rate is halved, character cannot run. Character has a three-dice penalty on all dice rolls.
-5 "Crippled**": character can barely stand if even that. Movement is limited to feeble crawling, Character might be able to walk if he can lean on a wall or another person to bear most of his weight. Character has a five-dice penalty on all dice rolls.
Incapacitated: Character cannot move at all and is probably unconscious. Character can spend a temporary Willpower point to speak. Character automatically fails nearly every conceivable task.
Reflexive dice rolls and Willpower rolls are not subject to normal wound penalties. Spell casting and other magical based actions are subject to normal wound penalties.

*The health levels assume normal humans or human-like creatures. Certain races, especially monsters have more or fewer health levels. Certain creatures also have different proportions of types of health levels.
For instance Simple undead creatures don't generally have large numbers of health levels but most of their health levels are "Bruises" because they don't feel pain and are not impaired until their muscles and ligaments start to get literally knocked loose.

**For most "Expendable Characters," "-5 Crippled" is basically the same as "Incapacitated." All but the most strong willed people brought to that point will just lie there moaning.