How to handle the Major Wound results on the Critical Hit Table

[Nikolai]

The results 7, 13, and 14 on the Critical Hit Table on p. B556 say that any injury should be treated "as if it were a major wound, regardless of the actual injury inflicted".

So far I had always thought that this means that the points of injury are left unchanged, but in addition to that a roll against Knockdown and Stunning is required as per p. B420 because it counts as a Major Wound in spite of having caused only few points of injury.

However, the reference to said Critical Hit Table results in the box on p. 115 of Martial Arts got me thinking if that is really what is intended.

Is it or are you supposed to increase actual the injury to the minimum that could have caused a Major Wound without a critical hit, f. e. 6 for an average person with HP 10?

[Mateus]

As I interpret it, the damage is not changed.

[Bruno]

Up until I read your post, I read it as "regardless of your injury, make a knockdown-and-stunning check, and suffer any other effects of a Major Wound required by your traits". So for example a Combustible character needs to make a HT roll to avoid catching fire if it was a burning or explosive attack, or if you critically fail and are Explosive you explode.

Now that I'm contemplating it, I think there's a third possibility. I'm not sure if this is the right answer either, but:

A crippling amount of damage to a large limb (as opposed to a hand or foot) is the same amount of damage required for a Major Wound (and vice versa). Is the intent "treat a limb hit as crippled"? I have no idea.

[Kromm]

"Major wound" is an injury result like shock, unconsciousness, and death. It isn't a specific injury. Injury over HP/2 causes this result; crippling a body part causes this result; the right critical hit causes this result; and many other things can cause a major wound. The effect is a HT roll to avoid stun and knockdown. Never invert cause and effect here . . . receiving a major wound due to a body blow that doesn't inflict injury over HP/2 or a limb hit that doesn't cripple, probably due to a critical hit, doesn't mean that you advance the injury counter or inflict crippling, only that you have to make a HT roll. Grievous injuries are the most common cause of major wounds, but a major wound result can also occur directly – again, usually due to a critical hit.

[Nikolai]

Thanks Kromm, that makes perfect sense and is what I always thought to be true.
I was just vexed by the reference to these critical hit results on p. 115 of Martial Arts, but I see now how that can be interpreted without any contradiction. (It says "can .. cripple", not "cripples".)