New Blood Rules by Joseph Benedetto Jr. , and Chris Van Deelen The human body holds a volume of blood between 4.5 and 6 litres (5 and 6 quarts, or 10 and 12 pints). Let's say, for game terms, that the human body has 5 quarts (5 litres) [10 pints] of blood in it--a simple number for quick game mechanics. Now--take the total BP's of your favorite character and divide them by that number, rounding up or down for simplicity. Using the NPC Bjorn Lindstrom from R-001, we have a character with a BP of 320. Divide that by 10 pints and you get a Bp/pint value of 32. (You could do this in metrics, using litres, and get a BP/Litre value of 64. Doesn't matter.) NOTE: this is a rough approximation only--for simple game mechanics. Also note that the value is going to be a bit different for most people. Using the next NPC from R-001, David Guinn (BP 269) we divide his BP by 10 (pints) and get a BP/pint value of 26.9, or (in round terms) 27. Guinn's 27 is a good bit different from Lindstroms's 32! Now--Tom Medic transfuses a pint of blood from Guinn to Lindstrom as they lay outside the burning ruins of the Imp base. The following things happen: Guinn loses a pint of blood (donation). His Total BP drops by one pint, according to HIS BP/pint value, which is 27. We lower his Total BP from 269 to 242. Lindstrom gets a pint of blood (transfusion). His Total BP increases by one pint, according to HIS BP/pint value, which is 32. We raise his wounds-lowered Bp by 32 points--the value FOR HIS BODY of a pint of blood. Yes, the values aren't the same. But a pint of blood is a pint of blood, it never changes! The BP transfusion value is a rough game way of saying what a pint of blood is worth TO THE INDIVIDUAL WHO RECEIVES IT, not what it is worth in and of itself. Since each person's BP value is different, we *cannot* assign a single value to a litre or pint of blood--it has to be a representative value of what the blood is worth to the individual who receives it. If you add this to the game, you'll need to add a space to the Player Character worksheet, something like : "Blood value ______BP per ______" Using the example of Lindstrom quoted above, you'd fill it in like "Blood value 32 per pint", or "Blood value 64 per litre" depending on whether you were using metric or American values. And another point: It's doubtful anyone will believe that human blood could survive in storage in a bolt hole or cache for ANY length of time--just too perishable. But you COULD store four pint bags of normal saline solution with ringers lactate in the MP Surgical kit and expect it to come through storage all right (just like we expect the rations, etc. to last for 150 years in inviolate storage). The thing about blood and saline is that when a wounded man is losing blood, he doesn't cry out for blood--he cries out for water, since his body is dehydrating. The quickest way to counter blood loss is by administering intravenous fluid replacement--a saline solution. A critically injured man needs VOLUME replaced, and it is not that important if the volume comes from real blood or saline solution, so long as the victim's blood volume is raised to counter Shock. His own bone marrow will start filling that fluid with red blood cells on it's own. Of course, whole blood is better, but sometimes you don't have it handy. So you have to make do with saline solution from the Surgical kit or the Drug kit (also, Saline doe NOT need to be cross-matched as to blood type, which makes it handy in an emergency!). I suspect that in the later years of the Project that "human blood substitutes" (the kind used on Jehovah's Witnesses) would be obtained by the Project and added to the medical kit as well. In game terms, these substitutes act to save the victim by replacing lost volume in the bloodstream. Given their efficiency compared to whole blood, I think that the value of saline compared to blood would be about 80%. Thus, using the example of Lindstrom quoted before-- Total BP: 320 BP/pint value: 32 (whole blood) BP/pint value: 26 (saline solution) [80% of 32 equals 25.6, which rounds to 26 points.] Thus, if Lindstrom got a pint of whole blood, he'd get back 32 BP. But if instead he got a pint of saline solution, he'd get back 26 BP. Ongoing blood loss and unconsciousness from blood loss should be handled by using the WOUND SHOCK table already in the game book (pg. 40-41), or you can use the following rules. When the PC has lost two pints (1 litre): a -5% to all skill rolls and both strength and dexterity are reduced by 1. At three pints blood loss, all skill rolls would be at a -15%, and both dexterity and strength will be at -3. At four pints blood loss, all skill rolls would be at a -30%, and both dexterity and strength will be at -6. Anything beyond this amount most likely drops the character in his tracks, although to be realistic it's probable that the character is already unconscious from shock (using the WOUND SHOCK table from the game book). I would say that any character suffering from blood loss AND trying to stay up and functional would have to roll against "Wound Shock" and unconsciousness once every Game Turn (10 minutes) not to pass out. This is, of course, a combination of realism and playability.