If a weapon hits, it will cause damage. But how much damage is done depends on the weapon, and on the armour the victim wears. It’s hard to damage a knight in plate armour with your fist, and hard not to damage an unarmoured woman with a two-handed axe. There are several classes of wound damage: the Bruise (B), the Light wound (L), the Severe wound (S), and the Critical wound (C). Each class is worse than the previous.

Also, you have several classes of armour and weapon strength. You can find these in the tables below. Note that the heavy armours and weapons need a minimum STR or CON to use.

Armour	CON needed	Class
no armour, simple clothes		0
leather, very thick clothes, or quilted armour		1
ringmail, light chainmail or reinforced leather		2
heavy scale mail, open steel helmet	0	3
heavy plate, closed steel helmet	3	4
dragon scale	6	5

Weapon	STR needed	Class
fist		0
dagger, knife, light club, kick, bite, claw		1
short sword, rapier, axe, mace, spear, crossbowm bow		2
longsword, broadsword, morningstar	0	3
bastardsword, pole arm, longbox	3	4
greatsword	6	5

Now, the damage you do depends on whether the armour is stronger, the weapon is stronger, or both are just as strong. You can see the results in the table below.

Armour better	Bruise (B)
Armour equal to weapon	Light wound (L)
Weapon better	Severe wound (S)
Weapon 3 or more better	Critical (C)
critical hit (roll 15 or more)	One class higher
missed defence by 1 to 3 points	One class lower

There are two special instances. One is when you strike a critical hit (roll 15 or more). Then your damage goes up. A B becomes an L, an L becomes an S, and an S becomes a C.

The other is when your victim only missed his defense roll by one, two or three points. Then, he still reduces the damage. Thus a C becomes an S, an S an L, an L a B, and B stays a B.

The first orc thrust a short sword in Darian’s leg, and pierced his boot. It bled badly and the wound was deep. (Short sword, 2 is better than the leather boot, 1, so the wound is a Severe one). The second hit him with a club on the head, where fortunately he had a helmet. He just got dazed a little. (A plate helmet, 4, is much better than a club, 1, so the wound is only a Bruise). Undisturbed, Darian struck back with his heavy bastard sword, and swung right through the unarmoured orc’s chest. (The sword is four classes better than no armour, making a Critical wound).