Electrical Burn
Electrical Burn Damage is physical damage caused by electrical energy passing through or discharging into the body. The energy can burn tissue at the point of contact, travel through the body, and damage muscles, nerves, and internal organs. A powerful electrical discharge may leave relatively small external burns while causing much more serious internal damage.
Lightning, electrical weapons, traps, and creatures capable of generating or conducting electricity can all produce Electrical Burn Damage. Electricity is particularly dangerous because the body itself conducts it, allowing an attack to affect systems far removed from the point where the electricity first enters the body.
Electrical Burn Sources
Electrical Burn Damage can originate from natural phenomena, mechanical devices, Tinker technology, magical effects, or creatures that generate or weaponize electrical energy. Some creatures use electricity as an offensive attack, while others possess electrical defenses that discharge when they are touched or attacked.
Examples include:
- Lightning and other natural electrical discharges
- Mechanical electrical traps
- Tinker weapons that generate or discharge electricity
- Creatures with electrical attacks
- Creatures with electrical defenses that discharge when threatened or touched
- Magical effects that create or control electrical energy
- Electrified objects, structures, or environments
Electrical Burn Saving Throws
Outside of combat, Agility is often the best defense against Electrical Burn Damage. A character may avoid an electrical discharge, move away from an exposed conductor, or escape an electrified trap before it can make contact. Endurance is more appropriate when the character cannot avoid the electrical energy and must withstand its effects.
In some circumstances, Will may provide a secondary defense, particularly when a character must maintain control of their body against an electrical effect that causes involuntary muscular responses. In combat, however, Saving Throws do not ordinarily replace the combat rules. Combat actions, attacks, defenses, and the circumstances of the encounter determine whether an electrical attack connects and how its effects are resolved.
Electrical Burn Mitigation
Electrical Burn Damage can be mitigated by preventing electrical energy from reaching the body or by providing a safer path for the current to travel. Unlike many physical attacks, simply wearing substantial armor may not provide protection and can sometimes make the situation worse if the armor is conductive.
Active forms of mitigation include:
- Non-conducting armor or protective clothing
- Shields made from non-conductive materials
- Grounding wires or other means of safely directing electrical energy away from the body
- Rubber soles or other insulating footwear
- Insulating barriers placed between the character and the electrical source
- Magical protection against electrical energy
- Protection runes or magical artefacts designed to resist electrical attacks
- Disconnecting, disabling, or grounding the source of the electricity
Electrical Burn Related Conditions
Severe Electrical Burn Damage can produce Paralysis or temporary loss of muscular control as electrical energy interferes with the nervous system. A victim may remain conscious while being unable to move, making continued exposure particularly dangerous.
Electrical energy can also interfere with the body's ability to breathe and maintain a normal heartbeat. Severe exposure may therefore cause Stoppage of Breathing or Cardiac Arrest, either temporarily or permanently. When the heart or respiratory system is disrupted severely enough, Electrical Burn Damage can result in Unconsciousness and ultimately death.
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