Cairn Scars Clarified! (I'VE BEEN WRONG THE ENTIRE TIME)

I've been wrong about how Scars work in every video I've made about Cairn, and it seems like it's a common confusion for many people like myself that are new to Cairn. In this video I set it all straight!
Also here's the link to the Cairn 2e Playtest that is now live! Go check it out!
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[@yochaigal]

Re: rolling vs selecting. Yes, the 1e has a typo - I was meaning to fix it but my goodness does it take a lot of effort to change printing in five different stores! 100% my fault.

[@RaiderWarpath]

Which is correct? 3HP 1 Armor, 4 damage received. Axe states you'll take 3 from scars. I understood that you should take 4 from scars.

[@yochaigal]

@@RaiderWarpath 3 is correct. However much HP you lose that takes you to exactly 0.

[@SuddenShock]

​@@yochaigalnecroing a bit here, but, anyway: would rolling for the scar instead of matching the damage taken too impactful?

[@yochaigal]

@@SuddenShock yeah I wouldn't do that. Lost 1 STR and getting a head injury seems too punitive.

[@0P3N54D0R]

if my total hp is 6, but my current hp is 2, and i take 2 damage, should i ad the scar number 2?

[@tomgartin]

Yay! You got it. It’s a really elegant method of character progression in a classless and level-less system. Looking forward to the next video!

[@oliverboisvert5215]

He did it!! Just found your channel, and am loving your stuff, keep it up!

[@shadedreaver]

There we go

[@buenokitty3497]

Bruh. You realize you just fixed the explanation right there in your vid? **"You are forever changed when a hit's total takes you down to exactly zero after armour reduction (no less, no more than zero). The numbers on the Scars table denote which single scar you suffer. The scar is equal to the totalled number of the hit taken." Show example here:** Awesome work love you vids keep it up. Bruh. Keep slayin! Slay it with an AXE, WIZARD!!

[@deathbare5306]

Glad you figured it out! Keep the content coming, Carin is really great and good see to a solid KZbin proponent!

[@simontemplar3359]

That helps a ton! Thanks for clarifying. You've got me hooked on this game!

[@jeanMvang]

Great video! I understood this rule, but it makes sense if you or others make the same mistake. Good on you for joining the discord 😁😁

[@liquid2air]

thanks for clarifying! I saw your first cairn video and did a double take on the scar rules and it left me more confused than ever but when I went to take a second look at it today and this video came up to set it straight. hope you and your sons are still having a blast

[@DaggetSWG]

I don't understand why they don't just have you roll for a scar if you fail your critical damage STR save. It makes sense, right? If you fail that save, you get knocked out of the combat (temporarily maybe), so why not have the player roll on the scar table in that instance?

[@Ptaku93]

Because the character is hit harder than just a scar

[@Hellvector]

Appreciate the clarification, especially with examples! Great content as always!

[@angryclown7643]

dude i love your videos

[@anotherelvis]

So the wording should be "If an attack reduces you to 0HP without causing critical damage...."

[@TimeLapsePrints]

Having all of it on one page would be helpful too.

[@johnnygilbert8163]

Cairn isn't bound to classes, but bound to the ONE class it has. Everyone is a varient of that one class.

[@renkoru]

After you Vids I really want to play Cairn! Thank you!

[@NeoRichardBlake]

Glad to see my wording helped. 😋

[@chrisdonovan8795]

I don't think this is an issue. The system overall is good, and the scars concept is interesting. Still, I think that the scar mechanics don't fit the concept. Hit protection reflects your ability to avoid damage. This means that if you have 5 HP and take 5 damage, you avoided the damage. So, if you avoided the damage, why is there a scar? You could make an argument that it represents strain, but I think that's reaching. It makes more sense to have scars when the strength stat is damaged. I would have to work out a few particulars, like adding new entries to the scar table, picking a threshold for a scar to occur, and including some entries that have no lasting effect. I like your attitude. I'm going to subscribe. Keep it up.

[@user-gv8oc9qd5r]

I agree with the reasoning. Maybe the first str damage of a combat gives a scar, thus one scar per fight (max)

[@chrisdonovan8795]

@@user-gv8oc9qd5r Yeah, something like that. I was thinking any damage to strength from an attack that equals or exceeds 1/2 of the target's full strength. So, if you have ten strength, and receive 5 strength damage in an attack, you get a scar.

[@_fedmar_]

I'm all ears about the Cairn content.

[@dustymccord]

This was a good video. If that is the intention of the rules it was not clear to me either.

[@SoloBattles]

BTW love your vids!

[@Talamander]

Love these

[@asafoetidajones8181]

I think Cairn might be too niche to have a "meta" but one of those people who crank their Curta until they figure out the adjusted average damage per 5e subclass at every level might be able to figure out how likely a scar is in the average Cairn fight. I'm just running tests now to get a feel for encounter design/frequency, haven't GMed yet but so far no scars on my test PCs.

[@Ptaku93]

it's always been that way, all the way back to ItO

[@TroyBanks]

Good stuff

[@SoloBattles]

I'm not the designer, but I now agree with your interpretation. Reality is defined as anything two or more people agree on, so you're keeping it real!😅 The lower values on the table increase your HP. Once your HP goes up towards 18, you are likely to get wildly varying results on the scars table based on how many HP you hade before you reached exactly 0. One variant I thought of was making your DEX stat your HP. I don't think this would greatly unbalance the game because the higher it is the tougher it is to raise it. It would definitely make arranging your starting stats more thought provoking. Do you want to wades into combat with a high STR, or more HP. If you make WIL you suck Stat, how is that going to bite you? I think one HP is an amusing way to start, but it makes it hard to not accidentally die. Practically every time you get hit you're making a STR save, or nearly dying. You'd still want to avoid combat with more HP, but you won't be spending a week recovering from a squirrel bite every play session!

[@nutherefurlong]

I've not had a chance to play Cairn, how often does it happen / is it likely to happen? I guess it encourages taking risks. Maybe "HP reduced to zero but you don't take critical damage"? as part of the explanation?

[@axewizard]

I believe Scars are meant to be an uncommon occurrence, I've only had a few legit scars take place through a few sessions, and even then you can get bad RNG on your roll and not gain any benefit from it. (For example if you get a scar that has you roll 1d6 for HP and then you can take the higher result, if you roll at or under what you already have, you get nothing)

[@darioa6385]

👍

[@NekuZX]

I feel the rules were really clear from the get go. That misconception was kind of on you.

[@axewizard]

Fair