Introduction
As we all know not all injuries are created equal.
But currently they all bleed equal, and in my opinion. That’s a bit of a problem. Why does a small cut bleed at the same rate as multiple gunshot wounds?
Seems pretty weird right?
Levels of bleed
The way I suggest that we fix this is pretty simple.
Have multiple levels of bleeding.
The more you get injured the higher it goes up. And different weapons start at different stages. Multiple small cuts would have the same effect as gunshot wound.
Level 1. A small cut
The first level would be a pretty week bleed, only a hitpoint a second. These would actually be rather hard to obtain as you’d much more often get a larger cut. But things like melee weapons, or even some smaller animals would fit in here.
Level 2. Small gunshot or stab wound
Initial bleeds in this level would be dominated by pistol caliber guns and sharp melee weapons. They would be a much more considerable threat but still a little bit weaker then 3.0s current bleeding.
Level 3. Rifles
Low caliber rifles, such as assault rifles or hunting rifles would start in the third level. This one being slightly faster then 3.0s bleeding. You better stop that bleeding rather quickly or you are gonna be having problems.
Level 4. High cal and Explosives
High caliber rifles and Explosives would obviously create big wounds in your body and the speed at which you bleed should reflect that. Now explosives wouldn’t always give this level of bleeding, if you are at the edge of the blastzone you’d only get a minor bleed. But if you are right at it, this is where you would start. And you better get something to stop that bleed quickly, because this one goes fast.
Level 5. Ridiculous speeds
If you where the Usain Bolt of bleeding, this is where you’d be. Nothing could instantly put you here, but if you sustain enough hits and somehow survive you’ll come up here. You’ve got no time to waste. Being around double the speed of 3.0s bleeding you don’t got a lot of time to wait around.
Threatment
Another thing about bleeding is that you don’t just fix it all with a little rag.
Different medication would have different effects. The higher you go in quality and rarity the more levels it would stop. For example, a rag would only fix one level but a dressing would fix three.
But not all medication are made to permanently stop bleeding. With multiple uses and quick application I now introduce. Tourniquets!
These cheesy buggars temporarily stop up to 4 levels of bleed. They’d have a relatively short application time but wouldn’t last forever. In about 15 minutes they’d fall off. But if you manage to completely stop your bleeding in that time, you’ll get it back, and be able to use it once again another time.
This would display it’s only status effect symbol. Looking similar to the bleeding one but with a line over it indicating that it’s not deadly.
Summary
A system with different levels of bleeding would add to realism as well as providing a slightly more advanced medical system without damage on individual body parts.
Smaller wounds would make slower bleeding and worse medication would fix less levels and vise versa. You’d also be able to temporarily stop bleeding with some healing items, such as tourniquets.