Damage

in the

World of Darkness

These are official White Wolf rules according to the books and White Wolf's website..
This page probably needed to go to the crossover section, but it didn't.

This page has been updated with Vampire 2nd Revised Edition rules.

On the question of soaking Blunt damage: (fists, clubs, a 2x4 to the head, etc.)

Vampires soak with Stamina (+ Fortitude, if present)

Damage is then halved and rounded down.

Werewolves soak with Stamina (+ Gift, if any).
Mages and other humans (Changelings and Ghouls included) soak with Stamina (+ Fortitude, if present).
All Powers that do blunt damage are soaked with Stamina (+ special ability, if any).

On the question of soaking Lethal damage: (knives, swords, firearms, etc.)

Vampires soak with Stamina (+ Fortitude, if present).

Firearms (nothing else) damage is treated like bashing damage above. (Storyteller's Companion, pg. 46)

Exception: a shot to the head does full lethal damage (+2 Diff, +1 Damage).

Werewolves soak with Stamina (+ Gift, if any). (Vampire Revised, pg. 209)
Mages and other Supernatural mortal creatures (Ghouls, Changelings, etc.) cannot soak lethal damage.

If the person in question has Life 3, Fortitude, or some soak-like power they may use that to soak Lethal damage. Likewise, honest, forgiving ST's will allow some type of soak, at least for their players. Let's face it, it's fairly easy to do 8 points of damage.

Mortals cannot soak lethal damage.

On the question of soaking Aggravated damage:

Vampires may soak with Fortitude only.
Werewolves soak with Stamina (+ Gift, if any).

Exception: Silver may not be soaked without the proper Gift.

Mortals (including Supernatural ones) may not soak aggravated damage, except for Mages with Life 3 or someone with Fortitude.

This is finally clarified in “The Book of Mirrors”, pages 47-48. House rules can allow the players to soak (I highly encourage this practice).

What causes aggravated damage?

Claws (Vampiric and Lupine).
Bites (Vampiric and Lupine).
Fire to Vampires and Werewolves.

Werewolf page 196 clearly states that fire causes aggravated wounds to the Garou.

Sunlight to Vampires.

Silver to Garou.
Particularly nasty substances (toxic waste, radiation, acid, etc.) may cause them (ST discretion). Read “Werewolf” for radiation's effects.
Some other Power which specifically states that it does cause aggravated wounds.
Vulgar Life Magicks which rip patterns.*
Vulgar Prime attacks or attacks charged with Prime.** / ***
Vulgar Entropy attacks on a living body.**
Spirit Magicks that summon spirits to attack a living being.**

Notes

I have not taken armor into account. This page assumes fighting with regular street clothes.
Tank rounds, 2000lb. bombs, and anti-ship missiles are in a class all by themselves. They probably do aggravated damage just because they're so deadly. In any event, anyone foolish enough to go toe-to-toe against these things will probably die, even with an 8 Fortitude and an 8 Stamina. Read the “Storytellers Companion” (Rev 2nd Ed.) for more on this subject.
Mage 2nd Edition, page 166 states that “Vulgar acts of pure magick, which attack a pattern on a purely mystickal level - transformations, Rip the Man-Body, Flames of Purification, etc. - cannot be soaked...”
All of the Magickal Effects are soakable as per the Aggravated Damage section above according to White Wolf E-Mail.

Medieval/Historical settings (Dark Ages, Sorcerers Crusade, etc.) have somewhat different Powers and/or soak rules. This is intentional on WW's part and are not meant for modern (post 18th century) settings.

To further my argument (other than a couple of e-mails over the years)here is an excerpt from Justin's RevFAQ.

Why are there discrepancies between the Disciplines
in V: tM and V: tDA?

This is deliberate; it was intended to show how even
the undead gradually evolve (devolve?) over the
centuries. Use the V: tDA Disciplines for V: tDA
games and the V: tM Disciplines for V: tM games.