Provides severity options to allow more control over results
Displays hit results on the severity screen - only intended for debugging
While enabled, light hits cannot cause incapacitation, and serious hits cannot do nothing
Hides the timer to help inexperienced judges remain impartial
Will cause multiple hits which would start a timer to reduce the timer beyond the worst individual hit
Changes the default number of times a fencer can retreat before elimination
Enter your name to have it displayed on the main menu
A modified distribution of incapacitations, timers, and "nothing done"s with reduced randomness. In development.
Totentanz Wound Timer Web App Version 1.0.1
Last Updated July 28, 2025
Created by Chase Guida
Based on the Android app by Jarrett Anderson and Sayer Anderson of Rocket City HEMA
Based on the wound system ruleset by Ben Strickling and Triangle Sword Guild
Questions? Suggestions? Bug reports? Email chaseguida20@gmail.com
This webapp is designed to be used to run Totentanz, a ruleset for Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA). This system requires two or more judges and any number of fighters. A typical game is conducted as follows.
One of the judges takes on the job of managing the tournament. This is done through the tournament screen, which can be reached with the trophy button in the top-right. Here, fighters can be added to the tournament and their win/loss records can be tracked easily.
Once all fighters have had their names entered in the tournament screen, fights may begin. A tournament could be run where fighters formally challenge each other, or with pairings orchestrated by the tournament manager. This system is difficult to maintain due to the possibility that fighters could be eliminated at any time, though the app has a feature to select pairings based on the tournament record.
The tournament screen allows the number of wins and retreats each fighter has earned to be tracked. A fighter's score is displayed as (wins)-(retreats), which can each be altered using the buttons on either side of the score. If a mistake is made in entering these scores, the appropriate button can be held down to reset the number of wins or retreats. The button on the far right of a fighter's entry is used to indicate that they have died.
When a fight begins, each fighter is assigned a judge. During a fight, these judges use the timer screen of this app. When a fighter is hit, the judge assigned to them selects the location they were hit and the appropriate severity. A hit can cause one of three results: incapacitation (X), nothing done (--), or a bleedout timer.
When a fighter is incapacitated, the fight ends immediately and that fighter is eliminated from the tournament. Otherwise, the judge informs the fighter of where they were hit, and asks them if they wish to continue fighting. The judge should NOT inform the fighter of how much time they have remaining, or of the severity of the hit, even if the result was nothing done. If the fighter chooses not to continue, they recieve a retreat and their opponent wins the fight. If the fighter chooses to continue fighting, any timer they have recieved is started when the fight resumes and begins counting down. Fighters should try to keep their decisions secret from their opponent, for if both opponents choose to retreat at the same time, both are awarded a loss and no one wins. After each fight, all wounds disappear.
All timers are paused between exchanges, and restarted when the fight continues. If a fighter is hit repeatedly, the "Next Hit" button on the timer screen is used to carry their current timer forward as additional wounds are recieved. By default, if a fighter has an active timer and recieves a new timer from a new wound, the app chooses the smaller of the two timers to be used, and the other is discarded. With the "Cumulative Wounds" setting, these two timers would both be considered (t = 1/( 1/t1 + 1/t2 )) for the new timer.
As soon as a fighter's timer reaches zero, they have bled out. The judge tracking them should call a halt, and that fighter is eliminated from the tournament. If a fighter's opponent is incapacitated, retreats, or bleeds out, they are awarded a win for the match. There is no special accomadation for double hits in this ruleset: all doubles and short-tempo afterblows can be handled by recording the resultant hits on each fighter.
A fighter is eliminated from the tournament if they retreat three times, or are incapacitated. The game ends when all but one fighter have died or retreated 3 times, or at a predetermined point (e.g. when each fighter has fought each other fighter, except those who are eliminated). The winner is determined by the scores of all fighters who are still alive, so it may be worth it to retreat from a fight rather than risk your life. Your opponent could get themselves killed in the next one.
Determining rules for tournament safety is not within the scope of this app, so you should use whatever standards are safe and agreed upon by all participants. Handling disarms or throws with dominance, if they are allowed, could be ruled as a retreat against the fighter who has been disarmed/thrown, though any strikes which were landed during that action should be judged. Striking a downed opponent to "finish them off" should not be allowed. A fighter may yield during the fight, taking a retreat to avoid a bleedout timer, but to avoid abuse, this should only be allowed after a proper exchange.